Dither fish

[Andreas]

Hi I am new to keeping apistogramma
I have a 15 gallon tank and I wanted to keep a pair of borellii but can’t seem to find them anywhere
but there are cacotoides pair so would it be possible to keep them permanently to breed with 7 dwarf pencilfish as dither fish

 

[rasmusW]

hi! welcome onboard...
i'm not sure but i think 15 gallon might be a little small for cac's. -but dwarf pencils as dithers is just fine.

-r

 

[Mike Wise]

Possible? Definitely - IF properly decorated. Do a search here about this.

 

[Andreas]

This is my tank and the fish in there are temporary would that work and a can I add a few otos

 

[Andreas]

Would that tank work

 

[rasmusW]

Personally i would add some more rock, wood or plants to break the line of sight. Especially in the lower bottom half of the tank. Just to help, both of them to get in safety.
A few floating plants would also help make them feel safe. Plus the pencils like to forage among floaters too.

-r

 

[DwarfCichlidLvr]

Nice tank. If you want to breed them dont get otos. If you dont want to breed them get the otos.

 

[Andreas]

Nice tank. If you want to breed them dont get otos. If you dont want to breed them get the otos.

Why not?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Nice tank. If you want to breed them dont get otos. If you dont want to breed them get the otos.

Otocinclus are fry safe. I've had hundreds of Apistogramma raised in the tanks with Otocinclus.

Other than obviously predatory fish, the fish I've had issues with are the two dwarf Corydoras species, C. pygmaeus and C. hastatus, they live entirely happily with Apistogramma and appear a good dither. I think it is a size issue and the issue is that they eat similarly sized food items to the cichlid fry, and get in among the moss and leaf litter. This means there aren't the rotifers etc. that would normally be supplementary food for the fry.

cheers Darrel

 

[Ben Rhau]

This means there aren't the rotifers etc. that would normally be supplementary food for the fry.

I hadn't thought of that, and it makes sense. I'd always thought it was because, although pygmy corys can occupy multiple levels of the tank, they tend to rest and forage at the bottom, where they aren't welcome during breeding time. They're not a predator to the fry, but they aren't smart enough to stop swimming directly into conflict.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I hadn't thought of that, and it makes sense. I'd always thought it was because, although pygmy corys can occupy multiple levels of the tank, they tend to rest and forage at the bottom, where they aren't welcome during breeding time. They're not a predator to the fry, but they aren't smart enough to stop swimming directly into conflict.

I keep very weedy tanks, and I've not had any problems with aggression from the cichlids. I've had a trickle of fry from both catfish in those tanks, but very few cichlid fry.

cheers Darrel

 

[Ben Rhau]

Have you had a similar experience with amano shrimp?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Have you had a similar experience with amano shrimp?

I've never kept Amano shrimps. I tried Red Cherry Shrimps and Apistogramma cacatuoides and it went <"extremely poorly for the shrimps">.

I have Asellus and Crangonyx in the tanks, but Crangonyx are also a <"preferred food items for dwarf cichlids">. Asellus are a pretty much indestructible, but aesthetically challenged.

cheers Darrel

 

[Ben Rhau]

I've been keeping Amano shrimps with cf. resticulosa and the shrimp seem to survive fine. I wonder if they also affect the availability of infusoria, but it probably depends on the tank.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I've been keeping Amano shrimps with cf. resticulosa and the shrimp seem to survive fine. I wonder if they also affect the availability of infusoria, but it probably depends on the tank.

People have bred Red Cherry Shrimps and Dwarf Corydoras in the same tank without any problem (I'm going to say <"it was @Apistomaster?">).

cheers Darrel