colony or trio

[sherry]

I've been reading the site and I'm a little confused. with apisto cacatoides when is it best to have a colony and when is it best to have a trio?

If i have 35 gallons, but only 20" square floor space.. is a colony out of the question?

finally, is a colony mixed male and female or more like a harem and one male?

 

[Mike Wise]

Your 35 gallon cube aquarium has the same surface dimensions of 2 - 10 gallon tanks. Depending on the species, an experienced apisto breeders can get at least 4 female breeding territories in this area. The average hobbyist would be better off with half this number. So much depends on the species, how the tank is decorated, and even the temperament of the individual fish.

If your tank were set up so that there were 4 obviously demarkated territories, you could keep 2 males and 2 females of most regani-group species & many other smaller non-harem species. For larger & harem species, 1 male & 2 (3 if you are lucky) females can be added.

 

[sherry]

Mike

How would this work in my case?... right now I have cacacoides... m/f/f/. and would it be BEST to leave the trio... add just females or add another male for two pair...



I have a very well planted tank... with a driftwood cave to the far right front...

another driftwood "cave" mid left... and a very vast forest of stemplants in back with a couple of taller pieces of driftwood in the corner sort of making another cave.

the only unplanted "path" meanders from the front past the cave on the right, diagonally past the cave on the left and toward the cave in back.

the center of this path is pretty much were the bottom feeders come to eat.

(2 bristlnose and a clown pleco who is almost never seen live here too.)

right now I have one mature male and 2 juvi females. I might add a breeding cave since there are some nice ones.. sort of fire burned and natural looking, on aquabid right now.


also I have a piece of filstar intake pipe lying around.. It is silly but I put it in there to catch an illadvised weather loach and while he never went in (got caught by net) my little girl apistos started to hang out in the tube, swim thru, peer out, whatever.

.. I've left it in there for them. a slight imperfection for humans, a huge leap for fish apparently.


for dithers I had put in 10 rummys but they are in the process of being evicted.. don't feel bad for them, a friend has a 125 gallon home waiting, and I will replace with pencils and featherfin rainbows.

 

[Mike Wise]

I hate to say it Sherry, but based on your fish population there is little chance of getting many fry (if any!) from such a set-up. The plecos will eat the eggs and larvae (wrigglers) if they can get in the cave. If they cannot, and the fry become freeswimming, then the fry will be picked off by the rummy nose tetras fairly quickly. If you are not interested in getting any offspring, but just having a beautiful community tank (which it must be from your description), then I would suggest adding another male A. cacatuoides of the same size, if only to watch the two males display to each other. Males rarely hurt each other if there are enough hiding places. Another option is to get a male of another apisto species of similar size.

If it were my tank, I would remove the pleoos & add 4 Otocinclus, remove the rummys & replace them with various pencilfishes, & add 1 more female A. cacatuoides. You then would have a very good chance of supplying your area with all of the A. cacatuoides that it can handle!

 

[sherry]

Mike, the tetras are on their way out... it is just a matter of catching them and handing them over.

the plecos will be a harder decision. I sort of love them, but I can use a breeding cave.

do you really think I can have 2 pair, another male in this area? I so far have thought of adding 2 more juvenile females, just to make sure three make it...

ps. pencils are being ordered.. waht about featherfin rainbows.?

ps about pencils.. would you mix pencils or stick wtih beckfords?

 

[Mike Wise]

the plecos will be a harder decision. I sort of love them, but I can use a breeding cave.

Leave them in & see how they do. Just know that apistos have been known to damage the eyes of corys & plecos.

do you really think I can have 2 pair, another male in this area? I so far have thought of adding 2 more juvenile females, just to make sure three make it...

A. cacatuoides is a herem species. You will end up with a dominant male who breeds with every female and a subdominant male who occasionally "gets lucky"

ps. pencils are being ordered.. waht about featherfin rainbows.?

I imagine featherfins are OK. They can handle similar water conditions. I prefer pencils because the live in the same habitats in the wild.

ps about pencils.. would you mix pencils or stick wtih beckfords?

Mix away! Pencilfish are not schooling tetras. They are more closely related to the solitary predators like the wolffish, Hoplias malabaricus. Males can be quite territorial at times, but they don't hurt each other.

 

[sherry]

First, Mike thank you so much. I am newly in love with apistos and this is a huge help. I wish I had a bigger tank.

Now in reply to your post... I think my Male Cac ignores the plecos but has been going after teh eyes of my little hillstream loach .. I have 3.. 2 stick on the glass, b ut one gets right in there and feeds with everyone else.. He has to run from my big guy regularly. Hope his eyes are okay!

If pencils are predators, how are they safe for Fry? Is that the BEST choice for Dithers then? I would love to replace the rummys with something just beautiful and good for my apisto trio or harem.

btw, what was the final verdict on trio or more females?

 

[Mike Wise]

If pencils are predators, how are they safe for Fry? Is that the BEST choice for Dithers then? I would love to replace the rummys with something just beautiful and good for my apisto trio or harem.

Although pencilfishes are more closely related to the larger characiform predators than to true tetras, they are entirely peaceful & no real threat to apisto fry being guarded by their mother.

btw, what was the final verdict on trio or more females?

It really is your choice. If you are breeding apistos for the first time, you might want to stay with the trio that you have now. Later, when you have more experience with their territorial nature, add what you feel is best. Just remember, in a tank of your size usually only 1 male will be able to hold a territory.

 

[sherry]

thanks mike.

I got my first apistos on the advice of Peter over at AZ Gardens who told me they were "sweeties."

I love them so much that I now want the rest of the tank to revolve around them.