Re: was: safe catfish. now: any suggestions?Now safe anything?

[Mike & Diane Wise <apistowise@bewellnet.com>]

Colin,

Yes, this is absolutely true in theory, but how
big does the tank need to be?.
Tank size is very important when it comes to
territorial fish. Römer, among
others, has reported that males of some of the
more polygamous species of apistos
will defend a territory over 1m (40") long if
given the opportunity! For those
aquarists who must keep other bottom dwelling
species with their apistos, they
will have to put up with "inconveniences" like
occasional loss of eggs/fry to
predation or loss/damage of fish due to
interspecific territorial aggression. For
those who are interested in producing maximum
numbers of apisto fry there is only
one option - breeding tanks. I see no way around
this problem. Of course,
breeding tanks can have harmless dither fish
living in the upper reaches (I
prefer pencilfish). Species living on the bottom
will only be considered
potential fry predators and territorial
interlopers. Apistos, being cichlids,
will try to defend their territory/offspring.
Apistos rarely kill corys, but it isn't
unusual for them to take an eye out of catfish
since this is about their only
vulnerable spot. The choice is the hobbyists. For
me, I keep my apisto
pairs/trios in breeding tanks. My community tank
doesn't have pairs of any
territorial fish.

Mike Wise

David Colin Gorton wrote:

> It seems to me that, so long as water requirements (pH and hardness) and
> basic manners (i.e. not too much agression) are within a given range, you
> can keep almost anything with anything provided that _a_ there is enough
> cover and _b_ there is enough space and _c_ there is enough food. Any
> comments? (How about that for opening up a forum for discussion - let's
> count the flames, lol)
>
> Colin

>
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