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Im planning a 35 gal hex soon and wanted to put in blue rams. However, i have heard that Blues can be hard to acclimate and have been wondering about keeping an apisto pair.

The other tankmates will be glowlights, male guppies, otos, and most likely a pearl gourami.

None of the LFS's have apistos, although there is one that i havent been to yet that might have em. If that is not the case Ive decided to look online.

I know about aquabid, liveaquaria, and aquariumfish.net, but do any of you guys know any others. If not i think Ill go through Aquabid.

I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

Arizona Aquatic Gardens has some apistos and dwarf cichlids, and they're pretty good to deal with, though maybe a little more expensive than the other you've mentioned.
http://www.azgardens.com/fish_snails.php

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Try searching the stores here:

http://cichlid-forum.com/reviews/retailer_display.php?CatID=002

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Back in the saddle!

Theres a guy on aquabid named apistodave that has tons of different apistos.

I was looking at Apistodave's auctions, i will probably buy from him when the tank is set up, if i dont buy locally.

Thanks for all the links, i will definately check em all out.

I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

not to speak badly of apistodave but ive heard through some sources that his apistos are a gamble. they are so line bred with out introductions of wilds that they have become rather nasty. thats not to say you will get bad quality fish but the odds are there. ive also been told he will ship any quality bad or good.

just thought you should be aware before paying the insane shipping charges online. i was also thinking of ordering from him but did some heavy research before hand and learned the above. ive since changed my mind.

what exactly were you looking for ?

I was looking for a small bottom dwelling fish, preferably a cichlid, that wont attack the other fish. I was thinking blue ram, but Ive heard they can be hard to keep alive(I havent seen any bol. rams around here). Then i thought apistos, but they seem to be hard to find online and Im not sure if i can find them locally. If there is any bottom dwelling fish, that will fit in with my tank and not hide(like plecos and the like often do), im open to suggestions.

35 gal hex:
3-4 otos
2-3 guppies
6-8 glowlights
1 Pearl gourami
2 rams??


I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

yoyo loaches come to mind... atleast 3...very hyper and dont hide but will sleep in places you would never think to look. swim mostly bottom but have no fear of swimming middle or even top. very hyper and will chase each other for hours. this is why its best to have atleast 3 because if there arnt other yoyos to chase and have a game of tag with....the guppies might be the next best thing lol. and i dont think guppies would appreciate it.

back to apisto these are a pretty good choice. many many different kinds to chose from and they range from all types of water.i wouldnt give up on this idea or the blue rams for that matter. my LFS carried blue rams for a month and in that month i bought 2 together. since then they refuse to carry them due to the fact all they do is die. other employees brought them home and they still died. well mine are just great lol. so i suggest if you wanted blue rams to begin with then get blue rams and see how it goes. worst case scenerio it doesnt work and you look for apistos.

Last edited by Sin in Style at 15-Jun-2005 14:03

How about peacock gudgeons? They are beautiful little bottom oriented freshwater fish (though they will swim mid-water too) with absolutely stunning colours. They look a little bit like a killie because of their small size and colours, but breed more like a cichlid. (Male guards the spawn, after the fry freeswim, they are fiar game to all.)

Unless the tank is really large, its better to not mix cories or loaches with apistos as they compete for the same niche.

Get some Bolivian Rams. They aren't a colorful as blue rams but they're close. They get a little bigger than blues but are a whole lot hardier. I've had mine for a year I love them. Another small cichlid is keyhole cichlids. They'r really shy though and need to be kept in atleast pairs if not trios.

I havent seen any bolivians or keyholes around here. THough, there is an lfs i havent been to in years and i hear they an excellent cichlid selection. I will definately check them out before i shop online.

I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.