Planning to start apisto

[altezza_87]

Hi all, first time posting here although i have been surfing in this forum for sometime now. Currently keeping a 2ft planted tank full of riccia and cherry shrimps. But now tempted by the awesome looks of apisto.
I decided to start a apisto tank, most likely to be using 1ft nano tank. I have lots of dennerle quartz black stone, most probably I would use it as my substrate.

Some questions.

I have a mini hang on filter, is it suitable?
How important is the pH of the water?

As for the species I look up on most of them, and narrow down the kinds that really tempt me into starting on rearing aspisto.

Ap. trifasciata
Ap. bitaeniata mamuri
Ap. agassizii "Alenquer"

Any idea where can I get them and roughly how much will they cost?
I am thinking of having a pair and house them with some tetras which I could transfer from my planted tank. Not really into breeding them as I still have commitments to my planted tank and cherry shrimps.

[marle]

Congratulations on your wonderful choice. Apistos are stunning little creatures!


I have a mini hang on filter, is it suitable?

Definitely preferred over an air sponge! Add some filter media such as biohome inside.

How important is the pH of the water?

Most species are ok and will survive in a range of pH but personally i prefer lower pH of about 5.5 and soft water if i want to breed them. To achieve that, most hobbyists here use ADA Africana soil as substrate and peat to achieve the requirements.

Ap. trifasciata --> A common species in Singapore. Really value for money apisto as its affordable and has spectacular colours and finnage.

Ap. bitaeniata mamuri --> Contact Bro Scope or you might want to check out biotope.

Ap. agassizii "Alenquer"--> Ask C328 uncle. They come sometimes and the price is .

If you are transferring them to your planted tank, forget about your cherry shrimps. The whole shrimp population will be wiped out. They are tetras and most fish friendly though. Hope this helps, happy holidays!

[sheng]

hope this Help

[altezza_87]

Great! Thanks for the info. I was still thinking if the species I like would be readily available or not.

Don't worry the cherries will stay put in the planted tank. They are precious haha. Only the tetra will come over to the same tank as the apisto. From the other thread it seemed that changing water is quite frequent, so is cycling the new tank still important?

Its really amazing that dbcyeo bro can achieve the high clarity of his tank water when he is using bubble filter. For me it always seemed to be cloudy and dirty water when I use it.

As for using or not anti chlorine, how much does it affects the apisto? I have a 1.89L API Stress Coat Fish and Tap Water Conditioner (the liquid is much watery compared to the small bottle which is quite thick), it is said to remove chlorine and chloromine. But whenever I use it in my tank, it clouds my water after merely 1 day. And it looks disastrous, most of the time killing my "good shrimps". I used to have snowball and "TW fire red" having most of them berried and with fries around, but because of the water all died. Now both my tanks are not using the stress coat anymore, but I do have charcoal bamboo shelter in my tank. So far all livestock are doing fine. And the water clarity is still in perfect condition.

Could the problem lies in that particular bottle of stress coat that I bought?

[doppelbanddwarf]

For apistos a low pH is preferred. A pH around 6 would be fine but lower would be even better.

It would be advisable to use anti-chlorine+anti-chloramine. Apistos are rather sensitive and chloramine and chlorine might kill them. If you're not comfortable with the brand you are using you should get another brand. Here's a thread on discussion of anti-chlorine brands
--> http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...=anti+chlorine