Keeping Apistogramma viejita with Dicrossus

[JosVermeulen]

So I have a 64 gallon (240 litre) Juwel RIO 240 tank with a pair of A. viejita, several Corydoras aeneus and some cardinals tetras and some Hyphessobrycon sweglesi. Because of these tetras I'm unable to breed (fry get eaten anyways, and TDS is a tad bit high).

Now I was wondering (also not breeding per se), if I could add a group of Dicrossus to this tank? It's quite planted with driftwood in it as well.

 

[Mike Wise]

I am unsure about D. filamentosus, but any of the more robust Dicrossus species should be OK. Macmasteri-group species can be a bit territorial.

 

[JosVermeulen]

Would it be okay if I kept them in a group, or better a harem?

 

[Mike Wise]

Which species?

 

[JosVermeulen]

At first I was thinking D. filamentosus, but you said they weren't robust enough. My pair isn't aggressive at all and rather shy, so could it work? Or would something like D. maculatus work better? And could either of those be kept in a group, or would a harem always be better?

 

[Mike Wise]

I wouldn't recommend D. filamentosus, but it's your choice. D. maculatus would definitely be a better choice. I consider A. macmasteri (probably what was sold to you as A. viejita) to be 'casually polygamous'. This means that the male will breed with several different females if given the chance. Otherwise, they accept what is available. Male macs can be very territorial so multiple males can be a problem.

 

[JosVermeulen]

No, it's actually A. viejita, I have pics of it on this website. They got caught by Ernst Van Genne near Puerto Gaitan and I think Tom C also was there then, but I could be wrong.

And I wasn't asking about a harem or group of A. viejita, I have the pair there, but TDS is too high and I got tetras that would eat the fry anyways. I was just wondering if I could keep a group or harem of Dicrossus, and probably D. maculatus, since that seems to be the better option.

 

[Tom C]

No, it's actually A. viejita, I have pics of it on this website. They got caught by Ernst Van Genne near Puerto Gaitan and I think Tom C also was there then, but I could be wrong....

You are right. We were at the type locality of A. viejita:

and we collected a few A. viejita:

There were some other species there too, Copellas and others:

and also these:

so putting a few Mikrogeophagus ramirezi in there would be more natural than adding a Dicrossus species.
There is a chanse that the A. viejita and the Mikrogeophagus ramirezi would communicate well, as they live in the same stream in the wild....

 

[JosVermeulen]

So a pair of rams would actually be better? I hadn't actually thought of that. Thanks for the info Tom!