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hello gentle fish-folk,

my heavily planted 6-foot tank currently holds: a breeding pair of angels, about 50 harlequin rasboras, and a male apistogramma cacatuoides with a harem of three females. i have a pair of apistogramma agassizii in another tank, but was wondering about getting another female agassizii and putting the three of them in the 6 footer with the cacs...

would the males claim seperate territories, or would they 'overlap' and cohabit as seperate species?
can they interbreed (i definitely won't be mixing them if that's the case)?
does anyone have first-hand experience at keeping these two species together?

thanks in advance,

justin

Usually I would advise against mixing Apistogramma species because many of the people who do so mix them in quarters that are too small ... but in a 6ft aquarium, this shouldn't be a problem.

However, be prepared to relocate some fishes if they start breeding. Though hopefully the large shoal of Harlequins should provide sufficient dither fish to keep their minds otherwise occupied ...

The breeding pair of Angels could prove to be an interesting complicating factor in the equation though. However, you DO have 6 feet of aquarium space for them all, so hopefully this should stand a reasonable chance of success - certainly more than would be the case in a smaller aquarium.



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

all the fish currently in the aquarium breed quite happily, though the attrition rate is almost 100 percent. it's not my intention to swell the numbers or sell offspring, but to have fish happy and healthy enough to breed. obviously i would provide enough breeding sites for all the female apistos - i just wonder as to whether they could live side by side happily enough.

justin

I have a breeding pair of angels, breeding pair of rams, and breeding pair of A. cacatuoides and A. trifasciata in my 55 gallon tank and every one seems to get on okay. Moderate chasing and posturing if one crosses into another's territory. I have sever babies hiding in the gravel. No issues in my tank. I think the secret is...lots of hiding places. I have two HUGE pieces of driftwood (with lots of nooks and crannies) and tons of plants for the fish to stake claim to.

I say, go for it.

---

~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

thanks - i have decided to keep the species seperate - the agassizii are by themselves and have just started posturing and displaying, so i think i'll give them a chance to rear a brood without disruption. maybe they can join the big tank later.