First post have ?'s

[gotchocmilk39]

I am new to keeping fish but have kepted crested geckos for quite some time and got all into making a natural tank for them with plants and all. I now have been researching apistogramma- cockatoos for the past 3 weeks and have a 20 gal long tank with substrate(play sand and cocoanut fiber mix) and drift wood in it but no water. I am going to make it into a riparium and have a list of under water and bog plants. I was wondering if I could keep a pair of cockatoos together along with 4 green fire tetras. I would also like to know some of the proven diets for the cockatoos and tetras. The search function on the site never works so I am constantly just going through page after page to look for what I want. Most of the week these fish will be on a pellet diet because I am at school and cant be home all the time but I would like to know what live food I can feed them and where I can get a regular supply. The live food will be feed on the weekends when I'm home. For my filtration I am going to use a zoo-med 501 canister (no carbon) along with the many plants I am going to use. Also I know that cockatoos like clear water and not black water environments but can I tan the water ever so slightly and not hurt the cockatoo. I feel it will given it a little more natural look but I dont want it to be anywhere close to black water. Thank for taking the time to read.

 

[Tom C]

.....The search function on the site never works .......

How to search the forum when "Search" does not work

 

[Mike Wise]

I see no problem with your methods, except feeding. Dry foods aren't readily eaten by apistos. Frozen foods would be much better. The best live food is a mix, but newly hatched brine shrimp is probably the best staple diet for most apistos.

 

[gotchocmilk39]

I see no problem with your methods, except feeding. Dry foods aren't readily eaten by apistos. Frozen foods would be much better. The best live food is a mix, but newly hatched brine shrimp is probably the best staple diet for most apistos.

thanks for the for getting back so fast both of ya. The only reason why I am wanting to do a dry food is there will be an auto feeder on the tank as I cant be at home from tuesday to friday. This is only during the school semester though. I have been hearing good things about NLS I think it is for apistos not sure if it is ok with cockatoos but it sinks. Any other suggestions on how to feed them when I am gone?

 

[Mike Wise]

My experience with NLS (and every other brand of pellet) and apistos wasn't especially good. My other dwarf cichlids and fish loved the food, but the apistos would 'mouth' it and then spit it out. Then, again, my apistos are spoiled. Try weaning them onto it, but check the substrate after a week to see if most of it is in the sand. Personally, if they were my fish, I would feed frequently with live/frozen foods on the days I was at home and not feed on the days I am away. The fish will sift micro-organisms from the sand and off plants on the days you aren't home. Apistos will survive quite well on this regimen. They will probably even breed. Of course, the fry aren't likely to survive without being fed every day - and dry food for fry is worse than useless, if you aren't there to clean up the uneaten portion.

 

[gotchocmilk39]

My experience with NLS (and every other brand of pellet) and apistos wasn't especially good. My other dwarf cichlids and fish loved the food, but the apistos would 'mouth' it and then spit it out. Then, again, my apistos are spoiled. Try weaning them onto it, but check the substrate after a week to see if most of it is in the sand. Personally, if they were my fish, I would feed frequently with live/frozen foods on the days I was at home and not feed on the days I am away. The fish will sift micro-organisms from the sand and off plants on the days you aren't home. Apistos will survive quite well on this regimen. They will probably even breed. Of course, the fry aren't likely to survive without being fed every day - and dry food for fry is worse than useless, if you aren't there to clean up the uneaten portion.

Well knowing that they will make it through the week without me is a good thing, but I will still try and see if they will take to it, at least when I'm not there. As for live food I know everyone does brine shrimp, but what about having a breeder tank of red cherry shrimp. I have read that Cockatoos are not good to be kept with them and it seems alot less complicated than doing the brine shrimp environment. It could be going 24/7 unlike the brine shrimp and if they are not as nutritious I can aways make the cherrys diet more nutritious. I am also looking into red wigglers(compost pile), or even blood worms. Now are the blood worms frozen or can I get them alive from a LFS.