Keeping 5 Apistogrammas in a 4ft tank?

[RHX]

Hi all,

I'm new to apistos keeping. Can anyone tell me how many apistos can i keep in a 4ft tank?

Recently i've bought 5 apisto inka, 3 male & 2 female in my 4x2x1.5 ft community planted tank. But there is one dominant male that has been chasing the rest of apistos all over the tank, even the females too. Am I overcrowding my tank with 5 apistos.

What is the ideal number of apistos to be kept in a 4 ft tank? Please advice.

Thanks

[Cacatuoides]

It seems that you may be a little over-crowding your tank....

Ideally, a heavily planted 4ft tank can take up to 2 pairs of apistos, having more males will cause some chasing as each will fend for their own territory...Especially during beeding times, you will see more aggression happening in your tank.

[RHX]

Thanks for the advice, think i'll have to give up one male.

[genes]

The less dorminant fishes will always be chased around or attacked by the dorminant one. Either you do a all male tank, packed the tank full of apistos so that there is no space for aggression or i would suggest, 1 male to 3 females.

[yorky]

Either I am missing out on something or my apistos are behaving differently from all of yours.. I have 10 apistos(3 different variants - Inka, Eunotus, Norberti) in a 2 footer.

They are doing fine, in fact, they flare alot and I am enjoying myself watching all those flaring and colour intensity.
So long as you have driftwoods ie hiding spaces, they will do just fine.

[celticfish]

i think what the guys are trying to tell you is...
even if you have just one incompatible pair in a 4 footer is can be "overcrowded".
the male will still hunt the female down and kill it.

what you have IMO is okay.
you have 3 males and the alpha has to spread his time between 2 males.
if you had 2 males... then you can guess the outcome if the alpha male is agressive.

the idea to to have density of specimens so the dominate one cannot pick on one solely unlucky fish.
hence yorky's 2 ft can hold 10 pcs.

another tip is to make sure "line of sight" cannot extend from one end of the tank to the other.
i.e. what you cannot see shouldn't bother you...

in the wild some species live in very high densities in leaf litter environment.

[RHX]

I see, thanks all for your advice. Well, my tanks is just newly setup for about a month, still waiting for my plants to grow densely.

Maybe i should get a few different variants to mixed them up. But won't they attack the frys if they happen to breed in such high densities?

BTW any other apistos to recommend that can be mixed with inkas?

[celticfish]

@ RHX,

you read your signature... wow!
very impressive list of cryptos.
hope the all bounce back from the melt down.

in a larger tank the fry survival rate will not be high.
they get "lost" and will be predated upon by other fish.
but thick density of plants may help some.
it will literally be survival of the fittest and luckiest!

also to note, in high density and variey environment it might be near impossible to separate the females correctly.

recommendations?
yorky is infinitely more able to "poison" you in that department...

[RHX]

Thanks, my minima has show some life of growing. Hopefully they will do well in my new setup.

BTW yorky has did some poisioning already. He's help me choose 2 inka females when i meet him in nks.

Thanks yorky! Now any recommendations for new apistos?

[yorky]

Celticfish has brought out some fairly valid points for your considerations.
Good thing is the fishes will not mix up their own type.
I had a female A. norberti 1 week earlier(this was in the Inka tank in NKS).
Brought a male A. norberti home and they took to each other in 2 days among the A. eunotus and A. baenschi (aka Inka) in the tank.

Looks like you are feeling the itch now... hehe.
What type do you like? High dorsal? Slim body-type, broad-body type?
Super colourful type?
Let me know your preference then I might suggest..
As for compatibility, try to pick those that can grow to about similar sizes.
For instance, you might not want to mix your A. baenschi with A. diplotaenia as they are too small.

[RHX]

I like to have the colourful type with long tails, but not the hybrids. Any suggestions which ones that grows about the same size with A. baenschi?

[genes]

I have 17 pieces of young apistos in a 1.5ft tank comprising of Ap. diplotaenia, Ap. brietbeinden and Ap. bitaeniata. Have no issues too. But when i threw in a pair of Ap. cacatuoides and a pair of Ap. agassizii into my densely planted 3ft tank. The dorminant male Ap. cacatuoides started hunting down the ap. agassizii like a wolf hunting a rabbit...next day, the agazzisii is in his black colouration (stress) with torn finnages.

Here's the tank where i tried to house the pair of cacatuoides and agassizii.

[taring77]

hi genes,

may i know what type of apisto in your avatar ? very nice

[genes]

Its a badis badis, not an apistogramma.

[RHX]

Can a.agassizii be mixed with A. baenschi? Was at NKS yesterday & saw they have a tank of a.agassizii. It seems the whole tank are males, so i didn't get them.

[taring77]

Its a badis badis, not an apistogramma.

where to get ahh? easy to maintain?

[yorky]

I like to have the colourful type with long tails, but not the hybrids. Any suggestions which ones that grows about the same size with A. baenschi?

Bro, you can consider NKS's new shipment of A. elizabethae.
However a word of caution.. don't mix with your A. baenschi.
They are still juvenile but will be very 'swee' in no time.

[RHX]

Oh man, but i already have 2 pairs of A. baenschi. What will happen if i mixed them? Was thinking that since i have a 4ft planted. Maybe they might have a chance to survive in it.

[barmby]

MY rule of thumb - one pair of apisto in every 3 feet.

[celticfish]

barmby,
That's a lot of real estate!