24x15x12 - Amazon Biotope

[K-Holed]

Well, 3 years after I had to give up on starting an Amazon biotope tank, I'm in a position where I can finally do it.

After careful consideration I've decided that it would be sinply lovely to have a pair of apistos ... and some pygmy corys ... and a school of small tetras ... and a pair of bristle noses ... oh dear oh dear oh dear, looks like I want to keep the whole of South America's waterways in a teacup! But seriously, would it be seriously objectionable to keep the following list in a 24x15x12 tank

2 x apistos
6 x black neons
6 x pygmy Corys
2 x bristle nose cats

I'm thinking I may be cramping the bottom there a little. It's not so much the water quality I'm worried about (I can solve that) more being sure that I'm giving things enough room.

All comments welcomed, all flaming ignored.

p.s. if anyone can give me a nudge as to tetras/corrys/apistos that would all come from exactly the same region that would be nice. I'd like to get them as close as possible.

 

[caboose_122]

http/fish.mongabay.com/biotope_rio_sucasari.htm look at this its a good guide

 

[stang1]

Have a look on fishbase.org, it's a fantastic site and allows you to search for fish that come from certain areas. I've used it quite a bit lately as I'm also in the process of setting up a South American biotope.
Hope that helps!

 

[dwarfgourami]

I think 2 bristlies might be pushing it with this footprint; they do squabble a bit. And then there's the question of the apistos as well. I have no idea how territorial apistos are, but if they spawn presumably they'd get aggressive with the corys? If I were you, I would go for:

1 apisto
larger school of pygmy corys
larger school of black neons

or (if you want to observe apisto behaviour)

pair of apistos
larger school of black neons
(possibly 1 bristlenose- better able than corys to look out for themselves)

But better to ask an apisto expert really.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yes the apistos can be a bit territorial and aggressive, you need to make sure there is 1 cave for each apisto plus some spares so they can have their own spaces in the tank. They're unlikley to damage any other fish, but they'll just defend their territory and be a bit fiesty with it.

they'll be fine with cories and BN's, but as mentioned it may be a few too many bottom swimmers in the mix.

i'd actually go for a larger group of apistos, if you get 2 males, watching them sparring and displaying with each other is fascinating.

some of my favourite fish.

 

[LosC519]

What kind of Apistos do you have?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

me? at the minute i have nannacara anomala, not quite apisto's but another dwarf cichlid which is v similar. i've previously kept cockatoo's and agassizzi apisto's

 

[K-Holed]

Thanks for the suggesttion. I'll check those sites out and hopefully put a diary up here when I get started.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i just noticed your forum name..................

 

[CPQ]

This probably isn't the most useful of replies you'll get but I have pygmy cories and have found they don't actually spend as much time on the bottom as the other corys I have. They swi around the mid-water a lot more and tend to like to rest on the leaves of the amazon sword I have rather than on the substrate.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

This probably isn't the most useful of replies you'll get but I have pygmy cories and have found they don't actually spend as much time on the bottom as the other corys I have. They swi around the mid-water a lot more and tend to like to rest on the leaves of the amazon sword I have rather than on the substrate.

there's 3 species of pgymy cories; pgymaeus, hastatus and hasborsus (probably not spelt correctly!) i believe it's the hastatus which are mid-water swimmers, the other two species act more like normal cories and stay around the bottom.