Need Advice on Setting Up a Dwarf Cichlid Tank

[valice]

Did you check out this sticky?
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=19566

It basically covers the gists of apisto keeping.

Apistos are in fact pretty hardy creatures. It is just that their price tag make us apisto crazed up people make them feel like fragile creatures. They are similar to all other fauna, needing proper acclimatisation and proper food, good condition water.

If you have kept discus, you will have the necessary skills to keep apistogramma imo. They are both cichlids and imo, discus are more picky on water condition. I am not saying that you don't need to change water at all! Once a while 20% water change is still necessary to prevent the NO3 levels from exceeding too much or an accumulation of NO3 and other nutrients if you doing a hi-maintanence planted tank.

Farm-bred species are generally easier to keep them wild caught. Wild caughts might come from very very soft and acidic waters... Some reaching levels of 5-5.5 and if not acclimatised properly, they suffer from pH shock and water goes into the toilet bowl.

Apistogrammas are generally more prone to internal bacteria or parasite due to their habit of sieving food from the substrate. And most of us hobbyists lost fish to this disease. So keeping the substrate clean is necessary. And indirectly meaning, we should not overfeed them as that will leave uneaten food in the substrate and cause problems later.

I hope that helps abit in your decision making.

[illumnae]

do apistos absolutely require sand type substrate? the one i'm currently using is quite course, about 5mm diameter...it's called biogravel or something like that and is artificially made with bacteria formation in mind...would using that be ok?

[valice]

Sure that it is all right. You wouldn't get to see the sifting activity of the fish. But not an issue at all. I kept them in ADA soil and lapis sand tanks. No sand in those tanks.

[illumnae]

i've taken the plunge now...have 2 triple red juvs in my tank with currently 2 BN pleco as algae crew...have yet to add in the dithers (seems like everywhere in singapore is out of pencilfish!) but hopefully they'll be in over the weekend...thinking of using cardinal tetras instead.

many thanks to everyone, especially bro eman (thanks for the great fish!), for your immense help and i hope to report good news and progress soon!

[valice]

Check out Biotope. Should have pencil fish. Only whether the price is acceptable for you or not.

[illumnae]

i'll give them a call tomorrow or saturday =) their prices are ok i feel, slightly more expensive than outside but still manageable, and i was told by bros here that their quality of fish is topnotch =)

[illumnae]

if the food i use to feed my apistos (tetrabits complete) are the same colour and similar shape to my gravel, will the fish be able to find them when they sink into the gravel or should i change to a different more obvious looking food? =) my gravel's too big for them to sift

[illumnae]

can anyone advice pls? they don't attack the food while it's sinking down, and i don't see them actually finding it...though they might do so when i'm not around...is this an ok situation or should i change to an easier to see (not red) food?

[valice]

It might be a problem that they can't reach for the food as it is stuck between the gravel. Seems like you have pretty large pieces.

You might want to check what has Eman been feeding the fishes. If they are on purely BBS diet, it will take some time for them to take to pellet food.

[illumnae]

he's been feeding them flakes, pellets and live foods...he said they were well trained to take dried food =) my only worry is that they can't find it amongst the similarly coloured gravel...so far from what i see the food is within reaching distance from them when it falls, just that after awhile when i look away and look back i can't really tell the difference between gravel and food anymore so i was worried the fish couldn't either =)

[Cacatuoides]

I feed my apistos tetra flakes, hikari discus pellets, frozen BS and live bbs..... they are all trained and take these food readily with eagerness during each feeding time...don't worry because they will start looking for food when they're hungry....

[illumnae]

thanks for all the tips =) i went out and bought some frozen bs today (very cheap compared to my frozen bw for discus!) and they attacked it like crazy, think i'll need to go get the hikari discus pellets and tetra flakes cuz they ignore the tetrabits, and the bits are too big for my dithers - can't fit in their mouth and they don't pick from the bottom.

oh and i managed to get my pencilfish dithers! =) turns out that polyart only has 1 competent staff there...when i called on wed (they had a shipment in on monday) i was told all sold out...then ecoculture sold out too so i tried calling again and spoke to the staff who knew his staff (previously i only dealt with him) and he told me still got some left...so i rushed down and bought the last 10 pieces left...so now my tank is complete! =) but my albino bristlenoses are double the size of my apistos tho, so i might sell them and get otos instead...how many otos would be recommended as algae crew for a 2x1x1?

[illumnae]

Here's a picture of my newly set up apisto tank. Specs are as follows:

Tank: 2x1x1 5plan tank
Filtration: 3 tier semi-diy OHF with media in the following order

• lava rocks
• course sponge
• ceramic rings
• fine sponge
• activated carbon

Lights: 18W for 6 hours a day
Substrate: Bio-gravel (similar to Ocean-free one, but german brand)
CO2: none
Fertilisation: none
pH: 4.5
Fauna:

• 2x apisto caca "triple red" juv (1 pair)
• 2x albino bristlenose pleco (2x the size of the apistos currently)
• 10x one-lined pencilfish

Flora:

• 3x anubias "nana" (tied on bogwood)
• taiwan moss (tied on lava rock)

Diet:

• Tetrabits Complete twice a day
• Frozen Brine Shrimp (just bought today, probably once every 2 days)

Further tips and comments and criticisms will be greatly appreciated =)

[illumnae]

once again thanks for all the tips and help everyone! sorry for any annoyance caused by my overenthusiasm and i hope my journey into the world of apisto keeping will be a smooth one =)

[valice]

No problems with your enthusiasm... We will be glad to help you with your questions...

[wks]

Provide more caves. Apistogrammas like to explore around their territory.

[illumnae]

was just wondering...would a black substrate (eg quartz) bring out the colours of my triple reds better than the current reddish brown biogravel does? and would it be harmful for me to layer the black over the biogravel (since the biogravel is a biomedia after all) or should i remove it and replace with the black?

opinions would be greatly appreciated asap as i'll be going fish farm and LFS touring with my friend tomorrow afternoon and will get my new gravel then if the black is indeed better to view my triple reds =) thanks!

[leeruisheng]

Definitely the black substrate will offer more contrast. Water parameters wise shouldn't be a problem which i presume it is inert. But not sure though if can place over biogravel.

May I ask how come your pH is so low. Is it caused by the lava rocks?

[illumnae]

i'm not sure myself to be honest...when i was keeping discus the ph was at 6 - 6.5 (using azoo test kit) last i measured...only thing i changed with this tank was that i added recommended dosage of ocean free blackwater extract...then when i measured the ph before i put the fish in and a few days later, the kit showed me 4.5! i was stunned myself (and still am)..will measure the new water i add in when i change water after changing the substrate and update back here.

does anyone know if it's ok to put black substrate over biogravel?

[leeruisheng]

I see. Cause blackwater extract is from peat, thus lower your pH.