Looking for a Pair of Dwarf Cichlids

[FoundMoney]

I have a recently established 30 gallon tank that contains 8 Flame Tetras and a bristlenose catfish. The tank also is moderately planted with some anacharis, hornwort, sword plants, Vallisneria and dwarf sag. The pH is slightly basic at about 7.2-7.4, which I know is not generally conducive to dwarf cichlids, but I'm a newbie with a new tank and don't want to mess around with pH too much. The pH has been stable for the past month.

I was thinking of adding a pair of Apistogramma cacatuoides. Will this fish be OK in slightly basic water? Can anyone suggest any other small cichlids? In a 30 gallon with 8 tetras and the bn catfish, can I add more than 2 without overstocking?

Any suggestions and advice are appreciated.

 

[Dwarfs]

Cockatoo cichlids would be great in there, but I would recommend that you have 2-3 females per one male They would love all of those plants and shouldn't mind the slightly higher pH. Acclimate them to the tank slowly just in case (with any dwarf cichlid)

 

[FoundMoney]

I mentioned having 2 or 3 females to 1 male to my guy at the LFS. He said they would pair up and that the other females would be "obsolete", if a fish can be so. He's been pretty good so far and was supportive of my fishless cycling, which many of the other stores didn't recommend. I guess nobody can know it all. Thanks for the vote of support!

 

[Griz]

Cockatoos will be fine in that pH and will probably even breed in it. I would leave your pH alone, there is no need to mess with it for these fish.

1m/2f should work well for your size tank. These fish form harems with a male controlling a territory containing several females. I have a trio in a 33g long and it seem to be working out just fine. My male rules the tank and flirts with both females. The two girls pretty much have half a tank to themselves. One is dominant though and she has produced fry twice now. You should create caves for them, I use half coconut shells but small clay flower pots work well too. They will really like your planted tank.

 

[FoundMoney]

Thanks Griz. Nice tank by the way. Very impressive. Mine's kind of a mess. Well, not a mess really but a jumble. I'm going for the natural look. Of course, barely a day goes by when I don't have the urge to stick my hand in the tank and rearrange something. Hey, I'm still learning.

 

[lucky62]

I mentioned having 2 or 3 females to 1 male to my guy at the LFS. He said they would pair up and that the other females would be "obsolete", if a fish can be so. He's been pretty good so far and was supportive of my fishless cycling, which many of the other stores didn't recommend. I guess nobody can know it all. Thanks for the vote of support!

A one to one situation can eventually kill the lone female , with larger cichlids , and a few of the dwarfs his advice is often true , not with apistos , at least not with cacatuoides.

I have 70 gallon with plants and plenty of places for seclusion , the shop I bought mine at only had one of each , after the 3rd batch of fry , she guarded extremely well , she died , the male was relentless , so at least 2 females for sure .

I still haven't been able to find any females , it's been since July .

I can't agree more with the advice given in the 2 previous post .

And Griz , that is a real nice tank .

 

[FoundMoney]

OK, then. At least 2 females it is! After all, I'm the customer.

 

[lucky62]

OK, then.  At least 2 females it is!  After all, I'm the customer.

Yes you are , don't let him make you feel intimidated , either .

Have you tried searching Google for cockatoos , I found some great info through Google . "Apistogramma cacatuoides".

Maybe you should tip the shop owner [ about Google ]as well , just for future reference .

 

[FoundMoney]

No, he doesn't make me feel intimidated. He's actually a fairly young guy but he's friendly and does know quite a bit. I had the idea of printing out a page from the internet on cacatuoids when I was going to the shop yesterday but my printer didn't work.

 

[pnyklr3]

I have 1 male and 3 females in my tank and they get along great. Two females even "get in the mood" at the same time! They will tolerate a higher pH. The only problem will be if you want to breed them. A higher pH will cause you to have more females than males. My breeder had tap water at a pH of about 8.6+ and ended up with 134 females and 1 male. Bad odds in my opinion!

Edit: For anyone willing to buy online here are a few good breeders:
ApistoDave "Apistogramma Idiots" he and his partner had done a lot of research and field work.
Aquatico St. Louis sells wild cacatuoides

 

[FoundMoney]

I wouldn't mind buying online but the minimum order is $50 and $100 respectively.

I just was reading up on the Flame Tetra a little more. It seems they get bigger than I thought. They grow to 3 inches, which means eventually I'll have 24 inches of Flame Tetra in my tank, plus 6 inches of bristlenose. If you use the fish per inch method of stocking, I'm already full! Are three Apistos going to overtax my tank?

 

[Griz]

What are the dimensions of your tank?

I believe that flame tetras only reach about 2 inches which means that you are fine. Also, tetras and cockatoos don't produce huge amounts of waste compared to some other fish anyway and they inhabit different areas of the tank so that helps. Tetras-midwater, cockatoos- bottom. Cockatoos need a bit more attention to water quality anyway and your waterchange and vacuuming routines will have to take into consideration that you are approaching your limit. You will also have to be extra carefull to guard against overfeeding, which you will need to be doing anyway. It's just more critical with a well stocked tank and with cockatoos. Go for it - they are great fish!

And thanks for the compliments

 

[FoundMoney]

The tank measures 36x12x16.

2 inches was what I had originally thought they grew to, which was why I bought that particular tetra. As it turns out, I really like this fish. It's much more colorful than I originally thought. In the store it was very pale and even pictures I've seen online do not do the fish justice. It is also very spirited, perhaps bordering on aggressive, at least now with no other fish in the take save the bristlenose. Perhaps with a few cichlids in the tank they'll school more and show a little solidarity.

I'm still establishing my routine but basically it looks like this:

Week one - 20% water change
Week two - 20% water change, clean gravel
Week three - 20% water change
Week four - 20% water change, clean filter
Week one, etc.

I test my water for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate at least once a week and I always bring a sample to the LFS to verify my results whenever I go to the store. Is that an adequate regimen if I add three cockatoos or will I need to do larger or more frequent water changes?

 

[pnyklr3]

Cockatoos don't really tolerate high nitrates, so that will be a big concern (along with the ammonia and nitrite). Males will be about 3 inches, and females half that (when full grown). IMO, they add a wonderful touch to the community aquarium!

 

[FoundMoney]

So far so good with my water chemistry. Ammonia and nitrites are staying at 0, nitrates were under 5 ppm at last testing. I assume this is fine for cockatoos. I also assume that with plants I don't want nitrates at 0.

Perhaps I overdid it a bit on the tetras. Maybe instead of 8 I should have gotten 6, but being a newbie I wasn't confident they would all survive. They all look healthy and active right now. Anyway, they look really cool when they all school together. Unfortunately, they don't school much right now, probably because they feel so at ease with a lack of any other fishes in the tank, save of course for the bristlenose.

I'm going to wait for a couple of weeks before considering purchasing the cockatoos. The weather has been extremely cold around here lately so I'd be concerned that any shipment coming in last week or this week would be exposed to unfavorable temperature swings. Also, it will give me a bit more time to observe my other fish and check the water to make sure everything is going smoothly.