Yes, indeed it's a beautiful fish.
I put it with my Discus and one Koi Betta. So, my Discus are still the centerpiece...LOL
But I like Cacatuoides unique characteristics and its spiky fins and tail.
The Koi Betta wanted to fight with it, and the Cacatuoides fought back with "body slam" but there wasn't any contact between the two. Just showing off only... LOL
Usually if the Apistogramma came straight from the fish farm, it may refuse pellets at the beginning.
(In the farm, they are fed with mostly live food.)
But mine was at the fish store for a few months/weeks due to the lockdown(not allow to sell).
So, it has get used to eating pellets.
I used many brands but Apistogramma is also a picky eater. It will only eat small and soft pellets.
Currently, I am feeding it with
Hikari Micro pellets, New Life Spectrum (Growth formula), Tropical D-50 Granules and a few other brands.
But it kept spitting out the New Life Spectrum(NLS) today which I think is a bit hard for the Apistogramma. NLS food tends to be harder and some fish like Apistogrammas and Blue Rams may not eat it though they are high quality food.
I started feeding yesterday, so still need some time to see how it respond to other brands.
I usually don't like to use live food(eg. worms) due to their risks of carrying parasites and also the trouble to look for the live food.
I know some people will breed the brine shrimps to feed them. But it's too troublesome for working people like me.
By the way, in my opinion, Hikari food are average grade food though
they have the advantages of having different sizes and types of food to cater to different types of fish. Most fish will eat Hikari.
In the past, I find that my Apistogrammas would refuse most pellets food except
Dr Bassleer Regular M size.
Also, I find that most picky fish will eat
Dr Bassleer food. The M size is quite small/fine but it suits the Apistogrammas and Blue Rams well. I have run out of this food and may need to buy again.
I put the links for the food here.
Dr Bassleer Regular:
Hikari Micro Pellet:
www.hikari.info
New Life Spectrum: