Apistogramma

[Stan S]

Hi all first time user and a returned to the hobby 

just trying to gauge opinions on mixing Apistogramma  specifically cacatoudies and borelli

tank will be 40 gallons with lent yogurt plants big wood and about 8 caves 

thinking of a  pair of each not particularly looking to breed them 

how much of a footprint would each need 

standard other community fish 

any suggestions 

 

[Stan S]

Oops should read lots of plants and bog wood - bloody predictive text!!!

[Beach Cruiser]

Anything is possible, but this would be tough to pull off, IMO. To be "safe" you'd need a 4' tank & lots of hidden spaces. And pick your tankmates carefully.  Apistos are pretty chill until breeding kicks in. They have been known to damage corys & other bottom dwellers while defending their territory. 

Another possibility is to have a group of males. I have 4 McMasteri adult males in a 100g community tank. While there's plenty of posturing & display behavior, the don't harm each other or innocent bystanders. 

Best of luck!

Edited October 9 by Beach Cruiser

[Retrophyllum_minus]

So, this is a bit of a generalization but from my understanding Apistos (and this is a large genus, so there's always gonna be exceptions) basically decide on their territory by how far up the water column they can get. So if they can get higher up in the water column they can defend more space because they can see further. However, you don't want to keep your Apistos in 8 inches of water to reduce their territory size, although based on where lot of them are found in the wild that would be something they could live in.

So, your best bet would be to make sure there are plenty of caves and line of sight blocks as you described already and then add them all at once. If you add one species of them and then another later that may not work as well with the territory division. 
 

But it may be tough either way. 

Edited October 9 by Retrophyllum_minus
Typo and added a sentence.

[NOLANANO]

On 10/9/2024 at 4:47 AM, Stan S said:

just trying to gauge opinions on mixing Apistogramma  specifically cacatoudies and borelli

I have a 75G planted tank and I tried to mix Borelli and Macmasteri and it didn't go well. The Macmasteri wouldn't let the borelli come out into the open and he eventually starved to death. I am not saying it 100% can't be done but I think the chances of failure are much higher than the chances of success.  I later got a group of 6 borelli and I found that to much more enjoyable than mixing species. The males spar for dominance but the fish didn't die and they tolerated each others presence enough to have a "peaceful" community. You know, peaceful for cichlids. Like I said, they did spar for dominance from time to time. 

[Stan S]

Many thanks for your replies so far 

Would a harem say 1 male and 2/3 females work better 

if so would cacatoudies or borelli be better?

stan 

[NOLANANO]

Either would work as both are considered more mild tempered Apistos. I think the Caucatoides get a bit bigger than the borelli. A trio (1M/2F) would work but if there are plenty of hiding spaces, I would try to get 5 and get 2 males and 3 females. This way you get to see the males spar a bit and try to attract the females but there are enough females to spread out the male attention.  The Borelli I had were fairly passive towards the females. They would flare and show off but didn't harass. I once had a Trifaciatta that should have been in jail for assault. HR would have fired that guy on the first day of work.

[Retrophyllum_minus]

On 10/9/2024 at 10:42 AM, Stan S said:

Many thanks for your replies so far 

Would a harem say 1 male and 2/3 females work better 

if so would cacatoudies or borelli be better?

stan 

I think borelli or cacatuoides would be fine in the case of a harem. 

[Tlindsey]

On 10/9/2024 at 5:47 AM, Stan S said:

Hi all first time user and a returned to the hobby 

just trying to gauge opinions on mixing Apistogramma  specifically cacatoudies and borelli

tank will be 40 gallons with lent yogurt plants big wood and about 8 caves 

thinking of a  pair of each not particularly looking to breed them 

how much of a footprint would each need 

standard other community fish 

any suggestions 

 

Welcome to the forum. @Stan S

[Guppysnail]

On 10/9/2024 at 10:42 AM, Stan S said:

Many thanks for your replies so far 

Would a harem say 1 male and 2/3 females work better 

if so would cacatoudies or borelli be better?

stan 

Caucatoides and borellii are harem breeders. I do both.  My makes keep the girls from fighting by actually inserting his body between the girls.  The girls do need territory separation so they cannot see under and they have a territory to raise young and defend within the males territory.  @Retrophyllum_minus info is solid.  
go with a trio ir if you structure the floor well with 3 separate territories a quad.  If this is your first go you will appreciate seeing a trio more and less stress on you to get it just right with quad.  A trio your male if fully mature will keep his girls in line.  

[Stan S]

Thanks so much for all  your replies  

I've decided to go with a trio of borelli to err on the safe side 

cheers 

Stan