Thoughts on this group of fish

[MullyNax]

Starting my first 55 gallon aquarium, and it’s fully cycled! I’ve been looking at different fish, and wanted to see everyone’s thoughts on the following in a community tank.
6 Lemon Tetra
6 Cherry Barb
3 Dip Tail Pencil
3 Cockatoo Apisto (M/F/F)
4 Bumblebee Goby
1 Pleco
8 Cardinal Tetra
3 Kuhli Loaches
It’s pretty heavily planted, and running a Marineland canister. Any advice would be much appreciated as well. Thanks everyone, and can’t wait to get started.

 

[CassCats]

Bumblebee gobies are a group of fish that are tricky to tell apart and most are brackish and those that are freshwater need hard water to thrive.

Pencil fish need groups of 6 minimum, ideally more.

Same for the kuhli loaches, ideally you'd have 10+ of these.

Cardinal tetras need warmer temperatures, while cherry barbs prefer it a bit cooler. There's overlap, but it's very little.

Lastly, apistos, especially more aggressive ones can be iffy with bottom dwellers, and I'd be very cautious mixing that with your plans here. Cockatoos can be one of the more aggressive ones, even killing their own. Spawning could trigger territorial aggression and with kuhlis, bumblebees, and a pleco, you will find they end up targets. Some apistos are a little easier for community setups, such as apistogramma borelli, but even then it may come down to personality. And borelli needs colder temperatures than the cardinal tetras.

Pleco... that's vague. There's a ton of pleco species and not all are suitable while some would be fine.



And very last, what are your water parameters? GH and pH especially. This will make or break your list further depending on what they are

 

[MullyNax]

Bumblebee gobies are a group of fish that are tricky to tell apart and most are brackish and those that are freshwater need hard water to thrive.

Pencil fish need groups of 6 minimum, ideally more.

Same for the kuhli loaches, ideally you'd have 10+ of these.

Cardinal tetras need warmer temperatures, while cherry barbs prefer it a bit cooler. There's overlap, but it's very little.

Lastly, apistos, especially more aggressive ones can be iffy with bottom dwellers, and I'd be very cautious mixing that with your plans here. Cockatoos can be one of the more aggressive ones, even killing their own. Spawning could trigger territorial aggression and with kuhlis, bumblebees, and a pleco, you will find they end up targets. Some apistos are a little easier for community setups, such as apistogramma borelli, but even then it may come down to personality. And borelli needs colder temperatures than the cardinal tetras.

Pleco... that's vague. There's a ton of pleco species and not all are suitable while some would be fine.



And very last, what are your water parameters? GH and pH especially. This will make or break your list further depending on what they are

Thank you CassCat!! Very helpful info! Especially on the Cockatoo Apistos! Some info I’ve read say they are more of the peaceful Apistos, and I was really looking forward to them.

I may have to reconsider on the loaches as well.

Not sure on the gh, but ph is normally between 7-7.4. I’ll test the gh tomorrow, and let you know. Now you’ve got me curious myself, I’ve never tested for gh. I do have a water softener, and RO system, plus add the Seachem Prime and Stability.

 

[CassCats]

If it's the apistos that are what you really are looking forward to, what I'd suggest:


2 apistogramma cacatuoides (1m+1f)
10 nannostomus eques (dip tails)
10 hyphessobrycon pulchiprinnis (lemon tetras)


These fish would shoal in the upper level of the tank and provide a calm but comfortable activity level for the apistos to not be nervous. Then the apistos will have the entire bottom to themselves and should they spawn, you don't risk it going foul.


Apistos are more docile than some cichlids, but they're also still cichlids and are likely to go into a territorial angry mode when they spawn. Cacatuoides are a little larger for apistos so I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable mixing with bottom dwellers.

I keep an apistogramma borelli pair with cories, but I keep the group limited to the 15 cories. Borelli apparently are among the most docile of the apistos (but outliers are a thing too). Borelli are also smaller, among the smallest apistos. A 4 foot tank could accommodate a pair and a moderate cory group provided the apistos personalities allow it. There's more space involved.

But, i don't think I'd chance the more aggressive and larger apistos with bottom level fish to stress them

 

[gwand]

My male Apistogramma cacatuoides killed his mate on their third spawn. Then he killed a dwarf Platy. Be aware.

 

[emeraldking]

I had them in a community tank once and they were okay with another until they started breeding.

 

[GaryE]

With cacatuoides, you just have to understand their world.

They focus on landmark based territories. They detest other fish that stay on the bottom (loaches, gobies Corys) because they fear them. Their goal in life is to breed and raise fry, and they know a fish that lurks around the bottom could be a hunter biding its time. The urge to protect young is primal, and they'll go ballistic with it. A fish that co-evolved with them will understand their behaviour and respond. An Asian loach or goby whose ancestors never met a dwarf Cichlid in nature won't read the signs, and may even tell the Cichlid to get lost. Then, it's a matter of force, and the Cichlid is generally going to be stronger.

All of this will be intensified in a small tank, under a metre or 3 feet across the front.

With shoaling fish that like life higher in the water column, they'll attack them if they venture too close, but generally, the shoaler gets it and moves away.

I have 2 cacatuoides in a four foot, 1.3 metre community tank. I built them an ideal spawning site, and have a tall wall running beside it. When they look out from their turf, all they can see is rock. So if they grow into being both sexes (they arrived young) no one will get hurt in that tank. I've bred and raised many different cacatuoides pairs, and cacatuoides relatives, and am not worried. But I won't have other bottom dwellers in there once they mature.