Juvenile Borreli

[Deakin]

Hi, I've only been fishkeeping since I retired from work 7 years ago and my main interest has been Betta splendens. However, about 3 years ago I discovered Apistogramma cacatuoides and bought a pair. Unfortunately the female only lived for about a year and I never got round to replacing her and then the male died earlier this year. I really did miss him and his bright orange flashing round the tank. He was such a peaceful fish, never bothering any of the other fish in the tank

A couple of weeks back I decided to try and replace him, but couldn't get one anywhere so ended up with what I've been told are a juvenile pair of Apistogramma borelli and although they are growing, they aren't as yet showing much colour. The female does show shades of yellow on her body, but he's just silver with black markings. They are nowhere near full size yet although he is a lot bigger than the female.

They live in a 50 litre tank with some cardinals, rasbora, otos and a couple of corries. I was hoping to upgrade to a 100 litre tan, but things have gone pear shape and it doesn't look as if I'll be able to get the bigger tank :frown:

I really want some more Cockatoos, and what I was wondering is, will the 50 litre be big enough for both the Borelli and the Cockatoos? It's a well planted tank with lots of cave features in the planting and bogwood sizewise 60 x 30 x 30

I hope I haven't gone on too much in my first posting :wink:

 

[Mike Wise]

First, welcome to the apisto forum. You'll find a lot of good people with good information here. As for mixing pairs of A. cacatuoides with A. borellii in a 50 liter (15 gallon) tank, I don't recommend it. Sometimes it works, but more often than not it doesn't. Regardless of their size, apistos are still cichlids and are territorial. Your 50 is just too small. I suggest that you trade out the A. borellii for the preferred A. cacatuoides. There are some excellent UK breeders on this forum who should be able to supply you with A. cacatuoides.