Apistogramma harems ?

[Reggie Leuty]

I'm wondering if all Apistogramma species are in harems ? I have 2.6 agazzi's , 2.3 alacarina ... I have two other species but they are only in pairs not harems. Most apisto breeders keep their species in harems ?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Have a look through the back threads for "Harem", there is plenty of information: From <http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/index.php?threads/harems-or-pairs.11037/>,

... as long as you keep away from the pair forming species (The A. panduro, baenschi etc group) they are more interesting as a harem. I've found for A. cacatuoides and A. trifasciata that you can have at least 7 females to every male, as long as the females all have enough space to form territories and there is sufficient cover/caves. The combination I've found that didn't work very well was 1M 2F as this always leads to dominant female and stressed non-dominant.

The advantages of having a harem is that it gives the females a rest, if you only have a pair the male tends to bother the female constantly (a particular problem with A. trifasciata), and it also gives some "outside interest" for the male when the female has fry and she is in "aggressive defence" mode.

Another advantage is that you get female - female interaction with boundary disputes, fry stealing etc.

I don't have any large tanks, so I've never been successful with more than one male in a tank, but this would be a possibility for species like A. borellii.

cheers Darrel

 

[Reggie Leuty]

thanks for the link , it was very interesting reading ..... Apisto's are truely cool cichlids .... until recently , I always thought they were puny lil fish , BOY was I very wrong !!! Anyways , I'm thining of going back and getting a trio of bitaneiata ( spelling ? ) I have a pair from the same batch a month ago. This batch is WILD , possibly from Columbia ? I'll have to ask... bitaneiata can be kept in 2.3 group ?

 

[Mike Wise]

2 males/3 females? Yes, in a properly decorated tank of suitable size.