Aps 250L Stocking? Angels/elliotti/others?

[Mcbenthy]

No rush at all mate. They're happy where they are for now. From a quick observation in there, i can only see 2 Apisto's, but there may be more. There was about a dozen i think. Plenty of Platys though.

Just a thought, would you consider some Cryptoheros Cutteri? If so i have a few available.


Female Cutteri by David Raynham, on Flickr

What kind of hardscape are you looking for?

Well I rescaped the 20G last night 'just-in-case' to add more hidey holes (for some reason I seem to struggle to make good caves.. )

They are very pretty fish! I dunno if I'm honest. I'm still really keen on the angels, and the Rainbows are intriguing to say the least (very pretty, easy to breed, placid etc etc).

As I keep saying, there are far too many pretty fish out there! haha

Hardscape wise I'm looking at having a lot of ariel branches with a single large 'root' piece crawling out of a planted corner, with petrified wood/rocks etc ringing it (obv w/o it being quite as clinical!) why?

 

[minnnt]

Just wondered mate, thought I might have been able to help you out but I haven't got any of the stuff you want. Lol.

 

[Mcbenthy]

Just wondered mate, thought I might have been able to help you out but I haven't got any of the stuff you want. Lol.

Haha, no worries!

btw, I'm heading from Stoke to my mums in Retford this weekend, so if you are along the return route, I'd love to take some apistos off your hands to put into my set up? What are your water stats so I can ensure similarity?

The 20G currently has 4 Harlequinn Rasboras, 10 Rummynose, 1 3-striped Glass Catfish, Endlers and 3 peppered Cories.

pH is ~7.5, GH is ~13.

 

[Davo86]

It appears that the main aim of this tank is to be a heavily planted show tank? In which case I would personally avoid any species that are known for eating plants I.e. The rainbow cichlids, which IME will quickly destroy any soft leaved plants and IMO could potentially get too large considering the tankmates

Laetecara dorsigera would be my alternative suggestion, small very peaceful and bright.

Also I'd personally stick to the same continent as there are many interesting species that would go well in this setup, I.e a trio of wild green swords, a group of hatchetfish or a shoal of larger pencilfish.

 

[Mcbenthy]

It appears that the main aim of this tank is to be a heavily planted show tank? In which case I would personally avoid any species that are known for eating plants I.e. The rainbow cichlids, which IME will quickly destroy any soft leaved plants and IMO could potentially get too large considering the tankmates

Laetecara dorsigera would be my alternative suggestion, small very peaceful and bright.

Also I'd personally stick to the same continent as there are many interesting species that would go well in this setup, I.e a trio of wild green swords, a group of hatchetfish or a shoal of larger pencilfish.

This is true, and I am worried that Rainbows would graze through a load of my lovely plants!

Personally, I'm not a fan of the Laetecara dorsigera, at least from the google searches I have done for them...

Hatchet fish as intriguing, but really I love rummynose, and would rather have a large shoal of them. I could be persuaded to swap them for Harlequinn Rasboras due to how the shoal (they also seem more active in open water), but I have 10 Rummynose in my 20G who would be moved into this larger tank and then up their numbers.

 

[minnnt]

I did warn that rainbows would munch your plants.

If you want more harlequins then a friend is looking to rehome a group of about 9 or 10.

Can still only see two Apisto's. I would say they're still a little too small to be in with other bigger fish.

The Platys are big enough though.

The same friend has some red wag tail Platys for sale too.

 

[Mcbenthy]

I did warn that rainbows would munch your plants.

If you want more harlequins then a friend is looking to rehome a group of about 9 or 10.

Can still only see two Apisto's. I would say they're still a little too small to be in with other bigger fish.

The Platys are big enough though.

The same friend has some red wag tail Platys for sale too.

I know you did, I'm weighing up how much they will munch. If it's a case of they keep eating the vallis - no worries, if they will go through and destroy everything then I have a problem

I would like more harlequinns, but I need to sort out the stocking in the 250L to move stoke over to free up room for the extra fish.

How small are the apistos? The fish I have are quite small (i.e. I saw a 1 cm long shrimp trotting around w/o a care last night, as well as scores of endler fry!) - they may be okay?

The platys are the same as the harlequinns, the number I would want is large enough to require me getting the tank running + cycled fully.