[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index][Index by Month]

Re: Corys, otos and ditherfish - yes or no



Nuno,

Let me put my opinion out for you. A 95 gallon tank - properly aquascaped is certainly adequate for 2 trios of Apistogramma. As long as the fish cannot see across the entire length of the tank you should have no problem with agassizii & a macmasteri-group species setting up 2 separate territories. The two forms are so different that they certainly will not cross breed.

Pencilfish are ideal community members with apistos. They do not actually school and their mouths are to small to eat any but the smallest fry. Hatchetfish, however, will be a problem unless the aquarium is tightly covered. They will "fly" out of the water if an apisto attacks them. The Corydoras hastatus are a question. Since they are not actually bottom dwellers (they tend to school in mid-water levels) it is possible that the apistos will ignore them.

You write that your water is around 100ppm (<7ºdH), but you don't say if this is permanent hardness (GH) or carbonate hardness (KH). Depending on the amount of KH, peat may be able to soften your water sufficiently to permit aggies & macs to breed. Both species can successfully breed at pH 6.5, GH <100ppm, & KH <50ppm. I do not believe that you will need an R/O unit for these fish.

Mike Wise



Nuno Prazeres wrote:

Hi!

I am preparing a 95 gal tank (with additional capacity - 30 gal from the sump) to host two trios of apisto - agassizii + macmasteri complex (do they share habitats in nature?). The tank will be set up with driftwood, rocks and plants. The goal is to watch the inter and intraspecific behaviour of these fish in a quite low stockage environment.

Giving this goal, is it appropriate to use a few small species corys (hastatus???) and otos as cleaners and typical ditherfish like pencils and/or hachet fish? Would those fish interfere in the behaviour of the apistos or they will just contribute to make it more evident as they are said to work as a sort of assurance there is no predator threat arround?

Another thing...

How acid should the water be?
How hard should it be?
Mine comes from the tap at 100 ppm General Hardness and 7,4 pH which is not too bad - is a smaller setup a bit peat filtering and CO2 are enough to get it to pH 6,2 and 60ppm GH.
Should I use peat and/or CO2 or get serious and go straight to RO?



Thanks for any help

Nuno Prazeres

_________________________________________________________________
MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus


-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-- This is the apistogramma mailing list, apisto@listbox.com. For
instructions on how to subscribe or unsubscribe or get help, email
apisto-request@listbox.com. apisto-digest@listbox.com also available.
Web archives at http://lists.thekrib.com/apisto Trading at
http://blox.dropship.org/mailman/listinfo/apisto_trader



-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-- This is the apistogramma mailing list, apisto@listbox.com. For
instructions on how to subscribe or unsubscribe or get help, email
apisto-request@listbox.com. apisto-digest@listbox.com also available.
Web archives at http://lists.thekrib.com/apisto Trading at
http://blox.dropship.org/mailman/listinfo/apisto_trader