suggestions about tank size

**Incredible319** · 27th Oct 2013, 21:54

hi all,

I probably caught the apisto bug and as such, I am contemplating either to partition my current apisto tank to house one more pair of apistos (a different breed such as cacatuoides, agassizi, trifasciata or vijieta etc) OR to house the pair in my 3 ft community tank despite the relatively warm temperature (32 deg).

I currently have a pair of panduros in a tank size (2 ft x 1 ft x 1 ft) (as in the pic) and was hoping to use an acrylic divider to get the job done. Of course, i will be revamping the whole setup for both partitions separately.

Is that a good idea or a definite NO because the space would be too small?

thanks!

PS:
a) I have a bigger 3 ft community tank but the temperature is close to 32 deg in there since it is inside the living room. A chiller is out of budget. Unless you reckon i house them in there?

b) I also have a spare 1.5 ft by 1 ft by 1 ft tank which i use to quarantine fish/frys, which i could use for the setup BUT i am trying to minimise the work load/water change etc. Having two tanks running takes time/effort, let alone having a third one.

**EdwinTay** · 28th Oct 2013, 07:59

hi bro Incredible319

From my experience, temperature is an important factor (should not be more than 28-29C). Having said that, I have recently successfully bred Wilhelmi, Hoignei, Trifasciata, Mamore in my covered balcony.

My tanks are all Gex S tanks or even smaller. However, I have bred Eunotus in a custom-made community glass pond (1 ft height x 3 ft x 3 ft). The proviso is that you have to provide ample hiding places & be prepared for massive loss of fries.

I have tried using partitions but have not been successful. I think the apistos spent time flaring at each other rather than mating.

Do not worry about space for apistos as long as there are ample hiding places just in case one of the fish get too aggressive. For instance, I have successfully bred Trifasciata in an OceanFree 1 feet tank where there were 1 male & 2 females & I left the fries there until they were about 3 weeks old - no problem.

**Incredible319** · 28th Oct 2013, 09:55

thks bro..Yes, this is the issue that I am still checking out for my apisto setup.

ok, noted about the hiding places..will provide as much as i can..As for the fries, i guess i will have the spare tank to put them in for a while or at worse, put them in my 3 ft tank (i dont have aggressive fish in there and its semi-planted).

How about covering the partitions with black paper to completely isolate them? that should be better in preventing them from flaring, right?

**EdwinTay** · 28th Oct 2013, 10:29

hi bro

With regards to covering the partitions, never tried. But, some of the more experienced brothers say that when apistos are "in heat", there are hormonal changes which can be detected in the water. So, if one half of the tank has apistos in breeding condition, the other half will know & will be stimulated. That should be a positive thing.

**Incredible319** · 28th Oct 2013, 23:41

hi bro,

thanks.Didnt know that, that sounds interesting..i will see if i can try that..

**stormhawk** · 30th Oct 2013, 02:55

A colored acrylic piece that is opaque or non-transparent should work for your purposes. Say blue or green color or just good ol' black as a divider, but plugging the gaps at the sides is another issue altogether. Near impossible to plug the gap fully so any fry that can squeeze through, will be able to do so.

TBH, even at 32 deg C some species will still spawn, but given that yours is a community setup, any fry is unlikely to survive. Ultimately, space is a premium for us here, so you will have to make some hard decisions. Many people give up their racks etc, because they get bored or the whole need to change water and do maintenance is becoming a problem for them. You have to think long-term, because some species will spawn like clockwork and if you cannot clear the young you will have problems in terms of housing and feeding them all.

**Incredible319** · 30th Oct 2013, 09:44

thanks for the advice. Yeah you are right. i have wondered about that as well. Things may be fine while dividing the tank but regular spawning becomes an issue, especially in raising up the frys.

So, for now, I am just going to revamp my tank and provide more shelter etc. I will see how it goes from there. The female turns yellow every 2 weeks or so but so far, nothing. I am guessing it could be due to the water/habitat itself (not enough cover).

One sad thing is i simply cant get hold of any brine shrimp at the store to feed them. They are always just sold out..

