I have been keeping Scarlet badis for some time now and absolutely love these little fish. I am in the planning stages of a large (70ish gallons) dwarf cichlid tank of apistos. My question is would I be able to keep a group of Scarlet badis in with about ten 2.5-4 inch apistos or would they be eaten? I have several in a community tank and they definitely hold their own for being only an inch long. I have them in with German rams, celestial pearl danio, least rasbora, neon tetras, platies, guppys, endlers, panda cory cats, and cherry shrimp. In my experience they have been semi aggressive fish. Any suggestions?
Dwarf cichlids/Scarlet badis
- Thread starter Amyers22
- Start date
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I have not kept those, but Apistos would pretty much ignore any upper water swimmers in a large tank. What region do the badis typically swim in?
That being said, keeping that many apistos in a single tank is probably going to be a challenge. You will need to have a lot of highly defined territories.
That being said, keeping that many apistos in a single tank is probably going to be a challenge. You will need to have a lot of highly defined territories.
I would like to do an all male tank. Should I reduce the number even if I create many hiding spots and caves? In my experience my scarlet badis have swam closer to the bottom of the tank and some have been mid swimmers. They are also territorial. I thought 70-75 gallons would provide plenty of room for hiding spots and open swimming area. I have not yet purchased the tank. I want to plan everything perfectly. I could stretch my budget a tad and go a little larger if you think that would be better.
I have never kept only male apistos. I have always kept them in pairs and trios.
I am a huge fan of Apistos, but I don't think a tank of all male Apistos will be very interesting. Apistos tend to disappear in large tanks. Even as adults they are fairly small.
Laetacara or some of the smaller Aequidens would be more showy. Also, no reason you couldn't try throwing a couple of males in with some other South American cichlids.
Aequidens metae is a cool fish. Laetacara araguaiae is a little beefier than some of the more common Laetacaras.
I am a huge fan of Apistos, but I don't think a tank of all male Apistos will be very interesting. Apistos tend to disappear in large tanks. Even as adults they are fairly small.
Laetacara or some of the smaller Aequidens would be more showy. Also, no reason you couldn't try throwing a couple of males in with some other South American cichlids.
Aequidens metae is a cool fish. Laetacara araguaiae is a little beefier than some of the more common Laetacaras.
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I'm looking to add some driftwood and replace the tall artificial plants with grasses. I'm going to try to make this tank more densely planted soon. I had a few plants die and I've tried a new CO2 supplement and my current plants are starting to grow!
Gillie
Aquarium Advice Addict
So far the dwarves you have in mind will not work and will either kill, eat or kill and eat the scarlets. You could however probably get away with dicrossus filamentosa, they are docile and have small mouths.
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Coursair
Aquarium Advice Addict
Scarlet Badis are very specific fish. They are very slow and deliberate hunters that like to stalk their food. So they can easily starve in a normal community tank.
Also they need a very heavily planted tank to feel secure.
I'm happy to hear that you are having such good experiences with yours though. That's excellent !!You must take very good care of them. I would not mix them with any fish that they fit in their mouth since they are such slow little fish. I'm amazed that you are successfully keeping them with Rams long term.
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Also they need a very heavily planted tank to feel secure.
I'm happy to hear that you are having such good experiences with yours though. That's excellent !!You must take very good care of them. I would not mix them with any fish that they fit in their mouth since they are such slow little fish. I'm amazed that you are successfully keeping them with Rams long term.
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