Request for 36gal Stocking Are Apistos right for me.

[PlentyCoup9]

Hello all
I have a 36gal bow that has for 7 years been home to my displaced shubunkin. Most of my 20 years of fish keeping has been with koi, comets and goldfish.
Either way 10 year old shubunkin died suddenly. Since then I have been looking at my options.

Right now I am at a draw between 2 fish the apistogramma macmasteti and a non cichlid the Enneacanthus or Blue Spotted Sunfish.

The tank will be Walsted my ph is in the 7-7.2 range and my gh is approx 130-140ppm.

My main idea so far has been a community tank featuring a main "show fish" and either 1 or 2 groups of schooling or shoaling fish. My main requirements for tbe show fish is personality and interactiveness. I am looking to keep with what I am used to with the goldfish family and the "wet pet."

Now I am not opposed at all to fish breeding but it also not the desginated purpose of this tank.

I know there is fabulous interaction between the males and females but does this lessen interaction with the keeper? Would keeping two males be a issue or two different apisto males for example a macmasteri and borellis?
Are there any other fish I could be considering?

Now for tankmates any suggestions? I know any fin nippers are out so that means bards and I have heard deinos are flighty.
Again not opposed to breeding but also not the goal.
Hope i gave enough info so i am able to better understand the fish im considering and make a the right choice.

 

[anewbie]

To be honest I've not found the various apisto species I've had (borelli, cockatoo, agasizzi, hongsloi, nijjensi) to be that interactive; definitely not to the extinct of larger cichild like angels or more so oscar. I've also not found them to have the strong personalities as my nannacara anomala. They can be quite lovely but they tend to be a bit shy or stand offish and anti-social. I also found the m/f behavior of harem breeders to be not very interesting. To be honest i found gbr more interesting - at least they try to communicate with each other and take turn guarding while the other is eating (of course htey frequently get confused and attack each other before they remember the other fish is actually the partner).

I've not had macmasteri but no reason to believe they are different. Having said all this my male borelli quasi greet me in the morning - or at least comes up front when i feed them in the morning which is a bit more than i could say about the hongsloi or nijjensi (not sure if this is due to this specific fish but the borelli in my other aquarium do a similar thing). One could say this is not unusual for cichlid or other species of fishes but it is a step more than the other apisto i've kept or am keeping. For example my female nijjensi completely ignores me and i maybe see her once every 2 or 3 weeks if that much (I've had year for nearly 3 years now).

Anyway if you are looking for an 'interactive' fish there are probably better options.

 

[PlentyCoup9]

Thank you so much for this, this is the kind of info I have been looking for. I do believe that borelli are more interactive. A tank journal about borelli is what got me interested in apistos and they have displayed simular behavior to what you have described.

I had not considered grbs. I am famiular with them, hard not to be they are extremely popular. I had never really considered cichlids to be honest. Probably for a varity of reasons they are very popular, everyone has them, issues that you can run into poor health in fish that are popular in the trade. My LFS is good so i dont think i have too much to worry about on that end. I have gone to breeders for bettas though got my current imbellis frank.

So far from what I have been told the b.spot seem to have a simular personality to borelli. They will greet you, are social with each other but probably wont go out of the way to interact with keepers.
I also the personality I seem like does not seem to be as common in fish that are a suitable size for my tank let alone personality that are also community fish.

I have this guy on the back burner as a possible single fish for the 36 Ozark sunfish. Not a solution i am 100% thrilled with, I have had a single fish in that tank for 7 years i would like to try something different now.

 

[anewbie]

Thank you so much for this, this is the kind of info I have been looking for. I do believe that borelli are more interactive. A tank journal about borelli is what got me interested in apistos and they have displayed simular behavior to what you have described.

I had not considered grbs. I am famiular with them, hard not to be they are extremely popular. I had never really considered cichlids to be honest. Probably for a varity of reasons they are very popular, everyone has them, issues that you can run into poor health in fish that are popular in the trade. My LFS is good so i dont think i have too much to worry about on that end. I have gone to breeders for bettas though got my current imbellis frank.

So far from what I have been told the b.spot seem to have a simular personality to borelli. They will greet you, are social with each other but probably wont go out of the way to interact with keepers.
I also the personality I seem like does not seem to be as common in fish that are a suitable size for my tank let alone personality that are also community fish.

I have this guy on the back burner as a possible single fish for the 36 Ozark sunfish. Not a solution i am 100% thrilled with, I have had a single fish in that tank for 7 years i would like to try something different now.

Also one thing to consider is that most species of apistogramma are not long lived; certainly nothing like gold fishes or clown loaches; so just be aware that if you are looking for a fish for generations or even a decade you will not find that in apistogramma. Many domestic breed will last 1 to 5 years depending on fish health and living condition and specific species; but i would venture that 2 or 3 years is what you will see in many cases.
-
As for sunfishes; other than the lovely picture i know nothing about them and in fact i know very little about a lot of things.

 

[Mike Wise]

As for sunfishes; other than the lovely picture i know nothing about them and in fact i know very little about a lot of things.

All I know is that they are fun to catch on light tackle and pretty good eating!

PlentyCoup9, have you considered one of the dwarf acaras (Laetacara spp.) or smaller "blue acara"? They are longer lived, colorful, and definitely have a more outgoing personality than most apistos.

 

[PlentyCoup9]

All I know is that they are fun to catch on light tackle and pretty good eating!

PlentyCoup9, have you considered one of the dwarf acaras (Laetacara spp.) or smaller "blue acara"? They are longer lived, colorful, and definitely have a more outgoing personality than most apistos.

No i have not I will look into them thanks.
I had really been settled on a native tank, but I sort of got sucked into researching cichlids because of tank journel on another forum.

I have started leaning back towards a native tank lol. They are wonderful fish and many have personalities comparable to a cichlid. The Green Sunfish is the cold water equivalent of a Jack Dempsy.

I have floated back to two possible tank stocking for natives (still researching cichlids though lol)
A mix of Blue Spotted and Black Banded Sunfish with a group of schooling fish or a single Ozark Longear (pictured in previous post) with a group of schooling fish.

 

[Mazan]

I agree with anewbie in that Apistogramma are not the most interactive of cichlids in general. I did have one male cacatuoides that was slightly more so in that he would come to the glass and display when he saw anyone. And I had an agassizii male who was definitely not shy but interacted with (ie chased) other cichlids and didn't take much notice of people, but mostly they are quite shy and stay hidden a lot of the time (in my limited experience). The Laetacaras (L. araguaiae at least) are rather more interactive (in that they beg for food) and are definitely not shy so might be worth considering. I have never kept rams so don't know about them, but I believe they are also not long-lived.