apisto's

tropicalcrazy

tropicalcrazy

Large Fish
#1
Nov 19, 2008
702
0
0
Des Moines, Iowa
#1
ok 2 questions

1:i noticed that a german blue ram angel its technical name is a apistogramma something and i notice that they are peaceful. how true is this and do they do well in schools in a large tank? are the like other apisto's?

2:in a large tank since apistos are community fish and peaceful does this mean that you can keep a bunch of different apisto's together and they do fine in the community? or are they like other cichlids and could get aggressive? and if so isnt this only during breeding so if you got all of one sex then you should be fine?
 

unwritten law

unwritten law

Superstar Fish
#2
Sep 2, 2008
1,471
0
0
36
DC
#2
if you get all males your gonna have a problem not matter what.... they are either Apistogramma Ramerzii or Microgeophagus ramirezi.... I favor the second name... the ran angel is just a long finned ram... I would'nt do a big school though cause they get territorial no matter what I think...same with regular apistos
 

tropicalcrazy

tropicalcrazy

Large Fish
#4
Nov 19, 2008
702
0
0
Des Moines, Iowa
#4
i think your right though on them being a little territorial though even though they say peaceful. maybe when i do my 180g community/schooling tank i will do a couple different apisto's and maybe 1 each of those ram angels that i just listed from the link of cichlid station i just wont do large schools. maybe like 6 total apistos, 1 each of those ram angels, and 4 other different apisto's.

in this tank im planning on doing a school of bala's (3 at max), school of barbs (probably 4 each of albino, regular, green, and platinum green, guess this will rule out getting a ram angel as barbs can be fin nippers but in a buddy's tank the barbs did fine with his 7 angels but they were also fully grown), 3 angelfish maybe 2, albino rainbow shark, school of ottos or smaller loaches, black knife, unique type of bichir (dont know which one yet or if i will do one period since when fully grown might make a snack of the barbs or ottos), and about 3 different types of smaller pleco's (probably rubber lip, clown, and bristlenose or medusa)
 

tropicalcrazy

tropicalcrazy

Large Fish
#5
Nov 19, 2008
702
0
0
Des Moines, Iowa
#5
oh and i forgot a blue paradise gourami and gold gourami

ive kept almost all these fish and they have all got along pretty decently well. the only ones i havent kept are the black knife but know someone who has, apisto's, the bristlenose or medusa head pleco, and angels

i figure in a 180g they will all do just fine together. the only i dont know really about are the apisto's and the angels. they should be fine as i know someone who has angels with gourami's and barbs and all do well
 

tropicalcrazy

tropicalcrazy

Large Fish
#8
Nov 19, 2008
702
0
0
Des Moines, Iowa
#8
SinisterKisses said:
Oh jesus. Please don't listen to ANYTHING that site says...everything I'm reading is completely wrong. Rams are NOT apistos.
Click to expand...
ok so whats your opinion on this since i have a couple different cichlid species mixed here: a school of bala's (3 at max), school of barbs (probably 4 each of albino, regular, green, and platinum green tiger barbs), 3-5 angelfish, albino rainbow shark, school of Angelicus Botia Loach (Botia angelicus) probably like 5-6, black knife, unique type of bichir (dont know which one yet or if i will do one period since when fully grown might make a snack of the barbs), about 3 different types of smaller pleco's (probably rubber lip, clown, and bristlenose or medusa head), a gold and blue paradise gourami, and like 6 different apisto's
 

Orion

Orion

Ultimate Fish
Moderator
#9
Feb 10, 2003
5,803
3
38
Kentucky
www.thefishcave.net
#9
The bichir will likely end up trying to snack on the apisto's. The knife probably would as well. Unless you can get them for the price of neon's, I might pass.

Also, it can be difficult to get a sexed apisto as most people only want to sell as pairs. So you'll need to be careful of which species you get so that they won't be overly aggressive twords others that look like them, or spawn with another species all together.

It takes lots of research on apisto's alone to setup a successful tank. IMHO, it would be better for long term stability of the tank to plan around the apisto's, rather than just have them tossed in somewhere in the mix.
 

big54bob

big54bob

Superstar Fish
#10
Dec 20, 2006
1,486
6
38
30
On my office chair playing Runescape
#10
Orion said:
The bichir will likely end up trying to snack on the apisto's. The knife probably would as well. Unless you can get them for the price of neon's, I might pass.
Click to expand...
Thats exactly as I put it in your other thread.

Your going to want stock around the fish you curruntly have. Add the larger more agressive fish into the 180(bala shark, bicher, large pl*co, gold algae eater) and stock more peaceful fish into your 55gal. Stick with a larger fish theme for the 180. Go with CA/SA cichlids, tilapia, jewel cichlids, a giant goramy, etc.

Wile with the 55gal stick the rainbow sharks and the clown pl*co along iwith other semi agressive fish into that 55gal. Go with barbs, larger tetras, kribenisis cichlids, etc.
 

Last edited:
depthC

depthC

Superstar Fish
#11
Feb 24, 2003
1,417
0
0
WI
#11
Orion said:
The bichir will likely end up trying to snack on the apisto's. The knife probably would as well. Unless you can get them for the price of neon's, I might pass.

