Planning A New Apisto Focused Tank

[apistonewbie]

I'm still quite new to the apisto world and recently back into having fish. I started planning a tank for a pair of apistos and have been using AqAdvisor to help find potential tank mates. I could use some help on confirming what would work and advice on types of plants, wood, and rocks to use. The tank would be a simple 36 by 18 by 16, and I would use a Penn Plax Cascade 300 filter. Based on AqAdvisor, the fish and a small group of invertebrates I'm thinking of are outlined below:
7 x Brown Pencilfish (Nannostomus beckfordi)
1 x Bristlenose Pleco (Ancistrus sp.)
4 x Sterbai Cory (Corydoras sterbai)
4 x Three Lined Cory (Corydoras trilineatus)
7 x Rummynose Tetra (Hemigrammus bleheri)
4 x Red Cherry Shrimp (Neocaridina heteropoda)
1 x Twig Catfish (Farlowella vittata)
2 x Cockatoo Apisto (Apistogramma cacatuoides)

 

[anewbie]

This sounds like a 40B; if you remove the rummynose tetra, all listed cory and the pleco it might work.

 

[apistonewbie]

This sounds like a 40B; if you remove the rummynose tetra, all listed cory and the pleco it might work.

Just one type of dither fish then?

 

[anewbie]

Just one type of dither fish then?

rummy and several other tetra like to pray on fry and this will cause a lot of distress as the female try to protect them. If you want a tetra i've had good success with embers.

 

[Yoannikko]

Hello,
From what I've been told, plecos and Apistos (or any other type of dwarf cichlid) don't work well together, as they are both cave-dwellers, but one is diurnal (Apisto) while one is nocturnal (pleco). The pleco could potentially stress the Apistos out by surprising them in their sleep. Don't know about corys vs Apistos, but they are both bottom-dwellers, so there might be some friction there.

Concerning dither-fish, tetras will prey on potential Apisto fry. So going with a smaller tetra, like Hyphessobrycon amandae or elachys will pose less risks as the fry will be too big for them much sooner. If you like pencilfish, you could also look at Nannostomus marginatus, which are smaller than the beckfordi, but about 1.5-2x the size of the ember tetras.

One last point, except for the plecos and Apistos, all of th species you mentionned (Corys, tetras, pencilfish) are schooling/shoaling fish, which do better in large groups. I would always get at least 10 individuals, but more is always better in my opinion, as it will enable more natural behavior from the fish.

 

[MacZ]

Catfish in Apisto Tanks

What are good choices of catfish for an Apisto tank? I was thinking more along the lines of an algae eater or something to clean up uneaten food. Most Cories seem too large or meddlesome.

apistogramma.com

Here I've written a short info text about catfish in dwarf cichlid tanks. That should clear up all questions.

One small correction: Not all dwarf cichlids are cave spawners, but all Apistos are.

 

[MacZ]

One addition:
When it comes to dwarf cichlid display tanks I would limit the number of species radically. The cichlids are the show piece, zhey should be the focus and as such have the bottom to themselves. Additionally a species of tetrafor the mid range and one species of pencilfish, splashing tetra or hatchetfish for the top and you have a quite appealing tank.
If you want and the tank is sufficiently seasoned (after 6-8 months since setup), you can add a smaller species of loricarid, like Otocinclus, Parotocinclus, twig catfish or Rhineloricaria. But no proper Plecos or Corydoradid catfish.

If you want to breed think about this: 1. You have to make sure you can give the offspring somewhere.
2. If you have someone who is willing to take them in bulk, you will need a growout to provide even growth and quality.
3. Dwarf cichlids usually spawn every 2-3 weeks. You do not have any responsibility to bring through every spawn, so if in doubt rather destroy a nest and separate the parents fish when you do not want to have more fry.
4. While you can let the female spawn over and over in a community with fry predators this will cause a lot of stress to the fish and the female will very likely burn out after a year or so and drop dead.

So in a display tank I would think twice about keeping both sexes.

 

[anewbie]

I have successfully mixed breeding dwarf cichild; but in very large aquariums. In my 180 i've seen the l. araguaiae breed several time - though the fry only last a few days as i don't add food for them after all who uses a 180 as a breeding aquarium that tank has 7 keyholes though after 18 months i've seen no paring by the keyholes. The stress level seems not too bad as the two species avoid each other when warned.
-
My mesonauta egregius breed frequently in a different 180 (they are 3 to 4 inches but really behave like larger cichild laying eggs on leaves and moving them between leaves and low drift wood. Here was have a nice pattern by them:

The ones i stole make it just fine but hte ones i leave in the 180 don't do so well...
--
However in these tiny aquariums most people use like 29 and smaller - no chance. A 40b you might get away with two docile species if it is well scaped but if you get one of the species that wants a large territory or is hyper aggressive it won't end well.
I did manage to keep for a short period both cockatoo and [won't name due to embrasement] and both species did manage to breed and raise frys here are the cockatoo:

Anyway i'm tempted to put two species in the new 90 but for now i just have the a. winkelspeck - maybe one day i'll try a 2nd species with them and see what happens. right now all three adults are only using about 1/5 of the aquarium and seem reluctant to leave that area....

I did a lot of silly things but as i learned i do less silly things but i still try new ideas. It is the advantage of having 8 aquariums over 100 gallons - leads to experimentation. These little 3/4 inch fishes did this:

Of course as a 24 inch tall 200 i didn't have a way to feed the frys but still it was a bit surprising to myself they bred (successfully) so young.

 

[StillLearningApistos]

Hello,
From what I've been told, plecos and Apistos (or any other type of dwarf cichlid) don't work well together, as they are both cave-dwellers, but one is diurnal (Apisto) while one is nocturnal (pleco). The pleco could potentially stress the Apistos out by surprising them in their sleep. Don't know about corys vs Apistos, but they are both bottom-dwellers, so there might be some friction there.

Concerning dither-fish, tetras will prey on potential Apisto fry. So going with a smaller tetra, like Hyphessobrycon amandae or elachys will pose less risks as the fry will be too big for them much sooner. If you like pencilfish, you could also look at Nannostomus marginatus, which are smaller than the beckfordi, but about 1.5-2x the size of the ember tetras.

One last point, except for the plecos and Apistos, all of th species you mentionned (Corys, tetras, pencilfish) are schooling/shoaling fish, which do better in large groups. I would always get at least 10 individuals, but more is always better in my opinion, as it will enable more natural behavior from the fish.

I came here just to say this, specifically with regard to Hyphessobrycon elachys. It's such an underrated tetra, and one of the smallest. In addition, it stays near the surface (generally), and poses little threat to most Apistogramma fry. I'm just happy someone suggested this fish. I love them!

 

[Yoannikko]

Yeah it's a really cool-looking fish for sure ! I can't take all the credi though, as @MacZ was the one who suggested them to me for my 57L tank. I've since ordered a group of them, which I will get in a couple of week's time.