Apistogramma stocking

[Aquarium guy person]

Does anyone know how many Apistogramma cacatuoides I can pull off in my 40 gallon tank without much harm? I have all the right water requirements for them I’m just wondering if I can keep more than one male in there (with females of course)

 

[Munroco]

I think you would need a very heavily planted tank to cut down sightlines, even then I'd be dubious as to whether it would work out well.

I have tried this with 2 apisto males of different species (Cacatuoides and Aggasizi) and I had to move one of them. This was in a well planted 55gal.

 

[seangee]

I wouldn't. Some species work well as a harem. 1 male with 2-3 females.

 

[Metalhead88]

Or even more females!
If I'm not mistaken, 7or 8 females to 1 male is the way to go with apistos.

It's hard to say. There isn't a whole lot of info on apistos on the internet, but they are growing in popularity.
As a longtime cichlid keeper, I'd say a breeding pair will spell trouble for the rest of the tankmates. Having multiple pairs I'd assume would just be chaos.

 

[Byron]

Apistogramma cacatuoides is a harem species, so I agree with others than one male in this tank would be it, along with a group of females. Each female should have a space roughly 30 by 40 cm which is about three in this sized tank ((Linke & Staeck, 1994).

 

[Colin_T]

If it's a community tank, just have 1 pr (1 male & 1 female). Let them set up a home at one end of the tank and they will be fine. If you have a number of females, there is more chance of protective parents having a go at the other fishes in the tank. Having said that, Apistogrammas are pretty small and don't do a lot of damage to other fish.

 

[Byron]

Colin raises a valid issue about other species in this tank. If your intention is to raise any fry, substrate fish (Corydoras and most catfish) will put an end to that.