New 20 gallon help

[Nate12345]

Moved to an apartment and only want to set up 1 20 gallon display. (Previously was running 8-9 tanks at my old house). 
it’s planted,  and I need to figure out what kind of apisto/tetra combo I am going to want. My water is a little over 7, maybe 7.5. Not super hard water but have driftwood and catalpa leaves in it. Was thinking pair of macmasteri and neons? 
wanted to keep it about 76-78. Will this work? 
 

other choice is cacatoides 

[Lennie]

I would suggest either keeping m f apisto together or just one as centerpiece fish in a community tank. Stuff may go wrong in case of a potential breeding action with other community fish around

 

I like this page for some apisto info. Maybe you'd like to check it out too

https://www.tomc.no/slekt.aspx?gruppeID=1

[Nate12345]

I have breed cacatoides before in a 29 with guppies so I do have some experience with that and was able to raise several generations of fry. Don’t care if they breed and can set up a separate 20 long grow out later if I want. I just didn’t know if macmasteri would be okay in 76 or so and in slightly higher ph 

[nabokovfan87]

Cc @tolstoy21

I would think everything would be fine with that setup, but there's a lot of people with more knowledge than myself!

https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/apistogramma-macmasteri/

 

Quote

 Temperature: 24 – 28 °C

pH: 5.5 – 7.0

Hardness: 0 – 90 ppm

 

 

[tolstoy21]

On 8/24/2023 at 4:28 PM, Nate12345 said:

Not super hard water but have driftwood and catalpa leaves in it.

Driftwood and leaves will not alter water hardness, but they can affect the aquarium's alkalinity (Ph), which is a good thing for tetras and apistos. Hardness is more a measurement of minerals present in the water (mostly magnesium and calcium), aka Gh.

In any event, most commonly available domestic strains (the ones that have been tank bred for many generations) of apistos will be fine in a wide range of parameters. It's the wild caught ones than can be a bit more particular about their water.

I'm going to guess you should be totally fine as long as your Gh is not extreme.

Edited August 25, 2023 by tolstoy21

[Nate12345]

Sweet! I just wanted to try something different than what I was doing before. I know macmasteri are common like the cacatoides and stores usually have one or the other available. If a borelli are available I’ll be getting those. I know they prefer lower temps and are probably a little more compatible with neons. If I can get borelli I’ll be running 73-74 which i think is the preferred temp for neons 

[_Eric_]

@tolstoy21 breeds amazingly beautiful apistos just FYI.  I was lucky enough to buy a caucatoides  pair from him one time.  

Edited August 25, 2023 by _Eric_

[tolstoy21]

On 8/25/2023 at 8:11 AM, _Eric_ said:

@tolstoy21 breeds amazingly beautiful apistos just FYI.  I was lucky enough to buy a caucatoides  pair from him one time.  

Hey thanks for the compliment. Unfortunately, I don't breed macmasteri but I think that's the next apisto I'm going add to the lineup when I get then chance.

[Guppysnail]

On 8/25/2023 at 3:13 PM, tolstoy21 said:

I think that's the next apisto I'm going add to the lineup when I get then chance.

Pleeeaaassseeeee 🙏 

[tolstoy21]

On 8/25/2023 at 3:47 PM, Guppysnail said:

Pleeeaaassseeeee 🙏 

Ohhhh that is nice looking! Elizabethae is also on my short list.