Hardwater Apisto?

[FishHunter]

Hello,

I"m not new to the aquarium hobby as I've been keeping them for on and off 40 years now. However, I am new to apisto's. I think they are absolutely stunning looking and love their behaviors. I'd be keeping in them in my heavily planted 125 gallon aquarium with adult angelfish, tetras, and a couple of plecos. Problem is I have relatively hardwater with a TDS of 250 or so and a PH of about 7.7. Could anyone recommend a species to keep in these conditions? Everything I've read states they need very softwater. TIA for any info as it's greatly appreciated.

 

[Apistoguy52]

Cacatuiodes

 

[anewbie]

Most domestic species can 'live' in 250 tds just fine - i had a nijjensi that lived 4+ years in similar water; however very few species can actually breed in such water. So if all you want is a male - you could get a a. borelli, a. mac, a. cockatoo or similar and they should be fine. I have a male a. agassiz in similar water for the past 2 years and he was a full grown adult when i received him.

However do not purchase a wild caugth fish or one of the more exoctic fish; also since you aren't breeding them only get a male.
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domestic borelli or cockatoo can breed in such water.
--
Of the listed fishes borelli are my favorite and cockatoo are my least favorite though what you get depends a bit on your other fishes and tank layout as borelli are quite small and cockatoo and macs are larger.

 

[FishHunter]

Most domestic species can 'live' in 250 tds just fine - i had a nijjensi that lived 4+ years in similar water; however very few species can actually breed in such water. So if all you want is a male - you could get a a. borelli, a. mac, a. cockatoo or similar and they should be fine. I have a male a. agassiz in similar water for the past 2 years and he was a full grown adult when i received him.

However do not purchase a wild caugth fish or one of the more exoctic fish; also since you aren't breeding them only get a male.
--
domestic borelli or cockatoo can breed in such water.
--
Of the listed fishes borelli are my favorite and cockatoo are my least favorite though what you get depends a bit on your other fishes and tank layout as borelli are quite small and cockatoo and macs are larger.

Cool. Thanks for all the good info.

 

[MacZ]

Well... short answer, there are by nature no actual hardwater Apistogramma.

Also: TDS mean... well nothing. If you don't know how much of that is GH or KH, how much is Nitrate or other ions in the water, this number means relatively little. But if we convert this to conductivity, we end up at about 500µS/cm, which is a much more interesting number. Because conductivity is much more important than even pH.

I will give you some information so you can decide by yourself.

You can keep softwater fish (like pretty much everything that lives in South America East of the Andes between Central Colombia and Northern Argentina.) in harder water. Means these fish are by nature confronted with conductivity around 10 to 50µS/cm.
Fish from such conditions have likely adapted to them not only because they had to, these conditions bear very few bacteria. So they are very susceptible to bacterial infections and especially if the bacteria count is high, which is possible in higher conductivity.
Especially the domestic strains of the species @anewbie mentioned have short lifespans. 0.5 to 2 years counting from purchase are the average, for most dwarf cichlids 4-5 is a biblical age and it usually shows.
Anyhow, if you can keep the bacteria count low with good hygiene and waterchanges or with soft water or with a UVC sterilizer, you can technically keep softwaterfish in harder water. Takes more effort and discipline without simply tailoring the water to the fish.

I agree, though: Stick to domestic fish and keep water quality up and you're all set.