apistogramma agassizii tank mates

[cjtabares]

I am in the process of setting up a blackwater aquarium. 29 gallons, a few plants, Amazon sword(Echinodorus Bleheri), Sagittaria Subulata, and water lettuce. Ordered some leaf litter, and pods, hopefully coming in this week. Will these fish work together in this setup?
1 male apistogramma agassizii
5 Venezuelan corys
15 cardinal tetras


This is the tank so far.

 

[MacZ]

1 male apistogramma agassizii

Yes, have fun. If you had written "a pair" I'd have strongly advised to not do it, but as you say you are adding only a single male it will work.

BUT

please add at least double the amount of wood hardscape. Island scapes lack cover all the fish you want would need to feel safe and not stress out. Corydoradini catfish should definitely be offered shelter from wood pieces. Just for cover from above, no caves.

A single kept dwarf cichlid would also lack stimulation and enrichment in this setup. It takes more than leaves and some seed pods. Go out to the woods, gather dry twigs, maybe even get a bigger one you can lean to the glass. Just offer the fish a lot of structure.

That's my advice.

 

[cjtabares]

Yes, have fun. If you had written "a pair" I'd have strongly advised to not do it, but as you say you are adding only a single male it will work.

BUT

please add at least double the amount of wood hardscape. Island scapes lack cover all the fish you want would need to feel safe and not stress out. Corydoradini catfish should definitely be offered shelter from wood pieces. Just for cover from above, no caves.

A single kept dwarf cichlid would also lack stimulation and enrichment in this setup. It takes more than leaves and some seed pods. Go out to the woods, gather dry twigs, maybe even get a bigger one you can lean to the glass. Just offer the fish a lot of structure.

That's my advice.

Ok, thank you. I will get more wood. You think this would this setup work for just the Cory’s, and tetras?

 

[MacZ]

You think this would this setup work for just the Cory’s, and tetras?

Again, more structures, some cover for the catfish, then of course.

 

[cjtabares]

Again, more structures, some cover for the catfish, then of course.

Ok, thank you.

 

[cjtabares]

Wip so far, ordered more drift wood for the right side. Might have ordered more plants than I intended, but I think I like it.

 

[anewbie]

The only problem with plants is taking into account how they will grow over time. Not sure which grass you have - if it is dwarf stagittaria or one of the micro swords; if micro sword one small plant will cover the entire bottom in 6 to 12 months; if dwarf stagittaria it will grow a lot slower; the plants in the back look like some type of echondorus but i'm not sure which one(s) again if something like amazon sword 2 plants can fill the aquarium in a year of one of the dwarf species not quite so bad... but the aquarium looks pretty small. You siad it was a 29 but it looks a bit wider and shorter than a standard 29

 

[cjtabares]

The only problem with plants is taking into account how they will grow over time. Not sure which grass you have - if it is dwarf stagittaria or one of the micro swords; if micro sword one small plant will cover the entire bottom in 6 to 12 months; if dwarf stagittaria it will grow a lot slower; the plants in the back look like some type of echondorus but i'm not sure which one(s) again if something like amazon sword 2 plants can fill the aquarium in a year of one of the dwarf species not quite so bad... but the aquarium looks pretty small. You siad it was a 29 but it looks a bit wider and shorter than a standard 29

The plants are Echinodorus Bleheri and Sagittaria Subulata. I guess I can see, if they all survive I can remove some if they cover too much. The tank is 30”x12”x18. Think that’s a 29 gallon.

 

[MacZ]

I'd definitely prevent the stuff from covering the ground so the fish have access to the substrate. I'm more looking forward to the additional hardscape.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Might have ordered more plants than I intended

I'm not trying to be funny, but that is a fraction of the plants you need. The more cover you have the happier the fish will be. They don't need to be planted plants, a lot of make use of floating plants.

cheers Darrel

 

[anewbie]

Hi all,

I'm not trying to be funny, but that is a fraction of the plants you need. The more cover you have the happier the fish will be. They don't need to be planted plants, a lot of make use of floating plants.

cheers Darrel

I'm not sure - they are new plants in a year they should have the tank fully packed (if they do well); if he puts in more it will just stunt their growth - the real problem is they are new and he doesn't want to wait a year before buying fishes

 

[cjtabares]

I'd definitely prevent the stuff from covering the ground so the fish have access to the substrate. I'm more looking forward to the additional hardscape.

I plan on trying to keep the sagittaria from spreading too much, would like to keep some of the substrate open.

Hi all,

I'm not trying to be funny, but that is a fraction of the plants you need. The more cover you have the happier the fish will be. They don't need to be planted plants, a lot of make use of floating plants.

cheers Darrel

I do want to order more of the water lettuce, love the way the roots look hanging into the water. Meant more of the other plants, I don’t seem to see a lot of green in most blackwater environments, I wanted a few pops of green, but this might be, or end up being more then I intended.

I'm not sure - they are new plants in a year they should have the tank fully packed (if they do well); if he puts in more it will just stunt their growth - the real problem is they are new and he doesn't want to wait a year before buying fishes

With the additional driftwood and floating plants I am hoping the fish will feel comfortable and safe.

 

[MacZ]

I'm not sure - they are new plants in a year they should have the tank fully packed (if they do well); if he puts in more it will just stunt their growth - the real problem is they are new and he doesn't want to wait a year before buying fishes

Darrel is not completely wrong, when looking from the perspective of getting the tank quickly to biological balance, start with more plant mass. That's the whole point.

But get plants that can "cheat". Floaters are one, plants with floating leaves like lotus are also great, or semi-/full emersed plants like Hydrocotyle (my personal favourite) and Pothos. They all don't mind a lack of CO2 in the water as they can get it from the air, they don't mind the lack of light in heavily tinted water, as they are on top of it and they also all don't mind lack of nutrients and minerals.

I'd combine a big amount of plants with a a good amount of botanicals, especially leaves to get to a very stable softwater environment in no time.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I do want to order more of the water lettuce, love the way the roots look hanging into the water. Meant more of the other plants,

Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) is biotope appropriate.

I don’t seem to see a lot of green in most blackwater environments,

I think it depends on your sense of scale, I see the riverine and "flooded forest" trees as amphibious plants.

Cheers Darrel

 

[cjtabares]

Hi all,

Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) is biotope appropriate.

I think it depends on your sense of scale, I see the riverine and "flooded forest" trees as amphibious plants.

Cheers Darrel

That makes sense. I ordered more of the water lettuce.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I ordered more of the water lettuce.

You should find it propagates pretty readily, there are images in @Tom C 's article: "Collecting in Pebas, Río Orosa and Río Shishita 2008" - <"https://www.tomc.no/page.aspx?PageId=64">.

cheers Darrel

 

[Mike Wise]

Tell me about it. Six month ago I bought 2 plants. Now they totally cover four 20 gallon long tanks and are 'invading' others.

 

[anewbie]

I still prefer frog bit but each to their own; the thing about these plants is they hate current - a little current can ruin a 30x30 area of floating plants

 

[cjtabares]

I still prefer frog bit but each to their own; the thing about these plants is they hate current - a little current can ruin a 30x30 area of floating plants

Is this too much flow?

si=XYNySjXr03CVw8lk

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I still prefer frog bit but each to their own;

I'm a Frogbit fan as well.

Cheers Darrel