Intro and 55 Gallon Idea

[fel88]

Hi everyone,

I'm buying a new house and finally have room to set up a tank again after taking down 4-5 tanks due to having space issues in a small house as my wife and I had children.

I'd like to set up a 55 Walstad tank with an apistogramma pair as the centerpiece. I'm partial to A. nijsseni, but may end up settling for a more common species. A school of pygmy Cory's and hatchet fish will join them. Substrate cap will be pool filter sand with lots of broken terra cotta and plants. I'll add leaf litter for tannins and corys to pick at as well.

My goal is to do a low stock community tank that I can pull small amounts of apisto and cory fry out of. This is mainly for the kids as they will like seeing the baby fish. But it would be nice to have a few apistos to get credit from the LFS.

Any advice or inputs?

Nice to meet you all

Fel

 

[Mike Wise]

Welcome. Your idea sounds more like a breeding tank for apistos than a community tank, so it should be worth a try. Just remember that most nijsseni-group species, particularly A. nijsseni, can be very choosy about a breeding partner. If it were me I would try the similar-looking A. panduro, which are less particular about partners - and water values (pH, cond.).

 

[anewbie]

Given the description why use a 55 which is quite excessively tall? If you are restricted to the 48 x 12 foot print there is a 40 long which is 48 x 12 x 16; of course if you can change the foot print there is a 33 extra long which is 48 x 13 x 12; and 75 which is 48 x 18 x 21; of course if you can get a custom size aquarium then any dimension will work; generally i would say anything tall than 16 inches is excessive for the aquarium you describe.

 

[fel88]

Welcome. Your idea sounds more like a breeding tank for apistos than a community tank, so it should be worth a try. Just remember that most nijsseni-group species, particularly A. nijsseni, can be very choosy about a breeding partner. If it were me I would try the similar-looking A. panduro, which are less particular about partners - and water values (pH, cond.).

I've considered panduro as a replacement. Honestly I'm prepared to cave for any species I can find locally if I need to.

 

[fel88]

Given the description why use a 55 which is quite excessively tall? If you are restricted to the 48 x 12 foot print there is a 40 long which is 48 x 12 x 16; of course if you can change the foot print there is a 33 extra long which is 48 x 13 x 12; and 75 which is 48 x 18 x 21; of course if you can get a custom size aquarium then any dimension will work; generally i would say anything tall than 16 inches is excessive for the aquarium you describe.

It's in storage with a stand and light, so quick and easy set up.

I also plan on going val and sword heavy to offset the height.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

It's in storage with a stand and light, so quick and easy set up. I also plan on going val and sword heavy to offset the height.

I just wouldn't fill it all the way up with water. That way you have plenty of room for emergent and/or emersed plants.

This is @MacZ's tank <"https://apistogramma.com/forum/threads/food-web-in-a-south-american-biotope-tank.25346/#post-124480">

cheers Darrel

 

[anewbie]

Hi all,

I just wouldn't fill it all the way up with water. That way you have plenty of room for emergent and/or emersed plants.

This is @MacZ's tank <"https://apistogramma.com/forum/threads/food-web-in-a-south-american-biotope-tank.25346/#post-124480">

cheers Darrel

What is the vine plant and what does it look like emersed (if it is an aquatic plant) ?

 

[MacZ]

Only now I register there's part of my Bauhaus Bandshirt on it...

It's Epipremnum aka Pothos. No submerse version known.

 

[anewbie]

Only now I register there's part of my Bauhaus Bandshirt on it...

It's Epipremnum aka Pothos. No submerse version known.

Interesting - I have a lot of pothos but the leaf shape looks different; maybe it is just the angle or density.

 

[MacZ]

There are dozens of cultivars available here.

I happily list the plants in my tank:

Epipremnum aureum var. ?
Monstera sp. (not pictured, added after the picture was taken.)
Hydrocotyle leucocephala
Nymphaea lotus
Limnobium laevigatum
Salvinia auriculata