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I'm looking to get one of the following for my 75 gallon community:

1. A pair or two of regular blue rams. Enough said.

OR

2. One pair of Apistogramma borellii of the opal variety (FP lists the comman name as "Yellow Dwarf Cichlid" ) with one pair of Apistogramma cacatuoides.

Info on these can be found here: http://www.apistogramma.com/cms/index.php?option=content&task=section&id=11&Itemid=44

OR

3. One or two pairs of what I believe is a type of west african krib (?)... Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Moliwe".

http://www.gsas.org/Articles/1997/P-t-moliwe.html

I know very little about Apistos and even less about Kribs since most of my reasearch has been geared towards Rams. I came across the two Apistos recently and I was impressed with them, but know very little about them.

Tank mates: guppies I had leftover from other tanks, various small schools of tetras (only 8 black neons at the moment) and other misc. bottom feeders like shrimp and about a half dozen cories. Eventually I've considered getting two small angels and possibly Discus when I'm convinced I've got my water quality perfect.

The tank is moderately planted with plenty of caves built for whatever small cichlid combo I pick. The pH is around 7.6 and as far as hardness goes... since I moved recently I haven't gotten a new test kit to see what it is here.

I guess I'm trying to find out how well these various fish do in communities so if anyone has any experience with #2 or #3 your input on these would be appreciated.

Last edited by Rewd at 06-Dec-2004 16:37

Apistos are very mild with agression and you could have a few in a 75g with out a problem. apisto caca liek your water ( i have the same which is why i know ) and can be kept in harems.
i had this same problem not long ago on what to get. now here are some factors to concider.
kribs are agressive when spawning but are suited for the PH.
Blue rams are delicate but should be ok in the PH and bolivian rams would be fine but less coloring.
apistos some would do fine in your PH like borellii and caca and agression is low when breeding. the thing with apistos is KH/hardness, these factors weigh in on eggs mostly. apistos will do fine in harder water but thier eggs will harden to quickly to get fertilised. if this doesnt matter to you then they are fine.
you could even put both rams and apistos in that size tank with out agression issues but kribs you cannot.
another issue with apistos is thier short life span, about 1-2 yrs in home aquaria.
i'm gona try the blue german rams myself and see how it goes. mostly due to agression with the kribs and the life span with the apistos.
all great choices though so you wont be lsoeing with any of them as far as personality and coloration is concerned. good luck which ever route you go

Sin

You've got enough room you could go with all of them. I never kept Borellis but I did have a pair of Cacs and a pair of A. Agassizi, they were very cool and ditto the Rams. I have P. Pulcher not Taeniatus but I looked them up, also a cool fish.

They all like soft low Ph water but I've kept Apistos, Rams and Kribs in 7.6 Ph. I've also kept them all with Angels though a breeding pair of Kribs is a force to be reckoned with. In a 75 it may not be a problem though. I say get them all.

If I had to choose though I would get the Apistos.

Good luck, Mike

Thanks for the replies!

"you could even put both rams and apistos in that size tank with out agression issues but kribs you cannot."

I thought of that just after I posted this thread and got up from the computer. I think I like that idea best. The tank is large and I probably could fit all of them but I still want a couple angels and discus if possible so I don't want to go over board and overstock. The kribs are very nice but I think the breeding agression is something to consider when I'll have lots of dither fish that will try to snack on krib babies.

I know rams are agressive when it comes to that but I don't think quite as much so they are in.

Obviously I don't know for sure without a test kit but I have a suspicion our water is on the harder side here. I would still like to have a male and a female apisto though to at least give it a try. What's a good ratio for them..? Paired off like rams or 1 male to 2 females?

it depends on the apisto. i know apisto caca can be kept in harems or pairs.

i love my kribs very much, have two pair, but they are very aggresive when spawning. had to remove my corry's because they were being constantly harrased by the krib's even though they just stayed motionless in the corner of the tank.

i think a single pair of rams would be the best idea until you are accustomed to caring for them, plus it leaves some room in your tank to up the number in your schools. just make sure your tank has been up for a few months and your amonia and nirtite's are very low because rams, espically blue rams, are sometimes hard to accimilate.


chris

I'm thinking of getting the borellii.. 1 male to two females..?

"This species is peacful even towards its own kind, thus a large enough aquarium may house several pairs"

American Cichlids 1
Dwarf Cichlids
Horst Linke & Dr. Wolfgang Staeck

The Rams are great they will not bother any of the other fish. Spawning or not Kribs will definitely harass other dwarf cichlids like Rams, etc.


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