**EdwinTay** · 30th Oct 2013, 10:13

hi bro Incredible319

For feeding, (a) for "live" food, I bought frozen Junko bloodworm ($10/12), daphnia ($16), brine shrimp ($16),
(b) for dry food, I bought the $5 per bag luohan pellets which I crushed with the mortar used for pounding chilli. Occasionally, I will buy live daphnia as a treat.

I feed my 30 tanks on alternative days.

So far, no problems and it save a lot of cost & hassle (I don't have to hunt around for live food, no need to hatch brine shrimps etc.). Using this method, I only need to buy 1 box each of frozen bloodworms, brine shrimps & daphnia every 3 months or so (that's $15 per month on food).

**Incredible319** · 30th Oct 2013, 11:34

hey bro,

thanks for the tips. Yes, i already got some frozen hikari brine shrimp. I also feed them with some carnivorous pellet and hikari pellet (they dont seem to like this one).

Plus i can hatch some brine but learnt that its not the best feed for them as its too small.

ok, i will look out for this bloodworm and daphnia as well.

wow man..30 tanks! i am already complaining about 2 tanks at home in terms of water change. But i am sure its fun though..

**stormhawk** · 6th Nov 2013, 03:35

Please be very careful with frozen food. If the worms in the cubes become too dark or the frozen daphnia have a funny color, discard the pack or you will risk having problems with your fish. When buying dry food always buy in bulk if you have many mouths to feed. Hikari Carnivore Pellets mixed with Tetrabits in a crushed form would be great. However, some Apistos don't seem to like dry food.

Getting adult brine shrimp is difficult some times if someone comes by and decides to buy up a lot of bags at once. Yesterday when I was at C328, I almost purchased a bag of brine shrimp but a fellow hobbyist told me he needed it badly since he couldn't get it for 1 whole week so I gave it to him instead. Good thing was, the C328 uncle had a spare bag he kept stashed away in a holding tank.

I can imagine the work put into caring for 30 tanks. I had 15 tanks at one point and it was already insane, let alone 30 tanks. Kudos to you Edwin.

**EdwinTay** · 6th Nov 2013, 07:36

hi bro Stormhawk

I humbly accept yr compliments...

Actually, my set up is very simple. Two beetle air pumps (total 8 outlets), 8 tier metal rack, air stones in each tank, some java fern tied to wood, ada soil, pots/ caves. Water is treated with anti-chrorine & chromine & peat & ketapang leaves. Change 30% water every 2 weeks. Feeding alternative days in the evenings when I come back from office (I thaw the bloodworms (8 cubes), brine shrimps (8 cubes) & daphnias (4 cubes) & mix them up. But have to feed as soon as they thaw.

I used to have more tanks but smaller plastic ones (too greedy) - did not do well. However, this time, after I learn a very expensive lesson, much better.

**Incredible319** · 6th Nov 2013, 09:28

hey thanks for the tips guys..Yeah my apistos are not so much into the tetrabits. they prefer the carnivore pellets and brine shrimp.

will keep an eye out for the frozen brine. I didnt know that. I thought we could keep the frozen ones for very long time.

i will try my luck with the live brine shrimp

thats a lot of tanks..

all the best!

**EdwinTay** · 6th Nov 2013, 14:53

hi bro Incredible319

Frozen can keep for a long time. The biggest problem is that cannot put outside for long. One common mistake - buy, 6 hours later then go home to put in freezer. By that time, the rot may have set in - so even if you put in freezer, useless already.

If you have a lot of tanks, I guarantee you that you will use my method. One bag of live brine shrimp is $2-3. Also hatching from eggs is very troublesome.

**Incredible319** · 6th Nov 2013, 15:15

Noted bro. Yes, it was not too bad as it took me less than 40 min to bring it home from the time i bought it in C328.

i will check the bloodworms out.

also, i only thaw the frozen stuff for very short while and feed immediately.

cheers

ps: am ok with hatching eggs actually. just cant get the brine shrimp to live (i mean i cant raise them to bigger size - they all die within a week. I tried everything - spirulina etc).