[Kjaer]

First of all - I´m sorry about the very bad english. Hope you understand

I´m going to start up a 86 gallon SA tank (130x50x50 cm). The main fishes will be apistogrammas and other dwarfcichlids. The tank will be decorated with about 5 kg red moor wood, 5 kg mangrove roots, sand, leafs and maybe some rocks.

But... I dont know which fishes i should have.
It would be fun if i could find fishes who is living toghether in the nature, but I dont know if its possible... I can find out which contrys ad sometimes the rivers a fish live in, but i cant find any information about other fishes at the location. So please help me!
The ideal was if i could find a Corydoras, a "big" dwarfcichlid, an apisto and a tetra who lives together i nature

Mvh.
Johan Kjaer

 

[Kjaer]

i=in

 

[edburress]

Hey Johan,

You have a lot of options with a tank that size, and there are plenty of fish that come from the same areas to choose from. Generally the dwarf cichlids are the focus, so it is easier to decide which ones you like, and go from there...

Rio Guapore and surrounding areas, Bolivia/Brazil
Microgeophagus altispinosa
Apistogramma trifasciata
Apistogramma linkei
Apistogramma staecki
Laetacara dorsigera
Laetacara curviceps

Rio Ucayali, Peru
Apistogramma cacatuoides
Apistogramma agassizii
Apistogramma nijsseni
Apistogramma eunotus

Rio Orinoco, Brazil/Venezuela/Colombia
Microgeophagus ramirezi
Apistogramma macmasteri
Apistogramma viejita I and II
Apistogramma hongsloi
Dicrossus filamentosus

Rio *****, Brazil
Dicrossus filamentosus
Taeniacara candidi
Apistogramma pertensis
Apistogramma elizabethae

Filling in isn't very difficult, there are Corydoras with specific distributions, and tetra as well, and tetras that span several areas.

Ed

 

[Kjaer]

Thank you very much! But its still difficult to choose - I like all of them
Do you think i could have 3 species?

 

[Fishguy28]

You sure can, I have five different species in a 55 gal. I will say though if you want more than more species then Apistogramma Nijsseni is probably out of the question. they are quite aggressive as far as Apistos go, I could never keep more than a pair in a tank and even that proved somewhat difficult.They also say you will run into trouble mixing fish from the same species complex like Apistogramma Macmasteri , Hongsloi, Viejita.

Ed may I mention that Cacatuoides are found throughout the Amazon so they will fit in everywhere except maybe the Bolivia set up.

My recommendation would be,

Apistogramma Cacatuoides
Apistogramma Hongsloi
Dicrossus Filamentosus

You could also substitute one of these with Microgeophagus Ramirezi.

 

[Dutch Dude]

Heey Johan,.....your doing fine on English. They are used to me so you shouldn't have problems :wink:

A biotope tank is realy interesting! A biotope tank is a tank with plants and inhabitants from the same aria. That doesn't have to be the same river. There is a lot of info abouth biotope tanks on www.mongabay.com. If you enter the site you can hit the pic of the fish un top of the page. From there you find all sorts of info and one of them is abouth biotopes. Ed has made already some nice suggestions and I can add some for the Rio Guapore (on the border of Brazil and Bolivia)

Rio Guapore:
Apistogramma Agassizzii
Corydoras sp. Guapore
Corydoras Haraldschultzi
Rummynose tetra
Pinguinfish (tetra)

From the cichlids the Bolivians (Microgeophagus Altispinasa) are the easiest and they can be kept in a small group. Your tank has plenty of options so you could do for example 5 Bolivians and a harem (1 male 3 female) of A. Agassizzii (easy to get over here). Maybe even a couple of Laetacara dorsigera can be added to. I'm not to sure abouth the Laeticare becouse they can be a bit territorial during spawning but maybe someone can hump in abouth that. A nice large school of the mentioned tetras would be great to! Your tank is long and plenty of room so a large school of 25 tetras would be stunning!

Ruurd

 

[pk333]

G'day Kjaer,

I was always going to waite for Ruurd to post before I jumped in. I can't believe he didn't recommend Bolivian Rams. I saw edburress include them in one of his setups.
As for tank decorations, go with your roots and bogwood, I would also consider some SA plants, and maybe a couple of smallish river rocks.

Here's a biotope setup. Ruurd I hope I haven't stolen you Mikrogeophagus altispinosus setup.

Rio Mamore drainage - Bolivia

Cichlids
1 pair Laetacara dorsigera
1m/2f Apistogramma staecki*
2 pair Mikrogeophagus altispinosus

*If you can't find this species of apistogramma you could look at substituting with a trio of Apistogramma trifasciata. Trifasciata are native to Bolivia, I just can't find any record of them being found in the Rio Mamore drainage.

