Venturing into apisto. Need guidance here.

[David Moses Heng]

Hi brothers,

After playing with paludariums for a while, I am now moving into apistogramma collection. Ordered a new 2by 1.5 by 1.5 from Thio and make payment today.

As I am new to this beautiful fish, can any kind folks here guide me as to what should i look out for in the setup, plants choice, possible tank mates, decor selection and lighting requirement?

I have already gotten the below stuffs since late march 2010.


Already acquired.
Tank 2 feet by 1.5 feet by 1.5 feet braceless - 1 unit
Cabinet for above tank - 1 unit (Courtesy of Billy)
Canister filter Tetra Ex 75(thinking of upping to Ex120)
Aquazonic T5HO light set - 1 unit
JBL substrate - 1 packet
sera peat - 1 box
ADA Amazonia - 1 packet
sudo white sand - 1 packet
Drift wood - 18 pieces
spawning cave - 2 units
Biohome red - 1 small box
Tornado fan - 1 unit(left over from 422)
5 Liter co2 cylinder with solenoid(left over from 422)
Sera test kit - 1 set

Consider fauna:
Apisto Hongsloi
Tetras - unsure species as dither fish
corydoras pgymy - 10 pieces
Malayan shrimps - 200 pieces
bristle nose plecos as cleaning crew - 2 pieces.

Intended flora( still reading up for suitable ones):

E-Tenellus
Nana(various species)
Singapore moss
Java ferns


Inputs please guys

Thank you.

[MarcJoshua]

Hi, my 2 cents worth about this is that you have to break the line of sight as much as possible and judging by the amount of items that you have, it won't be a problem. For dithers I'm using 5 golden pencilfish and 2 otocinclus. I'd recommend fish which don't move fast and have small mouths so fry will not be endangered. Also I think the 200 malayan shrimps might just turn out to be an extended buffet for your future apistos. I cannot help you with the plant bit though... Kinda sketchy on that myself. Ohh well, I do hope these cute little fellers give you as much joy as they have given me and so many others.

[sheng]

For your reference :

Personal Basic Tips & Setup for keeping South American Dwarf Cichlids

[joopsg]

Hi brothers,

After playing with paludariums for a while, I am now moving into apistogramma collection. Ordered a new 2by 1.5 by 1.5 from Thio and make payment today.

As I am new to this beautiful fish, can any kind folks here guide me as to what should i look out for in the setup, plants choice, possible tank mates, decor selection and lighting requirement?

I have already gotten the below stuffs since late march 2010.


Already acquired.
Tank 2 feet by 1.5 feet by 1.5 feet braceless - 1 unit
Cabinet for above tank - 1 unit (Courtesy of Billy)
Canister filter Tetra Ex 75(thinking of upping to Ex120)
Aquazonic T5HO light set - 1 unit
JBL substrate - 1 packet
sera peat - 1 box ( Can do without it as ADA soil will lower the pH to 5.5- 6.5)ADA Amazonia - 1 packet
sudo white sand - 1 packet
Drift wood - 18 pieces ( Will it be very heavy for the cabinet to handle?)
spawning cave - 2 units ( can try coconut husk you have.)Biohome red - 1 small box
Tornado fan - 1 unit(left over from 422)
5 Liter co2 cylinder with solenoid(left over from 422)
Sera test kit - 1 set

Consider fauna:
Apisto Hongsloi
Tetras - unsure species as dither fish ( Try Pencilfish instead.)corydoras pgymy - 10 pieces ( Egg Eaters)
Malayan shrimps - 200 pieces ( High class fish food)
bristle nose plecos as cleaning crew - 2 pieces. ( Consider Oto if you want small size)
Intended flora( still reading up for suitable ones):

E-Tenellus
Nana(various species)
Singapore moss
Java ferns
Java moss
Frogbits

Inputs please guys

Thank you.

My opinions are in blue. Hope that can help you.

[exotic_idiot]

Mostly all covered by henry..
Welcome to apisto keeping...
For hongsloi you can get from C328 so far, the quality there is improving, the reddest good...

[David Moses Heng]

Thanks Henry for the coaching.

As advised by Bro Henry and my favourite LFS, Below is the amended list.

Already acquired.
Tank 2 feet by 1.5 feet by 1.5 feet braceless - 1 unit
Cabinet for above tank - 1 unit (Courtesy of Billy)
Canister filter Tetra Ex 75(thinking of upping to Ex120)
Aquazonic T5HO light set - 1 unit
sera peat - 1 box
ADA Amazonia I - 1 packet
sudo white sand - 1 packet
Drift wood - 18 pieces ( for selection )
spawning cave - 2 units
Biohome red - 1 small box
Tornado fan - 1 unit(left over from 422)
5 Liter co2 cylinder with solenoid(left over from 422)
Sera test kit - 1 set

Consider fauna:
A. Aggassizii "Super red" - ordered already
A. Bitaeniata
Chocolate Gourami - 3 pairs - ordered already
Pencil fish - 20 pieces - ordered already
Malayan shrimps - 200 pieces
L134 as cleaning crew - 2 pieces

Intended flora( still reading up for suitable ones):

Crypto Balansae (WO074)
Crypto Affinis (WO071)
E-Tenellus ( WO115)
Nana(various species) (WP363 & WP602)
Singapore moss
Java ferns (WP265)
Java moss
Frogbits
Ludwigia repens (WO148 )


This list is still being thought over and I sincerely hope that the experts here will come in and penned down your thoughts/experiences/views.

As I am very new to this beautiful fish, I would want to be as prepared as I can in the preparation of the tank and stuffs so as not to cause undue harm to the fish.

So guys, please guide me along the way.

Thanks

[joopsg]

As for the plants, I would recommend you to consider whether you want a low maintenance tank or a high maintenance tank.

For me, as an ex-Apistogramma keeper. My main focus is let the fish get the correct parameters then i would get those low maintenance plant as i do not want to input too much chemical into the tank.
I only add in supplement such as ADA Vitamix and Dennerle S7 beside the water conditioner.

[David Moses Heng]

I would love a low tech tank but at the same time, I also want a nice piece of art at home. However I am more in favour of a low tech tank and I believe that some of the plants selected are not suitable. I may also need to scale down on the hardware and use them for my re-con 42 which I intend to set up soon after the apisto tank is up and running.

Maybe you can help me along?

[joopsg]

I also quite a newbie in planted tank.

My setup procedure as follows,
1) Lay the substrate first, this is because ADA soil take few days to settle in the tank.
( Cloudy). I usually change 1 pail of water for 4 days (One every 2 days.)

2) Layout the driftwoood, I usually stacked them up or have the tree root effect.
Like the amazon river like of environment.

3) Filter- either sponge filter or low output canister filter with rain bar.

4) Plants- usually mosses tied onto the wood, java ferns on wood or nanas on wood.
avoid cool water moss if you do not intend to install fan or chiller for the tank.

5) Cycle the tank for 2 weeks before adding fauna.
Pencilfish will go in first as they are quite hardy.
your cleaning crew go in at the same time?

6) Shrimp- can take low Ph and soft water?

Hope these pointers help.