Apistos in Community Tank?

Hi, we have a 55 gal community tank stocked with:
8 Dwarf Neon Rainbows
2 Pearl Gouramis (about to be 4)
3 SEA
1 l-134
3 assassin snails
Next will be 12 or so Cardinal Tetras

Finally we were considering Apistos as they will be the only other bottom dweller besides the L-134.

My question is, how many could I keep here? We would liken4. I’ve been reading a lot here about breeding aggression, etc. I love the Apisto look, but am afraid to get 2 pairs and have then go nuts in our peaceful tank.

It is a planted tank, PH 7.7, temp 76 to 78. These are the exact paramaters of my local LFS that has several types of Apistos.

Which Apistos would you experts recommend we look into? And should we just do one, two or go for 4? Should they all be the same kind? Or can we mix it up? Could we do all males? Or all Females? Or 1 male and 3 females?

 

Personally I would do either 1 male, 1 male three females or all females. If you don’t want to breed them and have to worry about aggression I would get one male or all females.

I have kept a few different apistos and the males can really bully the females. If you do choose to have males and females make sure you have lots of hiding spots.

 

I would prefer to have just males without females, Could I keep 2 or 3 males of different varieties? Say 1 Cacatuoides , 1 Trifasciata and one Agassizii? or whatever other apisto Species?

 

I would prefer to have just males without females, Could I keep 2 or 3 males of different varieties? Say 1 Cacatuoides , 1 Trifasciata and one Agassizii? or whatever other apisto Species?

Unfortunately I would probably say to not go that route. 3 males could end up getting pretty ugly. Not a guarantee, but they are cichlids and one of them is going to be the dominant and probably bully the others. I’d stick With the recommendations, 1 male with just females or just a few females

 

Unfortunately I would probably say to not go that route. 3 males could end up getting pretty ugly. Not a guarantee, but they are cichlids and one of them is going to be the dominant and probably bully the others. I’d stick With the recommendations, 1 male with just females or just a few females

Would this be the case even if the 3 males are different Apisto species? I realize the same species males (say all Cacatuoides) would be a problem....But if they are from different species would this also be a problem?

Otherwise I will prob just keep one.....I don't want breeding behavior in the tank and the girls don't look as good.

 

I don’t think it would make much of a difference. 3 Apisto males (same or different species) are probably not going to get along great. Not saying it’s impossible with lines of sight broken up and plenty of hiding spots, but IME not worth the headache/worry

 

Will a pair (M/F) breed under any tank conditions? Or do they need a specific temperature/PH to breed?

 

Depends on the lineage of the apistos and species. In my experience with triple reds, steel blues, agassiziI all they needed to breed was clean water.

Some will say you need low ph, tannins, leaf litter, driftwood, certain tds ect...All depends on the fish. I think you are best off with a single male. They might be small but they get very nasty. I had a pair of triple red apistos in my community tank with adult angels and cardinals, the male would chase and nip at the angels. Ended up having to rehome the angels.

 

Got it...I was wondering if my PH (76-7.8) and temp would stop them from breeding

 

Usually fry will never survive in a community tank.

 

Usually fry will never survive in a community tank.

I realize that. But that wasn't my question. My question had to do with the actual breeding.....

 

Apisto species have certain temperatures required in general care/captivity. They can handle 72-78ish. Decreasing or increasing the temperature is not going to be a sure fire way that they won’t breed or will breed. Most commercially bred apistos are very adaptable your ph also is not a sure way they will or won’t breed.

 

Thank you John.

For what is worth, I just heard back from ApistoDave….he thought I could do no more than 3 males from different complexes....

 

No problem! Good luck with whatever you choose, hope it works out for you and your fish!

 

Thank you John.

 

Dave knows his stuff, but at the same time he wants that sale. If you go with three males I think what he is saying is make sure they don't look like each other.