Tetras & Dither Fish
native to Bolivia, may not be found in the Rio Mamore
18 Hyphessobrycon Megalopterus - Black phantom tetra
or
Gymnocorymbus ternetzi - Black tetra
&
12 Thoracocharax stellatus - Spotfin hatchetfish
&
6 Nannostomus trifasciatus - Threestripe pencilfish
or
Nannostomus unifasciatus - Oneline pencilfish

Catfish
native to Bolivia, may not be found in the Rio Mamore
4 Otocinclus vestitus
9 Corydoras hastatus
6 Corydoras sterbai
2 Ancistrus bolivianus

 

[Kjaer]

Thanks for the answers erveryone.

Bolivian rams, trifasciata/staecki and dorsigera sounds interesting. I´ve had bolivian rams before and i really liked them - wonderful fishes.

Ruurd: Whats the latin names og Pengiunfish and rummynose?

Which plants grow in Rio Guapore/Bolivia?

 

[HanDsomB1derful]

makes me want another tank all ican say is that a pair of bolivians went mental in my 4ft when they spawned killed another b.ram,1blue ram,and hamered apair of angels (they used 2 pay it back wehn they spawned) any ways the brood went missing then the male killed the female i still have him hes about 3years old now he might be a 1 off cause he chases my teenage GT(just getting his hump) ,goldsuam,auqedins sp u no waht imean any ways i can never find good apistos here in sydney and id hate for them to get smashed buy something not so rare.

oh yer he runs wehn the GT turns around its so funny

oh no its wombat grass

 

[Kjaer]

Thanks for the answers erveryone.

Bolivian rams, trifasciata/staecki/agazissii and dorsigera sounds interesting. I´ve had bolivian rams before and i really liked them - wonderful little fishes

Ruurd: Whats the latin names for Pengiunfish and rummynose?

 

[Kjaer]

Thanks for the answers erveryone.

Bolivian rams, trifasciata/staecki/agazissii and dorsigera sounds interesting. I´ve had bolivian rams before and i really liked them - wonderful little fishes

Ruurd: Whats the latin names for Pengiunfish and rummynose?

Sorry about the doublepost

 

[Kjaer]

I think it will be this fishes:
1.1 M. altispinosus
1.2 A. trifasciata
11. L. dorsigera.
0.0.15-20 C. Sterbai
0.0.20 Hyphessobrycon Megalopterus

Is Rio Mamore blackwater og clearwater?

 

[Kjaer]

Do you think i could keep Apistogramma agassizii and A. panduro together with Biotodoma cupido?
It very hard to choose

 

[Dutch Dude]

Peter,....hahaha,....well I did recommend the Bolivians but only in the end of my previous post :lol:

Pinguin fish = Thayeria boehlkei (in the middle and higher regions of the tank and quit active)
Rummynose = Hemigrammus bleheri (friendly peaceful tetra)

Sorry I have to make a correction,....the Hemigrammus bleheri doesn't occur in the Guapore river But,....they would be great fish in the suggested set up.

From what I have heard the B. Cupid are quit territorial and probably not the best selection for a community tank with small fish. If you would be interested in a Guiana Biotope I can give good recommendations for the Guianacara! You could have a small group of 5 or 6 of them with some other fish like corydoras or larger tetras. But to be honest,....I think your idea for the M. Altispinosa, A. trifasciata and L. dorsigera is much more interesting. Those are small cichlids and in a tank that size, low light levels, lots of wood / roots and some small wood particles and some leaves would create a situation you be attracted to serge for all those fish. A nice large school of tetras would realy be great!

 

[Kjaer]

Okay, i skip B. cupido then. I´m waiting impatient for the tank to arrive

And again - thanks for the help everyone. I post some pics when im finished with the project.

 

[Kjaer]

Ruurd: Are you sure that A. agassizii lives in Rio Guapore?

 

[Dutch Dude]

Johan,...sorry you are right! Shame on me! The Agassizzi aren't occurring in the Guapore. Did you checked Mongabay?

Ruurd

 

[Kjaer]

Johan,...sorry you are right! Shame on me! The Agassizzi aren't occurring in the Guapore. Did you checked Mongabay?

Ruurd

Yes i have checked mongabay

 

[Dutch Dude]

Good to hear and lots of biotope info on there. Sorry I gave wrong info and I pay more attention to it next time.

 

[Kjaer]

All the fishes i choosed live in Rio Guapore, but i cant find so much information about the river. Is it blackwater or clearwater?