im about to buy my first apistos, one problem

[canuckgame]

hey all, im just about to buy my first apistos, they are going to be the centerpiece to my tank.

i have a 45 gal, and the type i have on hold are cacatuoides

now here is the problem, well maybe i will only see it as a problem, but the store has 2 male, and 2 female.

naturally id like to buy the one male (hes nice and colorful) and the 2 females, but i feel like a giant **** if i just leave the other male behind, the fish store is just a big name store that doesnt care, i asked them if they could get more in stock for him, and they pretty much laughed at me for caring about the other male.

so now the question, is my tank too small for 2 males and 2 females? will it even matter if i leave the male behind, to probably end up in someones tank and never be with its same species again?


i hope someone can shed some light as im not one of those "think about the poor animal" types, but this one has me feeling that way LOL

 

[dwarflover]

I think your tank would be big enough to have the two males. Its definalty big enough for four apistos...You should see how many are in my 20gal. one male, and lots of females. (they had babies)

 

[Mike Wise]

What are the bottom dimensions?

 

[canuckgame]

36x13 are the bottom dimensions.

to be honest, i dont want the other male. i just feel bad about leaving him there alone for someone to buy and for the little guy to probably never be with his species again.

i was also hoping to add 2 blue german rams for this tank, i was about to set up their territories on opposite sides of the tank. but if i add 2 male apistos, that kills the plan.


i have a 10 gal set up with nothing in it, was going to use it as a fry tank, i guess i could put 1 male/female in the 10 gal, and 1 male/1 female in the large tank....

i wish i didnt have a conscience hahaha...... i have all 4 fish on hold at the pet shop, the manager said i can decide what i want to do in a few days...

thanks for the comments so far guys

 

[Mike Wise]

You need to ask yourself what you want - a community tank or a breeding tank.

 

[canuckgame]

breeding would be nice, im not going to plug this tank with fish, i was going to get 2 german blue rams, a few small schooling fish and 3 apistos (1 male 2 female) but this 4th fish is the one putting me in the dilema,

i really need some advice quick, as the fish store is only holding my fish until the end of the day today, and my tank is now 100% cycled, i checked all my parameters, and i got them all "professionally" checked as well, so now im ready


so should i take this 2nd male? will he be fine if i dont? what would you guys do? apistos are IMPOSSIBLE to find where i live, this is the one and only time ive ever seen them available, so if i leave him, im very certain he will never be with another cacatuoides again....

MAYBE if i do buy him, i can just have apistos exclusivly in my tank for a while, try and breed them, and then find a home for him with a few babies that way i can control the situation by making sure he leaves with some females or something, to a good home.

also another bit of info, i wont be adding german blue rams, for a while, a month or 2 or longer. so i will just have the apistos in this tank, with 2 danios

 

[prototop]

apistos are IMPOSSIBLE to find where i live

Then the question is, how mad will you be at yourself, if the other male dies for some reason, and you didn't get the 2. male?

I have no experience with two males in the same tank. But judging from how my females behave, having two fish establish territories in a tank is a balancing act. It might happen, but I wouldn't count on it. So does the tank have enough complexity for a subdominant fish to seek cover? Else it wouldn't be much of a life for the subdominant fish.

 

[canuckgame]

here is my tank so far,

im getting clay pots for caves, and on the weekend, getting java moss, to wrap around the clay pots, that way i dont have an ugly looking pot in my tank haha

plants so far are

-Fissidens fontanus moss
-2x amazon sword
-1x unknown plant

i installed a DIY c02 system yesterday, but it isnt working yet... so that will have to be r e evaluated..

i think i have created a good environment, and it will only get better. do you guys suggest putting peat in the filter? if so i will do that today as well.


i have 2 hours to gather the information i need about buying this 2nd male, i wish i didnt have a conscience....

 

[Jonm]

I wouldn't worry about the other male. If you want 2 males and 2 females then get them. If you want 1 male and 2 females then get that. More than likely someone will come along and purchase the male for their community tank if that is what your worried about. I would get all 4 if it was me. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Jonm]

So.... What did you do?

 

[Cooder]

Because your LFS is one of the big worthless ones, i suggest saying that i want more than 4, can u get another 4 in please, ive upgraded my tank....

Then buy your 3....

 

[Linus_Cello]

You mentioned an "ugly clay pot"; what about getting a half coconut shells instead? I'm guessing the java moss will attach to it faster than a clay pot.

 

[canuckgame]

sorry for not updating, looks like my problem was solved for me, the LFS sold the other male on me hah!

so now i have 1 male 2 females.

i am having a problem right now tho that could be of major concern...


in my tank right now as it stands i have 1 male apisto cacatuoides, and 2 females, as well as 1 female german blue ram.

thats all i have in my 45 gallon, now the problem is the male is going CRAZY with aggression the past 2 days... so bad to the point that he has chewed one of the female apisto's back tail right off.... he just wont stop, he is picking on one female in particular, but they are both starting to look in bad shape, im pretty concerned hes going to kill one of them.... or both!, the female german blue ram, she seems to be the one he ignores, the GBR swims care free and no one bothers her.

i know my male wants to mate as he keeps swimming along side the females and "Presenting" himself to them and then when the females turn around and try to swim away because they are scared, he strikes them...


what can i do about this? should i add more fish to the tank? i was going to get a Male GBR today for my female, and maybe some schooling fish like 5 or so neon tetras... i was going to hold off on adding fish, but i will add if it curves his aggression.


any tips from someone experienced will be very appreciated, my tank has a TON of hiding spots i dont know what else i can do..

this is the female im talking about, she looks real bad, has a cut under her fin it looks like, and her tails mashed now... she already had bite marks on her tail when i bought her, so this is transfered aggression...

male, and the female...

the other female apisto was in hiding so shes not in the snapshots, the GBR seems to always want to be center of attention haha.

 

[dwarflover]

i had this problem, but they straightened it out themselves. if it looks so bad they are going to die, take him out. but otherwise id leave them.

 

[cichlidmac]

This is common, it should mellow out eventually. You can get worried when one of the females teams up with the male, this usually ends in the odd females demise.

Sent from my Android using Tapatalk 2

 

[canuckgame]

thanks for the advice boys. hes calmed down a bit, still owns the tank. hes the boss, still aggressive, but not going out of his way before to hunt them down. one of the females seems to be ok with him now, he goes next to her and he presents himself, then sort of "Fans" his tail at her,

im going to have to do MORE research, these fish are just amazing.

 

[Linus_Cello]

Maybe a little mirror on the side of the tank so he becomes preoccupied with his reflection?

 

[Mike Wise]

Your tank is rather bare. A decor with visible boundaries and more hiding places would really help your females.