Apistogramma Panduro aggressive towards Cory in community tank

[Christopher Barbas]

Hi all

Five days ago I got 2 Apisto Panduros

Female:

Male:

I originally went in for just the female as a centerpiece fish but was talked into getting the male as well. It's a 29 gallon tank that was set up back in march. It has 6 Panda corydoras and 14 cardinal tetras.

The male apisto is definitely fully grown and much bigger than any other fish in the tank. So far I haven't seen the male and female really interact at all. He just swims back and forth along the back glass wall (opposite of the viewing panel)

However, the male seems to be pretty aggressive towards the panda cories specifically. They seem more stressed out now and remain stationary together in the front left bottom corner. Every now and then the male apisto will rapidly chase a cory for about 3-5 seconds across the entire tank.

Each apisto was $15 and my LFS is 50 minutes away. I think they would accept them back for 1/3 of the price so $5 each.

I'm not really sure if I should

1. Keep watching the tank and hope it passes

2. Return only the male

3. Return both the male and female

For option #2 would the female apisto be healthy and active all by herself?

 

[Norman Fenske]

Apisto's like staying near the bottom of the tank ( all the ones I have do ) Going by what you wrote you have cory's as well, another fish that stays near the bottom of the tank. What you describing the panduro's are establishing their territory you cannot have apistos and other bottom dwelling fish in the same tank if it was a much bigger tank yes? but a 29 well you see the issue. Decide what you want more.