Apistogramma ermnopyge, looking for info

[CharleeFoxtrot]

Hello folks,

I'm considering getting a pair of A. ermnopyge as a centerpiece for a heavily planted cube tank. Any thoughts or experience? I use RO/DI water and can tweak those parameters as needed. Another concern is the limited floor space that a cube tank has, do these get co-specific aggressive? Of course, if anyone has another species they'd like to recommend I am quite open to suggestions

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mike Wise]

Hi and welcome to the apisto forum. A. eremnopyge is a beautiful species but one I wouldn't recommend for a first apisto, if you want to try breeding dwarf cichlids. This fish is well known for its shyness, so it needs a structurally complex aquarium if you expect to see it much. This is a blackwater species that needs special water conditions for successful breeding. If you have the experience to provide these conditions, then I would try it. Look on the web for information under its former common names: A. sp. Strawberry, A. sp. Fresa, A. sp. Tapiche (different from Alto Tapiche), A. sp. Diamente (1 of several species with this name), A. sp. Rotbart/Red-beard/Barbarosa.

 

[CharleeFoxtrot]

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate you taking the time to answer. I've bred the more common dwarves in the past. My water is liquid rock, so I use RO/DI and Indian almond leaves to lower pH in my tanks that require it as I keep and breed freshwater shrimp.
If this species is shy however, I would worry the lighting I have on the tank, 2 LED spotlights might be too much for them. The lights are set up to create various "hot spots" of light and shadowy areas. There is driftwood, tons of plants and some caves/rock shelters already in place as I set this up to house some sort of dwarf from the beginning.

 

[Mike Wise]

As long as there are many good hiding places, this species will be less shy and come out more often. They just need to know that they can hide when they need to. You should do fine with them.