Thinking of adding pair of Agassiz?s Dwarf Cichlid (Stocking Plan Rev A)

feederfish

feederfish

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Feb 7, 2009
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Thinking of adding pair of Agassiz’s Dwarf Cichlid (Stocking Plan Rev A)

I am backing off completely from mixing Gourami (Too risky for my first tank). Though, this may be equally as bad:

So, I was think of adding a pair of Agassiz's Dwarf Cichlids (Apistogramma agassizi) to the following:

12 Cardinal Tetra
3 Pearl Gourami
3 Polka-Dot or Zebra Loachs
3 Red Wagtail Platy

As mentioned in my Gourami stocking thread, tank size was expected to be 75 to 125 gallons, but I shrank my stocking down atm, since I was offer a good deal on a 70 gallons setup, that I may consider.

My concern is the territorial nature on the bottom of the tank and the desire of the loaches to sift through sand and gravel for food. Will a 70+ gallon tank be enough territory room for the Cichlids with the loaches? Is there other compatibilty to consider?

I am thinking if the Agassiz Cichlids are added towards the end of the stocking, the tetra will be big enough and the water will be cycled over many times by then.

I see there are quite a few peaceful (somewhat) Cichlids, so realize there are other options that may work better, if I want a pair.

Appreciate all the help so far AC!
 
KarlTh said:
I wouldn't recommend Apistos for a first tank. They are quite sensitive.
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x2. But to answer one of your questions, even if the apisotos wanted to bother the loaches they would have a hard time doing it. The loaches would have no problem evading.
 
I think it will be fine if you keep up on your maintenance and do adequate research beforehand. You seem to be doing just that. :)
 
Hooked Newbie said:
I think it will be fine if you keep up on your maintenance and do adequate research beforehand. You seem to be doing just that. :)
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I agree. Normally I wouldn't recommend apistogramma for a 1st tank, but I do think that it can work if you wait until your tank is mature until you add them. You will have to be diligent with maintenance if you want to keep apistos but if you are willing to put in the effort then there should be no issue. :)

Good luck with your first tank, and keep researching! :)
 
Just be aware that they are quite sensitive to high levels of TDS (GH and KH are the best approximation in aquaria) and nitrate. Neither of these kill them per se but make the fish less resistant to disease.
 
one other thing is many apisto's including agassazis, are harem breeders. Hopefully instead of a pair you get a trio (a lone female may be harrassed to much by the male) . considering that, each female will take a piece of territory (depends on tank layout, the more broken and line of site obstructions, the smaller the territory's, but expect at least 1 to 1.5 sq feet per female. Having a lot of cover and obstructions is a very good idea.). And despite that these are dwarf cichlids, they are very much a cichlid and can be extremly aggressive. Aggassazi's are not as agresssive as some, but they do hold their own. the loaches will probably try to ignore them and do their loachy thing, but if they start spawning they probably won't hurt the laoches but may be able to drive them off. My mated pair of apisto panduro's (larger then the agassazi's and considered a little more aggressive in general) that spawned drove off vastly larger pleco's and dwarf cory's without much trouble (though the cardinals took most of the fry once they were free swimming).
 
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