Choosing my first Apistos!

[Swish41]

Hello everyone!
I just introduced myself in another post, but I´ll do it again, just in case.
I´m Juan from Chile, and I´ve always loved dwarf cichlids but in my country they´re rarely seen. Now my local fish store told me they´ll bring the following species:
- A. agazissii (don´t know which variety)
- A. atahualpa
- A. cacatuoides (don´t know which variety)
- A. cruzi
- A. pucallpaensis
I have a small tank with no fish on it, with lots of branches, java moss and anubias and I thought to put a pair of A. pucallpaensis on it. But the main question is, for my main tank (a 120 gal, heavily planted), I was hoping to put two pairs on it. I´d love to hear for some advice from you guys (which ones should I choose? Male/Female ratio, etc...)
Thanks so much!

 

[Swish41]

Hello again . Can we talk about covid? I am of the opinion that this is not a pandemic. And you? Greetings Guci

No thanks, I´d rather keep the Apisto topic

 

[Mike Wise]

How small is your small tank? I do not recommend breeding pairs/trios in a community tank situation. A female with a brood of young can cause problems. it would be better, if the large tank is intended to be a community, to keep only males that are of different species, different body shapes and fin shapes.

 

[Swish41]

How small is your small tank? I do not recommend breeding pairs/trios in a community tank situation. A female with a brood of young can cause problems. it would be better, if the large tank is intended to be a community, to keep only males that are of different species, different body shapes and fin shapes.

The small one is 10 gal, and since I´ve read about people breeding pucallpaensis in a 5 gal I thought it could work. About the main tank, in the past I´ve had small cichlids (kribs) with fry and no problems with a similar stocking and less planting. But maybe will it be better to chose only one species and buy a trio?
Appreciate all your comments!

 

[Mike Wise]

Ap. pucallpaensis should work in a 10. Their not easy to reproduce successfully due to the small size of the fry. They need micro-organisms or an extensive area of plant in a tank to get them through the first week before they can handle BBS. After that, not a problem.

Kribs (parental sharing of brood care) are quite different from most apistos, where only the female provides brood care. Of the species you list, A. atahualpa (big, aggressive, and some bi-parental brood care) would be the best choice if you want fry to have a real chance of survival.

 

[Swish41]

Ap. pucallpaensis should work in a 10. Their not easy to reproduce successfully due to the small size of the fry. They need micro-organisms or an extensive area of plant in a tank to get them through the first week before they can handle BBS. After that, not a problem.

Kribs (parental sharing of brood care) are quite different from most apistos, where only the female provides brood care. Of the species you list, A. atahualpa (big, aggressive, and some bi-parental brood care) would be the best choice if you want fry to have a real chance of survival.

Thanks Mike!
Atahualpa sounds cool, it´s very beautiful. Would you recommend to get a pair or a trio? (the tank has enough room and hiding places for the fish). Also my plan is to give them a happy life, not necessarily to breed them (if they do, great, but since it´s a community tank I know it will be difficult to succeed with the fry), so my main concern is that I won´t have extreme aggression in tank.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Atahualpa sounds cool, it´s very beautiful.

I've never kept them, but I think they are only an option if you have <"very soft water">.

cheers Darrel

 

[Swish41]

Hi all, I've never kept them, but I think they are only an option if you have <"very soft water">.

cheers Darrel

Hey Daniel!
Thanks for your reply, the tank I´m planning to put the Apistos:
- GH ~ 6-7
- KH ~ 4
- PH = 6,5

 

[Mike Wise]

Personally, I would go with 3 males and no females.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Thanks for your reply, the tank I´m planning to put the Apistos:
- GH ~ 6-7
- KH ~ 4
- PH = 6,5

I think even that will be too hard for successful breeding, although it may be OK for maintenance? Some-one else will know.
I use rain-water, but even that has about 4 dKH/dGH and ~65ppm TDS and I can't breed any of the black-water species.

cheers Darrel

 

[Swish41]

Hi all, I think even that will be too hard for successful breeding, although it may be OK for maintenance? Some-one else will know.
I use rain-water, but even that has about 4 dKH/dGH and ~65ppm TDS and I can't breed any of the black-water species.

cheers Darrel

Thanks for the info, as I said, my goal is to keep them happy, not necessarily to breed them. I´ll keep doing research of the best options for my parameters.
Thanks to all of you

 

[Swish41]

Personally, I would go with 3 males and no females.

Will a single male be happy without the presence of females?
Thanks for your recommendations Mike, I really appreciate them.

 

[Mike Wise]

Will a single male be happy without the presence of females?

In a word: yes.

 

[Happyfins]

Hi all, I think even that will be too hard for successful breeding, although it may be OK for maintenance? Some-one else will know.
I use rain-water, but even that has about 4 dKH/dGH and ~65ppm TDS and I can't breed any of the black-water species.

cheers Darrel

they are fairly hardy and don't need super soft water to stay alive.

 

[Garri Ausmus]

I have spawned cacatuoides, Hongsloi Red, Agassizii, and Bitaeniata in species ten gallon tanks. I have never got a successful spawn in a community tank but i did keep my males in a 55 gal tank to keep spawning down to when i had tank space for the fry. by that i mean a ten for growth till they were off the baby brine shrimp and could eat crushed flakes. I then moved them into a 20 gal, eventually they went into a 55 gal for growth until they were traded for store credit at a local fish store here in Denver, Colorado. All i did to soften the extremely hard water here was to add drift wood to their tanks. I have 40 tanks ranging from 2.5 gallon fry tanks up to 180 gallon monster tanks. here is a picture of one side of my fish room.

 

[Garri Ausmus]

 

[Garri Ausmus]

My only Apistogramma i have now are Cacatuoides Orange Flash. All i am actively breeding now are Pelvicachromis Sacramontis red form, a wild caught pair and wild caught Alcolapia ndalalani. I am occasionally letting one of my female Haplichromis SP 35 tomatoes spit their fry in a ten gallon because they dont sell here but are clean feeders. I am trying to get my trio of Yssichromis SP. Blue tipped to spawn again, it has been two years since their last spawn.

 

[Garri Ausmus]

My only Apistogramma i have now are Cacatuoides Orange Flash. All i am actively breeding now are Pelvicachromis Sacramontis red form, a wild caught pair and wild caught Alcolapia ndalalani. I am occasionally letting one of my female Haplichromis SP 35 tomatoes spit their fry in a ten gallon because they dont sell here but are clean feeders. I am trying to get my trio of Yssichromis SP. Blue tipped to spawn again, it has been two years since their last spawn.

I am concentrating on my CARES groups right now for obvious reasons.