New apistos... setting up for them.

[Mettle]

I got a pair of Apistogramma cacatuoides and they're quite nice fish. At the moment I have them in a 20 gallon long tank, but it's just the two of them, the gravel and some terra cotta pots. It's a rather plain tank to be honest and I'm hoping to set up a bio-tope-ish environment for them. I was going to get some plants and driftwood to replace the pots (suggestions welcomed!).

I did have a couple of questions... I was wondering if I would be able to add in some tetras - possibly lemon tetras or head and tail light tetras. And if so how many of these fish? I would like to add at least five as I don't believe in keeping tetras in groups smaller than that. Is 5 the limit? Or perhaps I could even do five of each? Not sure.

I've also already noticed some courting behaviour in the pair. The male and female have been doing their little dance together... I was wondering if it would be a good idea to get another female? Possibly two more? What's my limit on females in terms of how many I could keep in the 20 gallon long (which will be their home for life). I realize I need to provide adequate cover for them and am prepared to do so.

Lastly... I was wondering if someone would be able to id the type of A. cac. I got. Or at least the male, which I have a photo of:

Thanks for any and all help!

 

[Mike Wise]

I was wondering if I would be able to add in some tetras - possibly lemon tetras or head and tail light tetras. And if so how many of these fish? I would like to add at least five as I don't believe in keeping tetras in groups smaller than that. Is 5 the limit? Or perhaps I could even do five of each? Not sure.

Both of the tetras you mention are wonderful fish for small community aquariums. I agree 5-6 specimens is the minimum number needed if they are to behave somewhat naturally. Unfortunately, most small schooling tetras are good at 'picking off' dwarf cichlid fry. You will have to decide whether you want an interesting community tank that will produce a few (very few, unless heavily planted) cacatuoides fry or a breeding set-up. In the latter I would suggest keeping smaller top water species. Most pencilfish species are not really schooling fish, so 1, 2 or 3 do well. White Cloud Mountain minnows would work, too, although an Asian fish. I imagine that a second female cacatuoides would be fine. Three females might be stretching it unless the tank is well aquascaped with many hiding places & delineated territories.

I was wondering if someone would be able to id the type of A. cac. I got. Or at least the male, which I have a photo of:

It looks like an excellent quality Double Red cacatuoides male to me, but some people will call it a Triple Red since the anal fin has some red in it, too.

 

[Mettle]

I could put in white clouds? That would be awesome. I have 11 of them in a 5 gallon that I didn't know what to do with... Would they not also pick off the fry though?

And if I were to set them up for breeding, would I be able to do so in a 10 gallon tank opposed to the 20 long?

 

[Apistt_ed]

I could put in white clouds? That would be awesome. I have 11 of them in a 5 gallon that I didn't know what to do with... Would they not also pick off the fry though?

And if I were to set them up for breeding, would I be able to do so in a 10 gallon tank opposed to the 20 long?

White clouds are great dithers. I have kept a group of about 8 or so with my apistos and they will pick off some of the young, but if you have good cover and the parent fish do their part, you should have a few survivors. If you'd like to pull the pair of fish out and put them into a breeder 10gallon tank when they are showing that they are nearing spawning time, you can do that also. I have kept fish in a community tank and once they were expressing that need to "get it on", I'd take them out and put them into a 10gal and let them do their thing in there. definitely a applicable possibility! hope this has helped a little..

john

 

[mooman]

When they do spawn in the ten gallon, I would pull the male as soon as you know you have fry. I lost my cacatuoides to female-male aggresion after a spawn. It happened quick. Went to work, eveything was fine, came home, both were dead. You'll know because the female will turn bright yellow, and the black stripes will be more pronounced.

go with slate for the caves.