Apistogramma Panduro

[Jason82]

Just picked up 5 of these today:






And a video:

 

[Hellfishguy]

Wonderful little fish. I have a male, 2 females & about 10 juvies all living together peacefully.

 

[rr16]

How big is the tank? When the females start to breed they will chase everything. If there's not enough cover/room something will likely end up dead. They tend to be rather ferocious once breeding. I have a small colony of them but these are in a 5foot community tank with lots of wood and leaf litter so it works ok. I'm worried you'll end up with only 2 left.

 

[Hellfishguy]

They've been living in a 24" tank for a little over 9 months, & so far there hasn't been any bloodshed. Each female keeps to her own side of the tank, with occasional face-offs where their territories meet. The juvies are about 2 months old & close to 1". They are able to swim throughout the aquarium with impunity. I had some Trichogaster chuna in the tank which served as target fish, which I removed a few weeks back. So far the situation has remained the same, with no increased aggression.

 

[rr16]

Fair enough. I was thinking more about Jason's 5 really.

 

[Jason82]

Fair enough. I was thinking more about Jason's 5 really.

Sorry for the late reply. I went to hospital a day after this post, and have been out of action for a few weeks now. I observed these fish, and noticed that a pair formed. They got very aggressive with the other 3 fish, so I have put the 3 spare Apistogramma in a 6 foot planted community tank. The pair are in a 2 foot planted tank. The only cover they have besides the small cave is hiding near the internal power filter, or seeking refuge in the bolbitis plant. I now just have the 2 Apistogramma that have formed a bond, as well as a couple of blonde endlers as dither fish. I saw a video on YouTube by ted judy where he had a mirror in the tank for the male to display. Does anyone else try this?

 

[rr16]

I've not used a mirror but you may get some fry surviving in the community tank if any breed in there.

 

[Jason82]

if any fish breed in the community tank, the fry dont last long. I have a pair of Pelvicachromis Subocellatus Matadi in there and every time they breed, they fry dissapear. That tank also has 10 upside down catfish (syno. nigriventris) which I would imagine predate any fry at night.

 

[cichlidkid]

If your having trouble with nighttime predators and are unable to remove any fry, you can try leaving the light on 24/7. You'll get a ton of algae, but it works.

 

[Jason82]

Nah I got lights on a timer, and co2 system is working sweet (controller etc). Did a lot of things to get rid of algae, so won't be doing the 24 hour lighting. Thanks for the suggestion, but I HATE the look of algae, especially BBA. That's a handy tip for future reference though. Thanks

 

[Jason82]

can i please get some suggestions for dither fish to add to this tank? I'm thinking of either dwarf pencilfish or cardinal tetras

 

[rr16]

Cardinals will most likely eat any fry, but A. panduro are good parents in my experience and may still raise some fry. Different dwarf pencils will almost definitely leave fry alone and may even spawn and a few fry survive.