My new 35gal Apistogramma cacatuoides tank

[Roberto G]

I bought a 35gal tank on december for a saltwater setup, I had some fishes there until past week when all of them died...

So today I clean up the glass and leave it empty. I want to make a peruvian biotype with some Apistogramma cacatuoides, but first I want to learn everything about this fishes, the water from my house is very neutral, my discus really love this water, same as my other SA cichlids, so I´m thinking of not using any kind of pH buffer for this biotype tank.
Costa Rica is a small country, so this species of dwarfs aren´t very common, so I want to breed them! I hope you can help me, because I really want to have a succesful proyect!

Oh! by the way! maybe you can help me by telling some of the plants I most include on the tank, I´m also trying to place only A.cacatuoides on this tank, no dither fish!

 

[Roberto G]

can anyone help?

 

[bl00]

I'm not too familiar on breeding cacatoides, but I know that they love soft neutral water...you shouldn't need a buffer. Substrate is recommended to be sand; use plenty of driftwood to create hiding spaces for them. I'm not certain on peruvian specific plants, you could try asking in the plant section of this website about them.

What are the dimensions of your tank? Unless its more than 3 ft long, I wouldn't put more than 2 male cacatoides in, along with 2-3 females per male.

The only breeding trick I've heard involves the terra cotta clay pots. I've been told that you're supposed to use a drill to widen out the hole on the bottom of them, and then turn them upside down to make a cone shaped cave. Supposedly they like to lay their eggs inside of these.

I hope this helps.

 

[Roberto G]

Man thanks a lot for the help! I´m really looking for all the info possible, so your help is very useful! I´ve been talking with a lot of people who might know something about this fishes and I haven´t recieve enough help! I guess this type of fishes are really not so common! I would really appreciate if all of you MFK can help me at least a bit! because I want to have a succesful proyect!

 

[darth pike]

Here's some collection data for you courtesy of Linke and Staeck's "American Cichlids I: Dwarf Cichlids:

Location: Lagoon Aquajal: app. 3 km northeast of the Farm Bella Vista on the eastern side of the Rio Ucayali, Peru
Clarity: slightly cloudy
Color: none
pH: 7.6
Total Hardness: 12 dH
Carbonate Hardness: 14 dH
Current: None
Temperature: 27C

No plants were found in the native habitats, only overhanging plants and lots of leaf litter as well as driftwood. No rocks either.

Hope that helps!

 

[Roberto G]

thanks! I´ll be looking for some info about plants of the zone!