Mixing apisto species

[hexy]

Has anyone experience of mixing apistogramma species in a larger tank and managed to breed them still?

I currently have a pair of bitaeniata and pair of cacatuoides, as well as a number of young atahualpa and would like to change my 190 litre into a planted tank and have them breed and develop in here.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated, also suitable tank mates?

 

[Tedstank]

I tried a trio of CAC's and a trio of Borelli's in a well planted 55. All was good except that the Borelli's never got a chance to breed. The female cacs were always in the breeding mode, and each had it's territories at opposite ends of the tank, which left no room for the Boelli's to spawn. There was never any fighting with them, but females of either do not like to share space.

If you really are interested in breeding them, I don't recommend mixing. The CACS were always successful but the survival rate of the young was low, which was fine with me as they seem to breed more than rabbits. I was not prepared to maintain fry tanks and growout tanks too. Actually CACS fry grow much fast than Borelli's and they (Borelli's) would never have survived anyway.

 

[hexy]

Thank you for your help. I really would like my big trigon 190 litre corner tank to be full of apistos and some cardinals and other fish. Though of course to have a few more species would be more fun! Which fish would you recommend or what can I keep here:

Harlequins
Pensuins
Bulldog Pleco
Gouramis
Angelfish
Silver Shark
Red tal shark

Thanks hexy

I tried a trio of CAC's and a trio of Borelli's in a well planted 55. All was good except that the Borelli's never got a chance to breed. The female cacs were always in the breeding mode, and each had it's territories at opposite ends of the tank, which left no room for the Boelli's to spawn. There was never any fighting with them, but females of either do not like to share space.

If you really are interested in breeding them, I don't recommend mixing. The CACS were always successful but the survival rate of the young was low, which was fine with me as they seem to breed more than rabbits. I was not prepared to maintain fry tanks and growout tanks too. Actually CACS fry grow much fast than Borelli's and they (Borelli's) would never have survived anyway.

 

[Mike Wise]

When it comes to dwarf cichlids, I have a 'rule of thumb': unless fully choked with plants, each dwarf cichlid needs 1 sq. ft./900 sq. cm of bottom space for a territory. You probably can get away with less, depending on the species, but don't be surprised if some fish do not survive.

 

[Hudson Ensz]

Just a note, the sharks in your list are NOT recommended with apistos.
The angels, penguins, pleco, and possibly harlequins would work but not all together. Try as much as possible to stick with fish from one basic biotope. Harlequins are from the other side of the world almost and would eat fry anyway. Actually the angels are also notorious small fish eaters.

 

[CopabX]

I don't think gouramis are a good idea because by opalines and apistos chased each other so much that I had to move my opaline and blue.