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which Apistogramma

Hi all,
Depends what you can get really. The traditional choice would be Apistogramma cacatuoides, easy to keep, colourful and pretty calm. The only downside would be a lot of the "Triple Red" stock is now in-bred and of dubious quality.

Other options would be Apistogramma agassizii, A macmasteri or A. hongsloi, a little bit more demanding of slightly softer water, but all really nice fish. If you like a less "red" fish A. panduro or A. baenschi are possibilities. These are pair breeding (all the others are harem breeders).

Have a look here for some details: <http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/Aquarium_care.php>

cheers Darrel
 
Hi
What's your water like? Hardness/ph
I use to keep Borellii.They're pretty easy to keep as long as the water's not too hard.
 
The list is almost endless... in a tank that size you could go for a colony of the smaller species, or a trio of the larger ones. Apistogramma borellii - a personal favourite and a lovely peaceful fish, should thrive and are little gems, they're also often available which can be a real problem with Dwarf Cichlids - lack of availability. All the species mentioned by Darrel would be good choices, and I'd also add A.trifasciata, A.hoignei, or A.viejita (which may not actually be A.viejita, but often sold as it). To be honest there are only a handful of Apistogrammas which are really aggressive (A.sp. "Steel Blue") and/or delicate (A.elizabethae).

Then there are fish such as Dicrossus filamentosa (or D.maculatus if you can find it), Nannacara anomala (females are a bit feisty when guarding young), and the Ram M.ramrezi.

If you're in China there will be a lot of man made fish available in the local tropical fish markets, especially for the Rams and A.agasizii, I don't know why but the Chinese market seems to particularly like mutated fish of this kind. My advice would be to avoid them like the plague, they are (like fancy Goldfish) usually sickly and short lived. The wild type may not look so attractive as juveniles, but the adults are far more attractive and hardy too, plus you're much more likely to have success in breeding them (one of the main attractions of Dwarf Cichlids).
 
I agree, it's sad they're creeping in to the tropical hobby so much in recent years. In Dwarf Cichlids the worst offenders are Rams (lots of man-made forms on offer), but Apistos are almost a 'mutators' dream, they're naturally so genetically unstable with a tendency to individual markings and traits .... I think it's only a matter of time before we see "electric blue balloon A.borellii" :(

Have you come across a German guy called Uwe Romer? He has written some good books on Apistogrammas, well worth looking up if you want to do some research first? It is worthwhile, they're such interesting little fish, and keeping them is quite addictive.
 
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