Apistogramma in 9 gallon fluval flex

[fishrcool975]

Would a pair of any of these apistogramma species do well in this tank Apistogramma baenschi, cacatuoides, mendezi Santa Isabel, hongsloi, Borelli opal, Borelli, panduro, trifasciata, mamore algodon. The tank is VERY heavily planted with lots of driftwood too. Of there is too much aggression I have other tanks that I could move a fish to. If none of these work would teniacara candidi work.

 

[MacZ]

That's a footprint of roughly 30x30cm. Sorry, but I'd not keep even a single specimen of any dwarf cichlid species in that tank.

Not a cichlid but closer related to the gourami family: Dario dario and other species from that genus will do. They are so small it might work. BUT: They prefer live food and most often won't go for dry foods at all. So if you can provide life foods like artemia nauplii and micro-worms steadily...

The tank is VERY heavily planted with lots of driftwood too.

Care to show a picture? We've seen a lot of that description failing to deliver. No offence to you, but when you read "heavily planted" several times a week and it turns out to be 2-3 Cryptocoryne, a handfull of Anubias nana and 2-3 pieces of Amazon frogbit adrift in the current in a 100 liter tank, you get very cautious.

 

[Mike Wise]

The only apisto I would consider is A. wapisana. It is very rarely imported, not very attractive, but does exhibit an interesting reversed courtship behavior.

 

[anewbie]

dario dario are an interesting fish but can be extremely picky about food.

 

[MacZ]

The only apisto I would consider is A. wapisana. It is very rarely imported, not very attractive, but does exhibit an interesting reversed courtship behavior.

So rarely indeed, that I only found sale offers via way-back-machine for 2009. It's virtually impossible to get.

 

[fishrcool975]

That's a footprint of roughly 30x30cm. Sorry, but I'd not keep even a single specimen of any dwarf cichlid species in that tank.

Not a cichlid but closer related to the gourami family: Dario dario and other species from that genus will do. They are so small it might work. BUT: They prefer live food and most often won't go for dry foods at all. So if you can provide life foods like artemia nauplii and micro-worms steadily...


Care to show a picture? We've seen a lot of that description failing to deliver. No offence to you, but when you read "heavily planted" several times a week and it turns out to be 2-3 Cryptocoryne, a handfull of Anubias nana and 2-3 pieces of Amazon frogbit adrift in the current in a 100 liter tank, you get very cautious.

I already have Dario Dario this is a photo of my 10 gallon Dario Dario colony and an example of what I consider heavily planted

 

[MacZ]

Allright. I agree, finally a heavily planted tank that deserves the name.

Nevertheless: The tank you're asking about is too small for any species of dwarf cichlid actually and realistically available in the trade, no matter what genus. You would have to be lucky finding the species mentioned by Mike above. Chances are really slim and it might take you several years and regularly checking the sites of the really geeky suppliers until you even come across an offer.

 

[Apistomaster]

I've had young pairs of A. borelli spawn successfully in some home made aquaria which were 16x8x8 inches and approximately 4.4 gals. I removed the males soon after spawning. Not ideal but it is possible.

 

[Mike Wise]

I've had young pairs of A. borelli spawn successfully in some home made aquaria which were 16x8x8 inches and approximately 4.4 gals. I removed the males soon after spawning. Not ideal but it is possible.

Please note Bob is an apistomaster with decades of experience. I wouldn't suggest it for a beginner.

 

[Apistomaster]

Please note Bob is an apistomaster with decades of experience. I wouldn't suggest it for a beginner.

I may have lost track but who is Bob?
Apistomaster is AKA "Larry W."

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I may have lost track but who is Bob?
Apistomaster is AKA "Larry W."

Larry, I think Mike was thinking of Bob Wiltshire, who is @apistobob , but I think the comment applies to both of you, you are very accomplished fishkeepers, who can do things that less experienced aquarists couldn't.

Cheers Darrel

 

[Mike Wise]

Yes, sorry for confusion.

 

[anewbie]

Does bob still exist ?

 

[MacZ]

Does bob still exist ?

According to his profile he was online just today.

 

[apistobob]

I do exist and visit here almost every day but I rarely post. Instead, I've been putting my efforts into completely revising and rewriting my website www.dwarfcichlid.com which I really hadn't touched since about 2008. The new site is now online but I'm still making edits to pages on a daily basis. That said, I appreciate any feedback, especially any factual corrections. I've not had anyone review the site so there might be things to correct. However, when something is based on my opinion it's unlikely to change.

Hopefully, I'll be adding to the site on a regular basis. The only species profiles I have so far are from fish I kept prior to 2009 that were all on the original site but each has been completely rewritten. I'm afraid the site will prove to be too much for many as there is no video and lots of words. Hopefully, it will be a resource for some fish keepers.

In terms of the topic being discussed here, I'm the only person I know who frequently uses small aquariums for many different species. However, my methods are not applicable to most hobbyists and aren't easily explained so until I publish a full article, I'm sitting on the sidelines for any discussion of tank size. However, I touch on this a number of times in articles on the site.

