For making caves I'm buying slate type rocks and stacking them. While the Apistogramma spawn i caves they don't necessarly hide out in them all the time. Actually they are considered very interesting to watch. Most of them live in Harems where one male goes around to all the females.
As for Rams although they are probably the most beautiful they require near perfect water conditions and aren't recommended for a beginner.
Lamprologus/Neolamprologus are shell dwelling species which breed in shells at the bottom of the tank.
I would recommend maybe some apistogramma or (neo)lamprologus. Also to keep these fish more active it's good to use dither fish, I am adding tetras and maybe some hatchet fish with my Apistos. You can use all kinds of fish for dithers like danios, tetras, etc. I am using tetras since they are native to the amazon like my apistogrammas. I try to make my tanks recreate the natural element. Just do lots of research on all these to find out what appealls most to you.
One nice thing about the Apisto./Tetra setup that I have choosen is that they love live plants. I started out planting and next I'll add a few tetras. The plants use the ammonia and help from having ammonia spikes while cycling. The only problem is I had to get over $100 worth of lighting for my plants. Also you have to fertlize plants which is a another huge can of worms, but worth it IMO. I'll save the plant discussion for another thread
.
As for Rams although they are probably the most beautiful they require near perfect water conditions and aren't recommended for a beginner.
Lamprologus/Neolamprologus are shell dwelling species which breed in shells at the bottom of the tank.
I would recommend maybe some apistogramma or (neo)lamprologus. Also to keep these fish more active it's good to use dither fish, I am adding tetras and maybe some hatchet fish with my Apistos. You can use all kinds of fish for dithers like danios, tetras, etc. I am using tetras since they are native to the amazon like my apistogrammas. I try to make my tanks recreate the natural element. Just do lots of research on all these to find out what appealls most to you.
One nice thing about the Apisto./Tetra setup that I have choosen is that they love live plants. I started out planting and next I'll add a few tetras. The plants use the ammonia and help from having ammonia spikes while cycling. The only problem is I had to get over $100 worth of lighting for my plants. Also you have to fertlize plants which is a another huge can of worms, but worth it IMO. I'll save the plant discussion for another thread
.