Apistos!

[AaronW]

There are quite a few sellers on AB that have great stock, apistodave is a breeder that I have dealt with for many many years, he breeds some of the nicest triple red cacs that I have ever seen.

Most apisto sources sell their fish at sexable size, normally just over an inch long and I have seen pictus cats hit 10 inches, you have to be wary of any large mouthed catfish species as the will eat or try to eat any thing they can gulp up.

I'll look into apisto Dave. I'll take your word on him. But I have never seen a giant Pictus. To my knowledge they are small catfish. Lemme research that

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

I wouldn't keep SA dwarves with kribs, kribs are on the large side of the dwarf cichlid scale and have no problems dominating and killing smaller cichlids especially when spawning.

I understand the risks and have plenty of experience and considering they have spawned and were not very aggressive. Like I said an experiment and all is well

 

[AaronW]

How do you have enough room for all those fish hide? Do you have a lot of caves?

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

Yes there are tons of places, I will get pics. But no one ever hides or gets picked on. The kribs were a little aggressive during spawn but only when the rams would get close to the fry. They would only chase them away then let them be. Like I said all are well and prospering not just surviving

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

Here is a pic the breeder box has about 30 krib fry in it. Some plants and my alligator skull are out cause I had to catch fry, but you get they idea

 

[AaronW]

Here is a pic the breeder box has about 30 krib fry in it. Some plants and my alligator skull are out cause I had to catch fry, but you get they idea

Looks cool! I'm surprised you are able to keep that tank's aggression stable. Very lucky IMO.

Here's what I'm working with. I'm currently having trouble with one of my two rams bullying and dominating the smaller one. Should create a new scape? Perhaps add more plants.







What do you think. I need to improve

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

I would try to add something in the middle to break the sight plane between the two side of the tank. If you are noticing him staking a territory then I would rescape

 

[AaronW]

I would try to add something in the middle to break the sight plane between the two side of the tank. If you are noticing him staking a territory then I would rescape

Ok does it look like I have too Much space between my swords? Perhaps another piece of DW? Because I want to get an apisto pretty soon.

 

[Sillyfishies]

Ok does it look like I have too Much space between my swords? Perhaps another piece of DW? Because I want to get an apisto pretty soon.

I suggest adding another piece of drift wood on the opposite side and making a rock pile in the middle.

 

[Gillie]

I'll look into apisto Dave. I'll take your word on him. But I have never seen a giant Pictus. To my knowledge they are small catfish. Lemme research that

Pictus are relatively small when compared to most other cats but considering max size of the cat compared to the max size of the apisto you could very well end up with an expensive meal. Here's some info http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fish/pictuscatfish.php

 

[AaronW]

I suggest adding another piece of drift wood on the opposite side and making a rock pile in the middle.

I see. I have several pieces. I will go through them and pick the best one.

 

[AaronW]

Gillie thanks for the info! I'm getting a 150 gal tank this summer. Would that be large enough to house him? I'm also considering rehoming him.

The big tank should be operational by August. Would a Pictus cat be compatible with a dieted bottom planted tank?

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

150 gallon would be fine. Yes I think it could be operational by August just seed it with a piece of filter material from your current tank. Also a rock pile is a good idea. It offers lots of good hiding along with a good sight break

 

[AaronW]

Yeah. Anyway I'm short on rocks for a rock pile. Do you use cichlid stones?

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

I went to a landscape place and just got like shale for $.10 a pound and dropped it till i had enough small pieces to stack

 

[AaronW]

I went to a landscape place and just got like shale for $.10 a pound and dropped it till i had enough small pieces to stack

Did you rinse it out too? I
Might make Some kind of driftwood construction

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

Yea I rinsed and scrubbed them of first. Just water no soap and then just stacked them i didn't use silicone or anything cause I like to rearrange things all the time

 

[AaronW]

Yea I rinsed and scrubbed them of first. Just water no soap and then just stacked them i didn't use silicone or anything cause I like to rearrange things all the time

I'll make sure to look into that. We'll see how my driftwood construction goes. Ill post a pic later tonight.

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

Sounds good

 

[AaronW]

Aaahhh just got back from the gym. Ok so my brother rearranged the left side of the tank. We made a a driftwood cave. It seems like my rams have calmed down just a bit.

The line of site is definitely broken more. I was thinking of adding some java ferns on the new piece of wood to make more cover and more cavelike.

Here's the wood.



Heres the inside.