 

[anewbie]

I do exist and visit here almost every day but I rarely post. Instead, I've been putting my efforts into completely revising and rewriting my website www.dwarfcichlid.com which I really hadn't touched since about 2008. The new site is now online but I'm still making edits to pages on a daily basis. That said, I appreciate any feedback, especially any factual corrections. I've not had anyone review the site so there might be things to correct. However, when something is based on my opinion it's unlikely to change.

Hopefully, I'll be adding to the site on a regular basis. The only species profiles I have so far are from fish I kept prior to 2009 that were all on the original site but each has been completely rewritten. I'm afraid the site will prove to be too much for many as there is no video and lots of words. Hopefully, it will be a resource for some fish keepers.

In terms of the topic being discussed here, I'm the only person I know who frequently uses small aquariums for many different species. However, my methods are not applicable to most hobbyists and aren't easily explained so until I publish a full article, I'm sitting on the sidelines for any discussion of tank size. However, I touch on this a number of times in articles on the site.

I haven't looked at the new site yet but i really liked the old one which is why i thought of you.... while the number of species covered is limited the information has been quite useful - at least to myself.

 

[anewbie]

I do exist and visit here almost every day but I rarely post. Instead, I've been putting my efforts into completely revising and rewriting my website www.dwarfcichlid.com which I really hadn't touched since about 2008. The new site is now online but I'm still making edits to pages on a daily basis. That said, I appreciate any feedback, especially any factual corrections. I've not had anyone review the site so there might be things to correct. However, when something is based on my opinion it's unlikely to change.

Hopefully, I'll be adding to the site on a regular basis. The only species profiles I have so far are from fish I kept prior to 2009 that were all on the original site but each has been completely rewritten. I'm afraid the site will prove to be too much for many as there is no video and lots of words. Hopefully, it will be a resource for some fish keepers.

In terms of the topic being discussed here, I'm the only person I know who frequently uses small aquariums for many different species. However, my methods are not applicable to most hobbyists and aren't easily explained so until I publish a full article, I'm sitting on the sidelines for any discussion of tank size. However, I touch on this a number of times in articles on the site.

I just re-read the section on A. pucallpaensis and can offer this feedback:
My experience has been somewhat different than yours - i have a pair of wc (they were young and unpaird group of 4 when i got them) in a 10; They seem to not be aggressive towards ember tetra, shrimp and p. sheff i kept with them - though they do eat a fair number of the younger shrimps - but perhaps you meant aggression with their own kind and not other fishes. The female bred around 6 times the past 12 months - i made an effort to feed the frys bbs for 5 weeks the last time she bred (she died after the last breeding - my guess is her total age was 2 years which seem young); and i have around 15 frys from two litters - soem are around 5 months old and others 3 months old (they grow slow) in the 10. The male is a real scary cat and after all this time insist on hiding . In about 14 days i plan on putting them in a 4 feet x 4 feet aquarium iwth the hope of setting up a colony and will add another batch to mix the blood line (the ones i have are wc but unsure of origin location).
-
I do not understand the ray identification on the panduro - you said there are 3 but it is hard to find them in hte picture.
---
btw in the past year quite a few folks have imported wc A. hoignei if you are still looking for them.

 

[apistobob]

I haven't looked at the new site yet but i really liked the old one which is why i thought of you.... while the number of species covered is limited the information has been quite useful - at least to myself.

Thanks for the kind words. THe new site still has a limited number of species but each has been completely rewritten. I will add some additional species in the coming months but, I don't ever intend to be an identification site. There is no way to keep up with all the new discoveries TomC is al;ready the go to for that and with all the confusion surrounding "super species" its hard to know what any fish is so I'm not sure how many more species I'll add. Instead, I'll probably add more content on husbandry.

 

[apistobob]

I just re-read the section on A. pucallpaensis and can offer this feedback:
My experience has been somewhat different than yours - i have a pair of wc (they were young and unpaird group of 4 when i got them) in a 10; They seem to not be aggressive towards ember tetra, shrimp and p. sheff i kept with them - though they do eat a fair number of the younger shrimps - but perhaps you meant aggression with their own kind and not other fishes. The female bred around 6 times the past 12 months - i made an effort to feed the frys bbs for 5 weeks the last time she bred (she died after the last breeding - my guess is her total age was 2 years which seem young); and i have around 15 frys from two litters - soem are around 5 months old and others 3 months old (they grow slow) in the 10. The male is a real scary cat and after all this time insist on hiding . In about 14 days i plan on putting them in a 4 feet x 4 feet aquarium iwth the hope of setting up a colony and will add another batch to mix the blood line (the ones i have are wc but unsure of origin location).
-
I do not understand the ray identification on the panduro - you said there are 3 but it is hard to find them in hte picture.
---
btw in the past year quite a few folks have imported wc A. hoignei if you are still looking for them.

One thing I always try to stress is that each fish has a unique personality and we should avoid trying to make general characterizations. In my case, I found them to be very aggressive toward their own species and generally ignored most other fish. I've found them to be especially difficult in a "forced pairing" where 2 strange fish are placed in a tank.

Your breeding outcome sounds similar to mine as I never achieved large spawns over the 8 - 10 years I kept them.

 

[Ttw]

You are not the only one who uses small tanks.