Hello from Florida!

[Timmyjpb]

Hi everyone!

I work at Nahacky's Aquarium in Melbourne, FL. While I am very knowledgeable in saltwater, I have just recently gotten into the fascinating world of apistogrammas. Any tips and advice would be very appreciated.

Thanks,
Tim

 

[MickeM]

Hi Tim + all ..

I searched in this(our) forum and found some nice info from one link where TomC participate( Tom is an experienced visitor to Apito-habitats!!).
I think he sums it up pretty good in this quote how to keep Apistogramma species in any tank ..!!

" Most Apistos naturally live in soft, acidic water.. With adequate space (pretty much bigger than a 10 Gallons tank), weak water movement, fine sand on the bottom, shelter and hiding places, and a tank without Corydoras and catfish bigger than Otocinclus"

My experience is that you can easily keep a group of young Apistos together from the start as long as they are relatively in the same size...
or you can stay satisfied with a couple+ some "dither-fishes"...
Apistos will form a hierarky pretty fast.. and any female(or male) that are not accepted by a (larger ) dominant male will be chased away until she is ready to spawn..!! (BTW.. I like the surface-living dithers.. since they then differ from the Apistos in their common behaviour-pattern... to sift sand for food... all day long!! )
Use plenty of sight-barriers ..roots, leaves, caves, plants!... (What the dominant one can not see..will not start aggressions 24/7(?)!! )

And if you focus on breeding Apistos..always remember Mike W`s proverb(?) ..
"A community tank is not a breeding tank!!"
A true statement... since you will always get situations after a successful spawn in the tank , that often results in changes to benefit the fry/Apistos... or the other option/vision you want to achieve with your tank!!
To create a "perfect" copy of the nature.. you will probably need a veeery large tank!!


You will find a lot of great info in this forum.., but I also recommend you this Norwegian web-site for info + many nice pics by TomC!!

http://apisto.sites.no/default.aspx



Cheers,
Micke

 

[Timmyjpb]

Hi Tim + all ..

I searched in this(our) forum and found some nice info from one link where TomC participate( Tom is an experienced visitor to Apito-habitats!!).
I think he sums it up pretty good in this quote how to keep Apistogramma species in any tank ..!!

" Most Apistos naturally live in soft, acidic water.. With adequate space (pretty much bigger than a 10 Gallons tank), weak water movement, fine sand on the bottom, shelter and hiding places, and a tank without Corydoras and catfish bigger than Otocinclus"

My experience is that you can easily keep a group of young Apistos together from the start as long as they are relatively in the same size...
or you can stay satisfied with a couple+ some "dither-fishes"...
Apistos will form a hierarky pretty fast.. and any female(or male) that are not accepted by a (larger ) dominant male will be chased away until she is ready to spawn..!! (BTW.. I like the surface-living dithers.. since they then differ from the Apistos in their common behaviour-pattern... to sift sand for food... all day long!! )
Use plenty of sight-barriers ..roots, leaves, caves, plants!... (What the dominant one can not see..will not start aggressions 24/7(?)!! )

And if you focus on breeding Apistos..always remember Mike W`s proverb(?) ..
"A community tank is not a breeding tank!!"
A true statement... since you will always get situations after a successful spawn in the tank , that often results in changes to benefit the fry/Apistos... or the other option/vision you want to achieve with your tank!!
To create a "perfect" copy of the nature.. you will probably need a veeery large tank!!


You will find a lot of great info in this forum.., but I also recommend you this Norwegian web-site for info + many nice pics by TomC!!

http://apisto.sites.no/default.aspx



Cheers,
Micke

Good info, but just wondering, why no corydoras? My fiancée insisted that I get her a Julii Cory so I did. They appear to be doing well together... Is it something I should take out?

Thanks,
Tim

 

[MickeM]

Actually, I`ve heard both good and bad stories about keeping Cory`s with Apistos.. I guess it depend on how you keep/mix them (different Cory-species.. in behaviour or size??)
Other factors..- Large/small tank , amount of hidingplaces, less or lots of proper food.
.
But the most negative thing may be that some Cory`s (large species/individuals??... in relation to what type/size of Apistos you have) may eat Apisto fry/eggs/wrigglers..and can tolerate being beaten pretty hard since they have their harnesk/"armor" that protects them from almost every Apisto attack ( when they defend their offspring/territory..)
But if you keep small species like the Corydoras habrosus/hastatus/pygmaeus I guess it may work OK.. at least in larger tanks..
One observation though..Cory`s (and other catfishes..) do not tend to "learn" to keep away if they don't get beaten "hard enough" so to speak...
..and that often ends with us humans not observing/finding them until it is too late..
And I can not tell if they force themselves into small/tight Apisto-caves (at night??) , like some catfishes do!!!!???
(My experience is this...- Small Ancistrus can/will.. if given the chance.., Larger Ancistrus can not do that most of the times ..due to their larger size)..

You can probaly keep them together..but be prepared to act if it does not end well..!! (When the Apistos will spawn../if you want to save some fry!!??)

Some Apistos do also have a "picking"/bully behaviour against other bottom-living species... ( like snails and shrimps..and fishes )
Maybe/Probably to assure safety for their (future) offspring???


/Micke

 

[Robi]

I agree with MikeM,

I had many julii and panda cory's with my Apistos initially and decided to get rid of them eventually, they like to feast on the small fry and they are fearless. Other option is to take the cory's out from the Apisto tank if you see they laid eggs, but then you disturb the tank, which is probably not too good if you have eggs or fry in there... So I vote for no Cory's (I gave it a fair try, trust me...). If you don't intend to breed Apistos they are just fine... One of my favorite tank mates is the Otocinclus (picture), great algae cleaner and leaves the Apisto fry even the small larvae alone. Also he get chased away easily by the mom, when the fry is small. It is exclusively algae eater (a vegetarian ), so he gets a thumbs up from me!!!

Robi