Green tetras as dither fish? Bitaeniata or Panduro?

[douginsf]

I've recently converted a 10 gallon tank 20 gallon tank with some driftwood, a half coconut shell, lots of Crypt. wendtii (red and green), some 'sunset' hygro and a red tiger lotus plant. I added 3 ottocinclus affinis last week and yesterday 3 mosquito raspboras. These are tiny little fish in case any of you aren't familiar with them, males are .5" and females are .75". I just went to my lfs and was gonna add 6 more of the raspboras but then I changed my mind when I saw the green tetras they just got in last week. So I bought 10 of them and in a week or two I plan on buying either a pair or a trio of A. bitaeniata.
I want to breed the bitaeniata but I'm wondering if the tetras are gonna be quick enough to eat the fry or will the bitaeniata parents be able to protect them in this setting. Now, after having such a hard time getting rid of all my A. borelli (I still have about 25 and there are 2 clutches of eggs about to hatch in the grow out tank!) I don't want to raise 100 bitaeniata but maybe 20 or 30 would be nice. Does anyone see a problem with this combo?

Also, my lfs also has Apistogramma panduro for sale and I'm still debating between these and the bitaeniata. Is one easier to breed and maintain than the other? I think they are both equally gorgeous fish although the panduro's cost a bit more. Any advice would be appreciated.

thanks in advance,
Doug

 

[Tea]

Green tetras

Hello Doug, if you are trying to spawn the new fish , you should think about not keeping any tetras with the pair of apistos that you are planning to get. IME i have had neons and cardinals in with fry and have lost almost half. Instead try pecil fish they will do much better and will not bother the fry. Even if the parents protect the fry there will always be fry that are left behind that will be eaten.
As for your question on growing the bitaeniata with the borelii there should be no promblem because you can easily distinquish the females from the two. Spawning either the bitaeniata or the panduros is pretty similar i have spawned both fish in a Ph of 5.5-6.5. It jsut depends on what fish you like more. Also keep in mind that the panduro is a little more agreessive than the bitaeniata . hope this helps Vue

 

[douginsf]

Thanks Tea,

I think my post was a little confusing. Where I said, "Does anyone see a problem with this combo?", I was referring to keeping bitaeniatas with the green tetras, not with the borelli. I kept a dozen borelli from my first spawn in my 50 gallon plant tank and won't be mixing the two species.

"i have had neons and cardinals in with fry and have lost almost half"

I think that's exactly what I'm looking for as I don't want to have so many fry to raise and find homes for. This should be interesting.

 

[Mike Wise]

Breeding A. panduro in a 10 is possible if they are a bonded pair. Panduro tends to be choosy about partners. Incompatible pairs usually end up as a single fish. A. bitaeniata is a polygamous fish. Although possible to breed in a 10, I have found that the male are too distracting to the females to keep together after breeding, unless the tank is larger. I have found female bitaeniata to be very nervous & will eat their eggs/fry if even slightly disturbed. I usually keep a small wattage lamp above the tank 24 hours/day until the fry became freeswimming. Thirty fry from bitaeniata is about average, so with predatory characins in the tank, you might not have any fry left at all.