Help with setup

[fatmarley]

Greetings form South Korea.

I currently have an established 40 gallon Breeder tank (EMPTY Except for Amano's and Cories) that I plan on switching over to an Apisto themed tank.

I have some various plants in my tank and a few caves, natural and man-made. My gravel is fairly large about 2-5mm's, my PH is a steady 7.0, Kh 4-5, Gh 7-9 and NO2 is always below .3mg/l.

I do have the intention of trying to get the fish to spawn, in fact the Apisto I am most keen on is the Cockatoo. I have seen it in a Double Red Variety and a more orange coloring. From the information I have read, my tank is at optimum settings for THIS fish, just wanted to get a second opinion.

Also, I was thinking of changing my substrate to ADA Aqua Soil, over top of my current substrate (to Reduce Cycling time and offer firmer rooting), I was told that this will help to reduce the PH in my tank to around 6.0 which would allow me to introduce a few other species of Apisto's to the tank.

Opinions?

Also, I was wondering if having a spawning pair of Kribensis would be an issue, since they are an African Dwarf.

What about these?

Panduro (heard it is very aggressive)
Agassizs
INKA50
Cruzi (heard it is very aggressive)
Eremnopyge
Ram (Ramirezi)
Borelli's

The tank will be based around the Cockatoo, so any suggestions that I did not list would be greatly appreciated.

 

[fatmarley]

Small change


I broke my tank down last night. I got lucky actually, my LFS just got a huge shipment to help setup two 150 gallon tanks in a doctors office. So they had lots of stock scattered all about as they prepared all the soil and plants. I grabbed two 9l bags of Amazomia Aquasoil and 2 bags of Power Sand LARGE and about 50 dollars in plants for a 100 bucks; I couldn't refuse that deal.

So I will be cycling my tank for the next two weeks, I am hoping sooner since I am using the same filter from before and I decided not to clean it. Then I will dumb about 15 Shrimp in the tank for about a week and then look into getting the Cockatoo Apisto's.

I have been told I should have 1 male and 2 females in the tank, but I wonder if it is still safe to add another species of Apisto and what CORY's are safe with Eggs?

Thanks for the response!

 

[beleg]

I am no expert but i cant imagine any cories being safe with apisto fry. Cory cats eat all kind of larvae , fry , worm etc they can scavenge form the gravel so the fry will surely be eaten.

I got no clue who can be a good partner for cockatoos in a mixed tank. I'd like to know that myself as well , since a friend offered me some young cockatoos recently

 

[fatmarley]

how about

If not cory's, do I have other options? Shrimp are reasonable safe with fry?

 

[Mike Wise]

It depends on what you want. Do you want to breed the fish or keep them in a community setting? If your interest is breeding, then 2 trios of A. cacatuoides will work in a well decorated 40 breeder. If you aren't worried about getting many (or any) fry, then add any of the corys that you like. A trio of some other apisto would work well, too. Basically look for species of the same approximate size and temperament, but different shape.

 

[fatmarley]

I like Borelli's. Wwould a harem of Borelli's and Cacatoides plus some Shrimp be to much for 40 gallon tank?

 

[Zack Wilson]

Avoid the kribs. T

he borellii would probably be fine in a tank that size, though they are a little more of a pushover than the cockatoos. Both will be happy and breed in a tank that size with those water conditions. Actually they'll probably breed in whatever water you put them in.

As to tankmates some of my favorites are the pencilfishes, otocinclus, some small rasboras, and other small tetas (I would avoid cardinal tetras and even neons as they are bold and dart down for fry sometimes). The pencils are just about perfect as they are not really fast swimmers and they have small mouths, and they tend to stick near the top of the water column. Otos are sort of on the edge of tolerable. They aren't nearly as diligent in seeking out meaty snacks like fry and tend to stick to themselves, but they do like the treat of baby brine shrimp, and should fry arrive they'll want what they're getting. This can lead to them sucking up some fry possibly. Most catfish seem dumb when it comes to territories, and they never seem to get clue that they are being chased away from a particular area. Thus they keep coming back for more. I haven't really found a perfect bottom-dwelling tankmate for Apistos, so perhaps it's best that they be the bottom-dwellers...

 

[fatmarley]

Cheers, your advice rules.

So I would get 3 Cocatoo's and 3 Borelli's. Plus the 12 shrimp i have currently, how many pencilfish would be acceptable before overcrowding? Are they a schooling fish?

 

[Mike Wise]

I would say 10 - 15 pencil fish could easily live with your apistos. Mix or match the species. They are not a true schooling fish, but tend to wander around in loose groups. Males will try to establish small territories and keep out other males. Fights between males are all show & no damage.