Cockatoo question

[chris521957]

Hi all. I bought, what was labelled as a pair of young a.agasissi. When i got them in my tank they didnt look quite right. After doing some research and checking lots of pics, it turns out they are cacatioids. My query here is, can i put another pair of apistos in with them. my tank is a rio 180. 1mtr longx15"front to back and 18" deep. There are lots of rockwork with caves and a heavily planted part to one end. I also have 14 cardinals, 4 black mollies, 5 glowlights and 4 leopard corries. This weekend there will also be 5 small starlight b/n's going in there. This will complete my stocking of this tank, but i would like to add 1 more pair of apistos or possibly another colourful dwarf cichlid. Thanks in advance for any advice. Chris.

 

[RustedKnight]

Hi Chris.

Funnily enough when I first started keeping Apistogramma, I bought what was labelled as Cacatouides, and got Agassizi. Funny old world.

Since then, I've got my hands on the cockatoo's I want, and for a while had a 120ltr tank set up, basically as you described above. Loads of caves and hidey holes, heavily planted.

But the problem I found was the Agassizi took the whole tank as territory, and bullied the Cockatoo's into a point where I was worried about losing them to stress.

Now to straighten things out, your tank has a slightly bigger footprint (floor size) than mine, so there is a little more room, and there is a chance that I just got a very grumpy male Agassizi. BUT, I do recommend that you be prepared to return any new apistogramma back to where you bought them from, just in case they don't get on.

So, in short, i'm saying (but i'm no expert), I think it should be okay, but it is completely down to the temperament of the males. My cockatoo is a softy, and won't bully anything, my agassizi was a total bully 24/7, so he had to go.

Hope that is of some help.

 

[ed seeley]

I've got a Rio180 and I agree, you could add another species in there but I would say don't. IME less is often more and you will see much more contented fish if they aren't crammed in.

You've already got other bottom dwellers in the tank (with more to come) that will have to share the floor space and, especially if you want them to breed successfully, they will need some room to get away from the apistos.

If you want to add more apistos why not add more female cacs so you can see them interact and watch some nice natural behaviour. They might still struggle to raise fry with the cardinals and glowlights in the tank though as they are excellent fry predators!

 

[chris521957]

Thanks for that input. The male i have at present seems to be a bit of a softy, never seems to bother anything else in the tank. I was looking to get possibly a different type of apisto, not necassarily an agisissi, but something that would be ok with the cockatoos. Thanks for you help, i will be doing more research on this matter. Sorry Ed, you must have posted while i was typing(2 finger typing is all i can do). Might look at the idea of more females. What would be a good ratio?. Possibly 1m/3f?. If i do go down this route, would the male only breed with 1 of the f or would he have a go with them all and what would the agression be between the females if any.

 

[ed seeley]

No worries Chris. The male will breed with all the females he can. You might get away with three females, but I'd probably stick with two so the rest of the tank has some space still to escape if both females breed at the same time. 3 females might make the tank a bit too hectic with the catfish you've got IMHO.

 

[chris521957]

Thanks for that Ed. will be looking at getting him another female tomorrow then, or maybe not, the male and female are staying fairly close following each other around the tank atm, so maybe they are happy enough on their own. But i will keep your advice in mind and see how they get on.

 

[Hudson Ensz]

Personally, I think you could, just make sure they can get out of eachothers line of sight.
I also wouldnt keep mollies in the same tank with all those soft water loving fish, just my two cents.

 

[chris521957]

Thanks Hudson. I am new to these fish(used to breed Malawis) so i am still learning. The mollies were used to help cycle the tank, but they seem to be doing very well, but i will keep your comments in mind for the future. Thanks.