Also, it can be difficult to get a sexed apisto as most people only want to sell as pairs. So you'll need to be careful of which species you get so that they won't be overly aggressive twords others that look like them, or spawn with another species all together.

It takes lots of research on apisto's alone to setup a successful tank. IMHO, it would be better for long term stability of the tank to plan around the apisto's, rather than just have them tossed in somewhere in the mix.
Click to expand...
Listen to this man right here *thumbsups

Apistos are awesome little fish and I believe you would be very happy with one species not many. All apisto species vary in temperment and all are territorial. They may belong to the apistogramma family but they are a different species a different fish.

For example A. cacatuoides males will tolerate each other if given enough room. Had two pairs in a 45g tank. The older one would pretty much control most of the tank with a fairly small footprint of 36"x12". He didnt harrass him constantly but quiet a bit and this wasnt even at breeding time. All apistos can get nasty when guarding eggs. They will keep all or try to keep all other community fish away from their spawn. So plan well to accomodate your apistos and other fish.

If cacatuoides are the most commonly called peaceful then i wouldnt care to try slewing different species together. Just seeing the older male cacatuoides make the younger cower i felt i didnt have a big enough tank for them to roam their own territories and that was only 2 males.

Good luck
 

tropicalcrazy

tropicalcrazy

Large Fish
#12
Nov 19, 2008
702
0
0
Des Moines, Iowa
#12
ah such great info. thanks a lot for the help. looks like ill be going and doing more reading and then asking more questions. i wanted to get almost all questions out of way before i set up. so tell me what you think. oh and why do you say balas are so aggressive. mine has been extremely passive the whole time ive had him?

5-6 angels
3-4 balas
4 tiger barbs
4 albino tiger barbs
4 green tiger barbs
4 platinum green tiger barbs
5 angelicus botia loaches
pair of apistos
possibly 1 blood red parrot (need opinion on this)
1 rubber lip pleco
1 clown pleco
1 bristlenose or medusa head pleco
1 gold gourami
1 blue paradise gourami
1 albino rainbow shark
1 redtail shark (possibly)

would like maybe 1-2 more schools of something
 

Last edited:
tropicalcrazy

tropicalcrazy

Large Fish
#14
Nov 19, 2008
702
0
0
Des Moines, Iowa
#14
unwritten law said:
Get a big school of a larger tetra... bloodfins and buenos aires tetras school pretty tightly IMO
Click to expand...
will tetra's do fine with all those? wasnt completely for sure but if so then thats what ill do get a large school of tetra's. ive always loved them. they are so vibrant with colors.

what do you think like 10 of each with everything else? there will be plenty of room.
 

tropicalcrazy

tropicalcrazy

Large Fish
#15
Nov 19, 2008
702
0
0
Des Moines, Iowa
#15
big54bob said:
Thats exactly as I put it in your other thread.

Your going to want stock around the fish you curruntly have. Add the larger more agressive fish into the 180(bala shark, bicher, large pl*co, gold algae eater) and stock more peaceful fish into your 55gal. Stick with a larger fish theme for the 180. Go with CA/SA cichlids, tilapia, jewel cichlids, a giant goramy, etc.

Wile with the 55gal stick the rainbow sharks and the clown pl*co along iwith other semi agressive fish into that 55gal. Go with barbs, larger tetras, kribenisis cichlids, etc.
Click to expand...
the only thing is i dont want a bunch of large fish, i want a bunch of schools with medium/smaller fish so therefore i will opt out the hifin and the bichir and knife in the 180. i will just end up keeping the bichir and hifin in the 55g and add some other fish maybe some SA/CA cichlids not too many though
 

tropicalcrazy

tropicalcrazy

Large Fish
#17
Nov 19, 2008
702
0
0
Des Moines, Iowa
#17
unwritten law said:
Get a big school of a larger tetra... bloodfins and buenos aires tetras school pretty tightly IMO
Click to expand...
are there any other tetra schools that i may do? i couldnt do bloodfins because they are fin nippers and would hurt the angels, and the buenos aires though they do good in school they eat plants which wont work because i want a fully planted tank.

will a majority of the tetra species go well when schooled together with all those other fish? the reason im asking because i will just search for another type that is neither a fin nipper or plant eater
 

tropicalcrazy

tropicalcrazy

Large Fish
#19
Nov 19, 2008
702
0
0
Des Moines, Iowa
#19
or how about rainbow fish like these i noticed are peaceful and decent size Red Irian Rainbow (Glossolepis incisis), Boesemani Rainbow (Melanotaenia boesemani), Praecox Rainbow (Melanotaenia praecox), Australian Rainbow (Melanotaenia splendida), Ornate Rainbow (Rhadinocentrus ornatus),Madagascan Rainbow (Bedotia gaeyi)

and i noticed that this one was pretty aggressive, anyone know about its behavior or whether it would mix in a semi-aggressive schooling/community tank?
Assorted Pseudomugil Rainbow (Pseudomugil sp.)
 

You must log in or register to reply here.