[MetalHead06351]

I have set up a 10g apistogramma tank and I need some help deciding what to put in it. So far i've come up with a stocklist I like, but since this is my first dwarf cichlid endeavor I don't know if it would work. What I have so far is:
pair of a. cacatuoides
10 black neon tetras(or regular, or lampeye-havn't decided)
1 killifish
2 ottos
some corys(if I can fit them, and I don't know what kinds would work)

Any suggestions would help alot. Thanks in advance.

 

[DeadFishFloating]

For a start I suggest you look at the Cookie Cutter Setup for a 10-gallon tank.

I'd also go for a moderately planted setup, with a couple of small pieces of driftwood.

As for tankmates. I'd go with not many. My first instinct would be to look at 6 Pygmy corydoras and 3 otocinclus, before I would add any dither fish. Especially if you hope for the Cacatuoides to breed. My Rummynose have no problem slowly picking off my L. dorsigera fry in a much larger tank.

 

[MetalHead06351]

I have the tank all set up, if the camera worked I would post a couple pics. But it is moderatly planted, i'd say half the tank is covered with various plants. Don't know the names of any of them. I have a small peice of driftwood as the centerpeice that is kind of crown shaped, real nice looking. I would like the pair to breed, to give me feeders for my big tank, but lately I am kind of leaning towards just having something nice to look at. I would just get one cacatuoide if you think it would work better with the school and killifish. Do you think a killi could work with the apisto? All the research i've done says yes, but I would rather go with info from people with experience. After seeing some at an lfs, I almost want one as much as a triple red!

 

[MetalHead06351]

This also just came to me. I have a chance to get some agasazzi, would a pair of these work better with my hopefull stocklist? What about one of each apisto of the same sex? There was another question I forgot to ask in my original post, Is there any way to sex these fish as juvies? All of the ones i've been looking at are no more than a quarter inch long. Sorry for all the questions but I want to be sure before I get any fish.

 

[cichlidaholic]

I would go with the killifish (perhaps a pair) OR the Apisto pair, not both. (I like killifish almost as well as Apistos, too, so I know what you mean.)

DFF has given great advice on stocking the tank, less is more in this tank size!

 

[MetalHead06351]

O.K. I think I might go with a breeding pair of triple reds, or orange cockotoos, 6 pygmy corys, 3 ottos, and maybe some smaller tetras somewhere down the line. Maybe not putting the killi in this tank gives me an excuse to get another one...

 

[alex250]

Im keeping Geophagus orange head, Green horseface and synodotis cats all juvenile with my apistogramma panduro adult pair which is spawning for me every water change. Sweet as a nut.

 

[DeadFishFloating]

But alex250 in what sized tank?

 

[MetalHead06351]

I went to an lfs today, and I came across a beautiful little agassizi for $2. brought it home with me. Seems like it is really enjoying having the tank to itself. I think I might abandon the breeding pair since they only had one. Do you think that a cockatoo would work with it, or should I keep the species seperate? Not worried if they did breed and hybridize because all of the fry would be feeders. I went to 2 pet stores today and this is the only day I havn't seen any pygmy corys. I was a little dissapointed. By the end of this weekend I should be able to get them, I want to wait on the ottos until I get a little algae built up. Coming together nice can't wait to get some pics. On a side note, is there any way to sex a 1/2 inch agassazi?

 

[cichlidaholic]

I couldn't sex an Apisto that small!

I would not mix two different variants in a tank that size. Should they both be the same sex, there won't be enough "territory"...Never mind the crossbreeding part if they prove to be male and female...

 

[MetalHead06351]

Allright, my agasizzi died the day before yesterday. I think it must have been diseased as I got it from the only tank in the shop without ich. Not too worried, took a gamble and lost. $2.50 down the hole.
Today I went out and stocked my tank almost fully. I got one a. cacatuoides double red and a regular colored one, both between a quarter and half inch. I hope they are male and female, but if not I plan to trade one out when they get big enough to tell. As for tankmates I got 4 pygmy corys(would have gotten the six I wanted but they only had 4), 2 ottos(again they only had 2, wanted 3), and a bumblebee goby. He's the wildcard right now. I don't know how it'll work longterm but i'm willing to try it. I also plan on getting 10 lampeye tetras down the road, maybe in a month or 2. I will get pics up as soon as my camera is fixed. Any comments are welcome, especially ones that might help me figure out how the goby might turn out.

 

[MetalHead06351]

Now my tank is almost fully stocked. I picked up 6 glowlite tetras and six white clouds, as well as some bigger corys(don't know what kind). My pygmy corys were all murdered by the apistos, and the new corys have been beaten pretty good, even though they are twice the size of the apistos so they are out. Can anyone suggest a bottom feeder that would fit in a ten gallon without taking any guff? I know it is not alot of space to work with, but I don't want to keep killing corys so any suggestions would help alot.