5 Gallon Tank Borelli pair in a 5g?

Hi all, just looking into fun ideas and was curious on thoughts of permanently housing apisto borelli as a pair in a 5g aquarium. I have heard people successfully doing this quite frequently and wasn’t sure if this opinion has changed over time. Thanks for any information!!!

 

Hi all, just looking into fun ideas and was curious on thoughts of permanently housing apisto borelli as a pair in a 5g aquarium. I have heard people successfully doing this quite frequently and wasn’t sure if this opinion has changed over time. Thanks for any information!!!

I would go with no. The very very min I would do for a pair is 10g, but ideally 15-20g is better.

 

Skip. The minimum aquarium size for any Apistogramma is 20 gallons. A 10 is a little on the small end for any pair of Apistos.

 

Always anxious to know which people are telling so.

 

Noooooooooo

 

5 gallon - Not even a single Apistogramma on it's own with any tankmates. Too small for almost all fish imo.
10 gallon - Known to be used by breeders, but then usually the males get removed after spawning, because otherwise the females may eat eggs and/or spawn due to stress.
20 gallon - Minimum size for longterm keeping of more docile Apistogramma species like A. borelli or A. agassizii, that can be kept in pairs.
29 gallon: Minimum size for any other Apistogramma to be kept longterm in harems with 1 male and 2 females.

 

Always anxious to know which people are telling so.

There is a thread on 5g stocking ideas I was looking at micro fish and saw someone very adamant that borelli could be in a 5g permanently and I did more research and so did other people I found out

 

I wouldn't recommend it...A. borelli is a relatively peaceful apisto, but from my own reading the male usually needs to be removed for his own safety the moment the female has fry to guard (which I am assuming you want to happen), even in a 10 gallon. It's always better to err on the side of too big with cichlids, as they are definitely individuals and you can always get a psychotic specimen with any species, even a relatively peaceful one like borelli; plus, apistos are not exactly bulletproof and the extra water volume will minimize the stress caused by, say, accidentally overfeeding the fish or missing a water change (speaking from my own fish breeding experiences here...you WANT the extra volume! I've lost an entire batch of 150 something Microctenopoma fasciolatum fry before due to missing several days of daily water changes in a 10 gallon. I'm not going to raise nearly that many fry again, but still...)

Unrelated side note; A. borelli is not a true tropical fish and is regularly found in water near freezing in their native habitat, so if your house stays above 50 fahrenheit and you don't need the fish to spawn incessantly you can make due without a heater when not spawning them. Below 50 fahrenheit they become very vulnerable to disease, from what I've heard from those who have kept these fish outside for part of the year.