I just got a pair of apisto cockatoides...other than my bolivian ram these are the only cichlids ive ever had....so i have minimal experience. I put them in a heavily planted 20gal that get CO2 injection during the day and off at night, resulting in ph swings, ( i would imagine).....During the day, PH is about 6.8, in the morning right when co2 gets started it is 7.3 or so. My fancy guppies dont mind a bit and breed like crazy...but for fear of stressing my cichlids, i turned off the CO2 to avoid PH swings and just have a constant PH of 7.3 or so. I will add peat to my HOB filter to lower it a bit. I have very fine leaves plants that are compact (dwarf hairgrass/glosso center, in the two back corner s I have taller plants that shy fish could hide in, but I dont have any rockwork or caves yet. I know I need to get some flower pots and rockwork asap to make them comfortable right? also my lighting is quite strong. 2X65 watt CF ficture...so i turned off one light so only one bulb is on to reduce stress. the male seems right at home, eating flake and swimming in the open. the female seems o too, but is shyer. I think all of the guppy fry swimming about are making the cichlids think that they are in a safe predator free area, as dither fish are supposed to do. I will post my pics TOMMOROW. any advie on keping these guys would be greatly appreciated. 
