Personal Basic Tips & Setup for keeping South American Dwarf Cichlids

**illumnae** · 30th Sep 2007, 22:37

you can try using ketapang leaves or peat. the leaves can either be scattered on the floor to create natural hiding places for your fish or placed in the filter. the peat is best placed in a filter bag and put in your filter.

do monitor the ph carefully as the abovementioned might cause ph spikes at times, which would stress your fish out. also note that they tend to stain the water yellow/brown.

**soulfinder78** · 13th Oct 2007, 19:41

Saw alot of these wonderful fishes. hoping to start a new tank for these fishes.

i got alot of questions.

1st, i believe most of the stuff used to bring down the water ph tends to leave a yellowish tint. So how do you guys do it and maintain water with such clarity?

2nd, when introducing fresh water to tank. Other than ph what other parameters must i take note of?

can the experts over here advise me please?

**doppelbanddwarf** · 13th Oct 2007, 20:14

Hi to answer the first question, use ada amazonia or ada africana aquasoil. Also Gex substrate is an alernative, reported to bring pH down to 5.7 too.

I think as these fishes are more sensative, i take care to dechlorinate the water before adding it in.

**illumnae** · 13th Oct 2007, 20:28

i'd recommend using africana for best results with apistos. i've got 5.1 ph with africana, down from 7.6 straight from the tap. while apistos can generally live in a ph of 6+ as well, my personal experience is that the ph in the low 5s is where they really thrive, and there seems to be some truth to the tale that lower ph leads to better developed finnages. the downside, however, is that africana is extremely bad for maintaining a planted setup...so you'll probably have to use Gex or root tabs if you want the best of both worlds of happy fish and thriving plants

water conditions wise, be careful about chlorine/chloramine as pointed out by chongyu...other than that just make sure that the water going in is not too different in composition from what's already in the tank, or what they're used to. introduce any changes gradually. the most convenient way in my opinion is just to do smaller water changes. just do 15-20% weekly...or twice a week if you want to induce spawning. my experience with this regime (i just add antichlorine and blackwater extract and nothing more) has been good thus far.

**soulfinder78** · 13th Oct 2007, 21:17

thanks for the advise....

so i will say just age the water before doing any water change everything should be fine right?

**illumnae** · 13th Oct 2007, 21:28

no need to age the water, just make sure you use enough antichlorine, and that it removes chloramine as well.

**doppelbanddwarf** · 13th Oct 2007, 22:04

I would recommend Seachem Prime which removes both chlorine and chloramine, but any reliable brand of anti-chlorine+anti-chloramine would do fine.

**loogvar** · 4th Apr 2009, 23:00

Just to share my apisto experience though my experience only 4 months

Currently i am keeping the below apistos and other fishes in a 3x1.5x1.5 ft tank.

1 pair of aga red
10 apisto bit careiro
1 pair of algodon 2
1 pair of vejieta
3 apisto tri
a few algodon 2 fries n aga red fries.

Tank mates
3 congo tetras
abt 5-6 badis badis
2 albino corydoras
2 ottos
1 whip tail pleco

Tank Set-up

The tank is 3x1.5x1.5 ft quite heavily planted by Nanas,Java moss,Hortworts and Duckweeds(these species frequently live in shaded areas) at e top with many caves,driftwoods n flower pots to provide hiding space.
Airpump
I am using a normal airpump attached to an airstone to provide good source of oxygen.I have seen ppl who depends just on the moving surface of the water to provide oxygen for apisto which is not right.In an apisto tank,oxygen levels must be maintained for best color and health.
filtration
I'm using a small internal filter, rinse the sponge with tank water every 3 weeks.(The filter should create little water disturbance)
gravels
I used to just put GEX red soil for the sake of lowering the PH(apisto prefers lower PH water), but i realised the colouration is not as bright n vabriant compared to those who put black gravels hence i bought a few packs of black quartz just to create a thin layer of black surface on e GEX red soil and TATA~ it works!
blackground
Currently my tank does not have any background oyama yet but i have already bought n cut out and tried putting by clipping it on e tank with a clipper(my bone lazy to move yet

).My personal view is the appearance of the tank with the plants and colours of the apistos looks more to my liking compared to no background.But different ppl different taste.

