Baz from Manchester uk

[Barry the manc]

Hi all I'm Baz from Manchester new to the forum I'm a 29 y o joiner from Prestwich Manchester I have kept apistos before but went on to discus I'm now selling all my discus an want to keep just a single pair of apistogramma in a 200 litre aquarium on there own nothing else I'm wondering which would be thebest to choose that are relatively easy to care for and potentially breed for me and don't mind a very heavily planted tank with co2 injection and 1800 l per hour filtration going through a vecton uv steriliser and also what are the best water parameters are I have an ro unit so can make whatever kind of water needed for them which includes tds and ph thank you for reading and any help will be much appreciated

 

[Barry the manc]

What a lovely warm welcome thank you everybody

 

[merlin]

I am sorry you did not receive a reply. My advice would be to contact ste12000 either through this forum or on the BCA Forum. He will have many apistogramma for sale and will give you advice on what species. He is based in Cheshire.

Derek

 

[Barry the manc]

I have tried emailing him and messaging him on here he has got some I can buy so I have emptied my tank ready for them and now can't get a reply from him

 

[merlin]

Check him out on ebay. He sells a lot of fish through his online shop. Search for apistogramma. He and others will have fish for sale.

Derek

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Barry, I think Ste is really busy at the moment. In a planted tank that size I would keep a single male, female harem of a polygamous species like Apistogramma erythrura <http://apisto.sites.no/fish.aspx?fishIndexID=2411&gruppeID=1>.

If you haven't seen Bob Wiltshire's web site (ApistoBob is a member of AF) it is very well worth a read, I particularly like the section on "aquarium care" - <http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/Aquarium_care.php>.

The water you need will depend upon the species you want to keep, "soft" and "clean" are the watch words, some species like A. cacatuoides, A. borelli and A. trifasciata do well in (relatively) harder water, whilst "black water" species (like Apistogramma diplotaenia) need much more acid and low TDS water <http://apisto.sites.no/fish.aspx?fishIndexID=2384&gruppeID=1>.

Any Pantanal species naturally come from vegetated waters <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantanal>.

Have a look at TomC's site for some fantastic photography, water parameter, species and natural habitat details, <http://apisto.sites.no/default.aspx> it keeps me entertained for hours.

Another fantastic resource is Mike Wise's posts on the forum, he really is the "man who can".

cheers Darrel

 

[Barry the manc]

Hi Darren thanks for the reply my favourite apisto is cacatuoides I hope I spelt it right but the link you sent me then is a nice specimen I have never heard of them before so don't know where to get them from but going to have a go I have sold almost all my discus now the co2 is nice and stable the plants are looking better than I have ever had them since I fitted a solenoid I'm hoping to have my apistos breed not to make money off just to watch do I need to go species only for this or can I keep my Cories and rummy nose tetra

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

my favourite apisto is cacatuoides

I like cacatuoides as well, I kept 7 females and a single male for a while and it was very entertaining. You may find that both tetras and Cories end up eating any fry, but if it is a very weedy tank with lots of structure you will get some survive.

You should be able to buy cacatuoides fairly widely (try the BCA forum), but if you want more unusual fish try either "Pier Aquatics" in Wigan or "Rare Aquatics" at Crewe. BCA Apistogramma great Steve Chesters is also not far away in Runcorn, and will have a range of fish.

cheers Darrel

 

[Barry the manc]

I have had cacs before but my tank was not planted so they were not too happy but I have planted it quite heavily since and

 

[Barry the manc]

Sorry I did not mean to post that I'm planning on keeping just a pair of pref just cacs but I would prefer to get whatever is best suited to the tank I have an ro unit