New 40g tank with agassiziis

[tonc61]

Looking for some insight on what I should do.... figured I came to the right place.

I bought a pair of agassiziis from my LFS, long story short female died within a day, looked sick as soon as I put her in the tank. Bought another "female", not a female.

I had them in a 20g high, noticed it wasn't going to end well so I bumped them into a 40g. I have brilliant rasboras and 2 bristlenose with them in the tank.

Tank is sand with some biostratum underneath, I would say moderately planted (10-15 plants), lots of rocks, driftwood, hiding places.

My questions are/is -
Should I buy 3-4 females to go in with them? If yes, do I need to keep them to agassizii?

Should I return the one male? Its a donation back to the store I bought, which would suck but, live and learn.

Aside from those two questions, what would yall add in with what I have in the tank?

Appreciate any insight yall have for me, I know what I'm doing to an extent, just don't know what I'm doing with Apistos.

 

[Apistoguy52]

Fish that probably eat fry (rasbora), fish that like caves(ancistrus)….I’d probably send the second male back. Tank is less than ideal for breeding a single pair….3-4 females turns into the bad type of circus pretty quick

 

[tonc61]

Fish that probably eat fry (rasbora), fish that like caves(ancistrus)….I’d probably send the second male back. Tank is less than ideal for breeding a single pair….3-4 females turns into the bad type of circus pretty quick

Truthfully I am just looking to tone down on the aggression while still having a "centerpiece" type fish, not that it would change anyones answer or ideas at all...

 

[MacZ]

Should I buy 3-4 females to go in with them? If yes, do I need to keep them to agassizii?

Considering the tankmates and your question of what else would go with them I take it your tank is supposed to be a display tank? Then leave it with the males. If you wanted to establish a breeding colony (not gonna happen with the other fish) it would have to be the same species of course.

Should I return the one male? Its a donation back to the store I bought, which would suck but, live and learn.

If they get along, no, if they are pretty much constantly chasing... Yes, separate them asap.

Truthfully I am just looking to tone down on the aggression while still having a "centerpiece" type fish,

Closes the deal on keeping one male and be happy, to be honest.

Aside from those two questions, what would yall add in with what I have in the tank?

I would have to see the tank and water parameters (GH/KH, pH and/or conductivity). Btw: Hope the Ancistrus are not a pair. Because then they will likely overpopulate the tank at some point anyway.
Otherwise... Nannostomus? Carnegiella? Copella? Tetras? At least they are widely known to work with dwarf cichlids. As it's only one male you could try Corydoras, but rather a robust species, not something frail like C. pygmaeus or C. panda. Rather C. trilineatus or C. sterbai.
In all cases you might have to modify some things.