Herding cats…

[Magnum Man]

Today I took the last earth eater out of my Cichlid tank… I can only work on the tall tank from the narrow end… I tried at 1st not removing any scape… ok impossible, after this fish watched 3 others get caught, in the last several days… he was particularly skiddish, and I ended up removing almost everything… found out my Java tangle is heavily rooted into a piece of driftwood… had Mrs. trying to give me directions, from the front, after I mucked up the water I couldn’t see the fish… finally got him, and a giant oto, and a super red pleco, all at the same time got them separated, and finally the earth eater in with another one, in a 55 gallon, with the bichir, and silver dollars… I have a couple apisto’s coming tomorrow, turf will be unclaimed prior

 

[Magnum Man]

Well, no one is happy right now, except the earth eater I moved, he settled right in, 1st to the food tonight… seems to be getting along with the other, that was already in that tank… I had bible study tonight, so I didn’t get the tank scraped, driftwood, and mated Java ferns are just in the middle of the tank…. Mutts turf, and he’s not happy, I’ll clear the center of the tank tomorrow… still mad at feeding time… well OK, the Cory’s are happy, but they always seem happy, at feeding time…

 

[GaryE]

Bible study? Does that mean you're reading the Baensch Aquarium Atlas?

Maybe we have different religions

I never actually kept Apistogramma in any tank with other Cichlids, after my first few disasters. I see myself drifting back to dwarf Cichlids, but I'm still sticking to that one species per tank rule. If I get another spawn from my Chromidotilapia nana (they were courting last night) I may put some of my small young Parananochromis with them in the 4 foot, 75 gallons I have them in.

Maybe.

I'm trying to get a Congochromis sp and a Nanochromis splendens group to expand my dwarf horizons here. I bred splendens, but they were difficult, and Congochromis were very difficult when I failed with them before. But still, one species one tank, or with splendens, one pair, one tank.

I'm busy trying to sort out shipping to my not very central city.

 

[Magnum Man]

I was back and forth on a few apisto’s and ended up trying some aquarium bred fish… these are arriving today…

https://www.dansfish.com/product.detail/6038/Apistogramma-nijsseni-'Rio-Ucayali',-Trio-(1M2F)-(Apistogramma-nijsseni)

A harder to keep choice than…

https://www.dansfish.com/product.detail/1859/Apisto-cacatuoides-'Orange-Flash'-Pair-(1M1F)-(Apistogramma-cacatuoides)

But I like the brighter yellow, as I have several fish with oranges in the tank already…

Actually for the most part the fish I have chosen for this tank have been pretty much trouble free… the Acaras and Cupids are fine together, and the angels ( well... they are angels ) the bigger one gets bossy at feeding time, the smaller is good all the time… and the bigger one bothers no one normally… though he’s still not happy with the big piece of driftwood in the middle of the tank ( his spot) which I’ll reposition just before adding the Apisto’s later today…

This fish I actually have ordered have been fine together… my problem was that group of earth eaters, that were sent to me in error

 

[GaryE]

I used to breed njisseni, and it's one of my (too many) favourites. They are not an adaptable species. But they are beautiful and really interesting. I always had direct wild caughts, picked up when they arrived (I usually helped out by unpacking the bags from Peru - I'm kind that way).

If I ever get into Apistos again, of the species I kept or bred I would want njisseni, borellii, mcmasteri or veijita, ortmani or yellow cacatuoides from the Ucayali region. Some of the wild cacatuoides types had dorsals many times the size of any linebred, with neon tips. But the body colour was simply yellowish. Those dorsals though - really something to see. The double/triple red, and golds have replaced them in the hobby. It's a loss.

 

[Magnum Man]

Sid seems happy I uncovered most of the Java ferns off the big piece of driftwood he and the super red pleco are polishing it right now… I haven’t put the Repashi stick back in the tank yet, until I get the scape more in order, which is where the giant Oto’s typically hang….