Re: compatibility??

[Mike & Diane Wise <apistowise@fgn.net>]

Alex,

I imagine that you could get all of these species
in a 4'/120cm tank, but I don't think you would
like the results. No matter how small dwarf
cichlids are, they are still cichlids. They are
territorial just like the big boys. Single
macmasteri-group males like A. hongsloi & A.
viejita, which are highly polygamous, have been
reported to claim the bottom area of an entire 55
gallon tank. A. panduro tends to be more
monogamous, but the pairs can destroy other fish
that enter their territory when they want to
breed. Your Rams do best in warmer water (85º F /
29º C). They probably won't hold their own with
the more robust apistos that you list. I doubt
that you would get many fry from this set up and
likely lose a lot of fish in the bargain.

If I were you I would consider moving the Rams to
a warm water tank. Use your larger tank to house a
pair of A. panduro or a trio of either A. hongsloi
or A. viejita along with the L. curviceps. Since
the apistos & dwarf acaras spawn in different
ways, the tank can be aquascaped to make separate
territories for each species. Laetacara curviceps
(as it's now called) is robust enough to handle
the apistos listed. Other species that don't use
the bottom 1/3 of the tank will be chased away,
but not persecuted.

As for cost, none of the species you list are
especially hard to reproduce & they are all fairly
popular. Because of this they aren't especially
expensive. I'd expect to pay closer to
US$25-30/pair as opposed to some that run in the
US$50-100/pair.

Mike Wise

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Mike Wise

The Harpers wrote:

> Hi all,I have been looking on the net for some
> nice apistos to add to my somewhat small
> collection (a pair of rams).  I have a community
> 4ft tank and a 2ft breeding tank.  I was
> wondering if I could put A. hongsloi, A.
> viejita, A. panduro and Aeq. Curviceps in this
> community tanks with the rams, tetras, gouramis
> etc.  Reading previous posts, I think that
> having multiple pairs of apistos in a community
> is a misconception.  If I had a pair of each and
> moved them into the breeding tank, which I can
> get more of, to spawn, could I have a community
> and a successful breeding tank? Also, are any of
> the above mentioned fish overly expensive,
> aggressive, large, hard to keep or hard to
> breed?  Also, are any harem spawners or trios
> etc? Thanks,Alex



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