Mixing A. cacatuoides and A. agassizi

[Ruby-House]

Hi,

I recently got one pair of A. cactuoides and a pair of A. agassizi and I was wondering if it would be okay to have them both in my 75 gal. (4ft x 1.5ft x 1.8ft). There's plenty of leaf litter and driftwood to break up the line of sight and I have 2 different caves on each side of the tank. I'm still waiting for some of my plants to fill in in order to provide extra cover. The tank also has cherry barbs and eventually neon and rummy nose tetras.

I've also read that it's better to keep these Apistos in harems? If I add them both to the 75 gal. should I pick up an extra female of each or would that crowd the tank too much? (I'm not aiming for them to breed, if it happens it happens, I just want to to be comfortable and to not stress the females out too much...)

 

[Mike Wise]

Well, a lot depends on the number of territories with visible territorial boundaries in the tank. Properly set up, a 75 should be able to handle 6 apistos. The problem that might arise is when several females all have fry at about the same time. Since this is a community tank - not designed for successful breeding - you probably would be better off with males only. Either way, all I can say is try it and see what happens.

 

[Ruby-House]

I made sure they all could have a small territory by adding extra little caves and leaf litter, they don't seem to mind each other much at all. There's some chasing here and there but besides that nothing. I'll keep and eye on them thought.