• Hello guest! Are you an Apistogramma enthusiast? If so we invite you to join our community and see what it has to offer. Our site is specifically designed for you and it's a great place for Apisto enthusiasts to meet online. Once you join you'll be able to post messages, upload pictures of your fish and tanks and have a great time with other Apisto enthusiasts. Sign up today!

Cacatuoides with L260

while

New Member
Messages
7
Hi!
I'm a bit new to Apistogramma but have underestimated their aggressiveness so far adding Green Neons, Otos and Amano Shrimp to my 260L tank. The male and one female seem to think the neons and shrimp are food which is a bit unfortunate. At least the neons seem to be ok now I think but it makes me think a bit more before adding more tankmates.

I was planning on adding L260 Queen Arabesque Pleco (maybe one or two) next as they are also very beautiful and dont seem to get too big.
What do you think of this combo? Am I making a mistake or will it be fine? The apistos are quite aggressive but so will maybe the pleco be, right? Its also not going to be a huge size difference and there is a lot of hiding places and wood with holes etc.
Attaching pictures of my tank and Apisto male.
PXL_20200912_082755023.jpg00000IMG_00000_BURST20200905191538869_COVER.jpg

Thankful for any advice!
 

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,202
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
I don't recommend adding breeding pairs of apistos (in most species, any male and female) to a community tank. This is particularly true if the tank has other bottom-dwelling species, like corys or plecos, and potential apisto fry predators like your Green Neons. All will be considered threats to future offspring and will be attacked.
 

dw1305

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
2,755
Location
Wiltshire UK
H all,
Am I making a mistake or will it be fine? The apistos are quite aggressive but so will maybe the pleco be, right? Its also not going to be a huge size difference and there is a lot of hiding places and wood with holes etc.
Attaching pictures of my tank and Apisto male.
Nice tank, you could try adding some <"structural leaf litter"> and <"moss">.

I've kept Apistogramma cacatuoides with another <"smaller Hypancistrus species"> (H. debilittera L129) and with <"Cherry shrimp">, and neither went very well as a combination.

cheer Darrel
 

while

New Member
Messages
7
I don't recommend adding breeding pairs of apistos (in most species, any male and female) to a community tank. This is particularly true if the tank has other bottom-dwelling species, like corys or plecos, and potential apisto fry predators like your Green Neons. All will be considered threats to future offspring and will be attacked.
Ok. Even in larger tanks? I think that makes sense for the small ones but in 260L there should be room for more I think. My male also killed one of the 3 females I added w him so he does feel very aggressive.
 

yukondog

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
664
Location
N.W. Fl.
Welcome while, I've never had any luck adding more females with harem breedier it's always ended in disaster for me but the leaves are a good idea, I have them in all my apisto tanks, you might want to boil them first.
 

dw1305

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
2,755
Location
Wiltshire UK
Hi all,
What happened? Did they fight or was it mainly a fry problem?
A bit of both, the Hypancistrus L129 fry claimed all the "tight" caves and also ate any eggs that the cichlids laid, in the more open pots etc.

At various other times I stored a male Ancistrus L100 and female Hypancistrus L333 (separately) in the tank, and they really went for the cichlids at night and evicted them from the bottom third of the tank.

cheers Darrel
 

Beatha

New Member
Messages
1
I have two females and 1 male in a 12 long, which is 3 feet long, and both laid eggs and raised babies at the same time. That tank also has cardinals and rasboras, no problems at all. There is a clown pleco, they seem to do okay with him as the one female had about 40 babies in her corner. She has a second batch right now, about 4 weeks after the first. I did put in a divider this time, as there's a spare Nanochromis female in the tank and she went on a raid. She's leaving after I remove this set of babies. THere are also 2 remaining babies from the first batches, just because I couldn't catch them. However, I have another female and male in a 32 gallon who spawned and someone ate the eggs there. That tank has many more bottom dwellers as it's a formal high-tech planted tank, and I think it's actually one of those that ate the eggs. I would not deliberately add a bottom dweller to a tank with cacatuoides or other Apisto if you want to spawn them. Mine are not aggressive, though. In my case, the plecos were there before the Apistos. I'm clearly getting babies, though, despite the clown pleco.
 

while

New Member
Messages
7
Thanks! My pair (the two other females were killed) just spawned and I now have have a bunch of small fry swimming around the mother in some Eleocharis grass at the bottom. Both the male and the female are fighting off everything that comes near even more aggressively than before but it seems to work ok. I didnt dare to buy the pleco though so maybe Ill hold off after all. :)
 

Attachments

  • PXL_20200928_064143415.PORTRAIT.jpg
    PXL_20200928_064143415.PORTRAIT.jpg
    447.5 KB · Views: 195

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
17,916
Messages
116,206
Members
13,028
Latest member
JaconieMalonie

Latest profile posts

Josh wrote on anewbie's profile.
Testing
EDO
Longtime fish enthusiast for over 70years......keen on Apistos now. How do I post videos?
Looking for some help with fighting electric blue rams :(
Partial updated Peruvian list have more than this. Please PM FOR ANY QUESTIONS so hard to post with all the ads poping up every 2 seconds….
Top