newbie questions

[kirkp]

Just talked to the owner of a LFS who's getting ready to place an order. the supplier has some apistos. The LFS is a top notch facility but the only problem is that he deals mainly in africans. As such, I have no problem getting fish from him. The species that are on the list are:agassizi double red, rio tefe red, breitbinden, cacatuoides double red and orange, caetei, macmasteri redneck, nijsseni, reticulosa, xingu victoria, viejita rio meta, and trifasciata. My questions are since I'm a newbie, what would be a good species to start with? They'll be going in a tank with a few angels, cories, and plecos. The tank has a sand bottom with plants, driftwood, and caves. I'm planning on getting a pair or at most a trio. It's very likely that they'll be moved to a separate tank that I'm setting up which will only have some leopard frog plecos in it.

Appreciate any advice you can give.
Kirk

 

[Mike Wise]

Welcome to the apisto forum, Kirk. I think that you need to decide first what you want the apistos for - community members or breeders. It will also be useful to know your water values (pH and hardness) as these will affect the ease of keeping each species. If these are only for show, then any of the species listed should work. A. nijsseni, A sp. Breitbinden and A. sp. Tefé (= A. agassizii Tefe Red) are more demanding. They need softer and more acid water than the others. If you're planning to breed the fish, then this is best done outside of a community tank. Plecos, except the very smallest species like Otocinclus and dwarf Ancistrus are not recommended in breeding tanks. The easiest to hardest to breed apistos on your list (in my experience) are: A. cacatuoides (either color strain), A. caetei, A. re(s)ticulosa, A. macmasteri/viejita (both are color strains of A. macmasteri in the trade), A. trifasciata, A. sp. Xingu (Victoria), A. agassizii, A. nijsseni, A. sp. Tefé, and A. sp. Breitbinden.

 

[bigbird]

Hello Kirk,

Also welcome to the forum. Just a reminder though, make sure that you set up a quarantine tank for your new tankmates. You do not want to add these fish straight away. Looking at your present fish that you have, would presume your water is acidic and acceptable, but check you water values. I like the Breitbinden. Keep us in the loop. cheers jk

 

[kirkp]

Mike and JK,

Thank you much for your responses. The local tap water runs about 200 ppm of hardness and out of the tap about a pH of 9. The pH drops after aeration to the mid 7s. I ended up moving a discus out of a 20 high tank. I was going to put a male in with her to get a spawn but I figured it would be easier to raise some apisto fry than it would discus. In the tank I have some caves, driftwood with java fern, and 3 small L204 plecos. I ended up buying a trio of A. viegita and they should be arriving tomorrow. I'll let everyone know how it goes and post some photos.

Kirk