Astatheros crossbreed? Group size?

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S

Skurj

Gambusia
MFK Member
Nov 29, 2013
337
10
18
GTA Ontario Canada
Curious if multiple Astatheros can be kept together, specifically robertsoni, nourissati, rostratum in a 180g? If it is possible how many of each? If not possible how many of each could work.. (aka 2 groups or just a single group but how many members of the group?)

Other tank mates (optional..): Raphael cats, possibly a single female RTM, single polleni, small group firemouth, and swordtail dithers to start. All fish will be under 2" and all started in the tank at the same time.
 
My first attempts at Astatheros were less than satisfactory.
I tried robertsoni many years ago, and I believe the tank mates I had at the time, were too boisterous for them, I believe Parachromis are a bit much.

Less than 10 years ago I tried nourisatti, and the alpha took out 4 others in a 60 gal, I believe a larger group would have been better in such a small tank.
I now have a group of 15 rostratum in similar size tank, heavily planted, with 3 wild type, Borneo bettas as tank mates. It has a fairly strong current, and it has been set up about 6 months without a problem. They started as 1" juvies, and so far, no losses, or overt aggression, and are now approx 3".

I would hesitate to use more aggressive Central Americans as tank mates, but the swordtails seem to me to be perfect, as would the cats.
I hesitate to put similar looking, and or feeding type cichlids together because they may see each other as competitors, and to me, the sand sifting Thorichthys fit that bill.
But that's just a personal idiosyncrasy of mine, doesn't mean it wouldn't work for you

 
I grew out four robertsoni that had no aggression issues as juveniles. I had to redo our floors when the fish were about 4-5" and moved them to a different tank. The next day two were dead, one was beat up very bad, and one had a smug look on his face. I still have the victor and he is an awesome fish. The funny thing is, he is a real wimp for his size and never bothers anybody.

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Astatheros species tend to be very conspecific aggressive; therefor I wouldn't try keeping multiple Astatheros species together. From what I have read/seen you either keep a single individual or a good sized group; and even then a dominant male can kill off the others. If you're wanting to keep both Astatheros and Thorichthys, I'd suggest keeping a singe Astatheros (be it robertsoni or?) and then a good sized group of Thorichthys.

Also worth mentioning.. in my experience Astatheros are more sensitive compared to many of the other CA species. I lost my A. robertsoni to internal parasites.:(
 
Maybe. I have a robertsoni and rostratus in a 150g w/ no aggression.
However I had a rostratus kill an altifrons in a 72g. Both fish were 2-3".
Some are best to keep in groups like rostratus and altifrons. I wouldn't do a group of robertsoni.


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arrrg, maybe I hold off and just add mature singles later on.
 
I have done a lot of research recently as I am just getting into the genus. I have 3 1" rhytismas that I just got two days ago. It does seem like robertsoni are best kept solo or in groups of 8+ in a very large 8'+ tank. But others like rhytisma and nourisatti are recommended to be kept in groups of 5+ in 6' tanks and don't do well solo. Conspecifics is definitely the downfall of this species for most keepers.


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You shouldn't have a any problems with cross breading. Your 180 should be fine to keep two different groups. I wouldn't keep any parachromis with them as stated above. The thorichthys on the other hand should be fine. I currently keep 4 nourisatti and 9 rostratus together in a 300g. They're all between 5" and 6.5"
 
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