Apistogramma question

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2brown347

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Oct 18, 2009
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Any of you who saw my shell dweller thread know I'm thinking of starting some tanks with small cichlid varities. On top of shellies I'm going to start a
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Apistogramma tank, which I'm also still in the research stages for. I know the type of tank they need and the basic care needs but I still have a few questions.

1. What is the smallest Apistogramma that would be good for a first time keeper of Apistogramma? I've gotten mixed results on this but I'm not sure.

2. Like shellies most the sites about their care talk in terms of keeping a pair or more. Also like with the shellies I don't want to deal with rehoming all the fry, but I can if needed. So I'm wondering if any do fine by themselves or a group of females can be together without a effect on social behavior or health.

Thanks
 
Cacatuoides & aggassizi are quite easy, bitaeniata(?) are smaller, I haven't kept those (& I'm stuck on bold, sorry) Any would be fine in a 20g long. Cacs have a wide acceptable range of water conditions.
 
Also consider a. borelli, another easy-to-keep species with pretty breeding colors. :idea:
 
I would never keep a group of females. They just don't have coloring that even comes close to rivaling males'. Great fish though. You have a ton of options. Just feed a varied diet of quality food.
 
stay away from Blue steel..... nice fish but not worth effort ,,, tough to find a female... really tough,, they seem to be flooding the market now.. find them all the time.. Sometime you can find a really neat colorful male,, thats the only exception i would make to keep one..
Always keep apisto is pairs or trios,,, thats the best way to watch them...

start with some cacs double red,, or orange flash etc... Rach said she have some fry ready in few weeks... hers are really nice...
 
For a beginner to apistogramma, don't worry whether it's small or not, just go for the easier species.

These include aggassizi, cacatoides, borelli, trifasiata. Start with them, and if you are pleased with them continue on to other species.
 
I just got a double red cac pair. :) They're gorgeous, and have a great personality. I've actually been surprised with how active and how much they're swimming throughout the water column, after how much I was told they're bottom dwellers.
 
make sure you have soft water if you are trying to breed apisto's as otherwise the eggs will not develop right, and they will eat them.

Have fun with the apisto's they are really beautiful and fun fish.
 
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