Tank community

So far the community is quite peaceful n with a dominating male as usual which is e aga red, but there are a few others such as e vejita male, algodon male n the biggest bit careiro male challenging him a few times but failed.(having more apistos in a tank can suppress their aggression,for ex. in a tank of 4 apistos, the dominating male will very often stressed the weakest one until death or the weakest one will be hiding forever n become very dark in colour but if provided enough hiding spaces will be good enough too)
Other smaller or less dominance apistos are doing well at their own spots and also take turns to flare at each other within their own league of the meek.

tankmates
Apisto are often very peaceful with other fishes(small fishes that can tolerate low Ph water are preferable) like tetras, corydoras etc...
Initially i got 2 pearl gouramis to further suppress the aggression of e dominating male(pearl gourami is bigger), though it works but the pearl gouramis are too greedy, chase away other fishes when feeding.I gave them away and bought Congo tetras

So far the tankmates are doing ok.. my congo tetras are beautiful to watch,albino cories are darting ard(quite irritating at times

), ottos n pleco are doing a good job.The only problems are my badis badis which died 6 due to the attack of the brooding female.(some brooding female might even be able to kill bigger fishes)

Food

Firstly I don't feed live food for my fishes hence no experience in live food

I am currently feeding 2 cubs of Hikari frozen bloodworms n 1 cube of Hikari brine shrimp after i feed some tetra floating pellets to my congo tetras(save cost of feeding) 2 times per day. I'm not sure whether the food is enough but the fishes are growing and still as fat so i guess its ok, underfeed is better then overfeed.

I realised a few people will just throw in e cubes and let it melts in e tank water for the fishes to eat, this is not good as some weaker fishes might not be able to get the food.
I will firstly pop out 2 cubes of frozen blood worm into the bowl first and cut them into small pieces(The worms are too big n long for some small apisto and fishes like badis badis esp Hikari)then pop in e frozen brine shrimp.
I will let the frozen cubes to melt in a small bowl first before pouring on 4 corners of the tank (pour some targeted at the spot where the weaker fishes hideout)

Water changing

I change about 20% of the water 2 times a week.
I uses genesis anti-chlorine and age the water for a day before changing.
so far water still ok and no casualty.

Just to share my experience in this wonderful forum and hopefully people will add on this thread.

thanks
Royston

**goody992828** · 10th Sep 2009, 16:43

Very good info, as I am currently preparing one of my 3' x 2' x 2' tank for this new species, I have already bought 5 piecies of apisto viejieta from a bro in this forum pending collect next sat. Hence need to get the tank ready by this week to alot one week to cycle the tank. hope this is sufficient...

**gummapsubbaks** · 3rd Feb 2010, 07:45

Guys youre making me want some more tanks. : How can you not love dwarf cichlids. As a group theyre great fish to keep.BTW, Matt my Microgeophagus ramirezi are doing well. The dominant male is... well... dominant. Hahaha. Ill be moving them to a larger tank this weekend. The agassiziis are also doing well and need a male friend. Let me know when the BW order is happening. Geoff, you jumping in on the next BW order?J

**Heiko Bleher** · 7th Feb 2010, 05:00

Hi,

if this is to be a nice tank fro dwarf cichlids it should (must) have fine white (or beige) sand, as that is where they live.

best regards form a collector

Heiko Bleher
www.aquapress-bleher.com

**Jitticus** · 19th May 2010, 09:26

While it is true that many of the Western gurus swear by sand substrates for most apistos, from what I see, the local (Southeast Asian) scene has seen pretty good success with the ADA soil. I attribute this to the tenacity of cichlids and their strong urge to reproduce.

**marle** · 19th May 2010, 11:30

Originally Posted by Jitticus

While it is true that many of the Western gurus swear by sand substrates for most apistos, from what I see, the local (Southeast Asian) scene has seen pretty good success with the ADA soil. I attribute this to the tenacity of cichlids and their strong urge to reproduce.

Well said. I find what is nice depends on each individual's perception.

**Heiko Bleher** · 19th May 2010, 21:14

Hi,

naturally it is up to each individual's perception, I only suggested to do it as in nature, which naturally the fish will recognise.

best regards

Heiko Bleher
www.aquapress-bleher.com

**ang1981** · 5th Jul 2011, 23:45

Sorry to bring up an old thread. Wonder if gurus can help.
Where can I purchase drawf cichlids from. My dad recommend me a shop in Ang Mo Kio but already close down.
Can I also ask for planted fish tanks, can the plants survive without co2 and only on light.

Thanks