# SA Stocking ideas for a 90G tank



## dbblackdiamond (Sep 30, 2021)

Hi,

I have the opportunity to build a 90G tank (48x18x24) and thought I would try my hands on SA Cichlids. I am not a fan of big fish and typically gravitate towards medium sized fish. Here is where I stand so far on the stocking list:

6 Angelfish: I am been reading conflicting reports around Angelfish, but I have also seen folks with tank around the size of mine with multiple ones, so is this possible?
3 Geo Tapajo: again, I have been reading that those are best kept solo, but I keep seeing tanks with multiple ones, so is this possible?
Some GBRs. See my other post on this. 4 solo males? 6 solo males? 2 pairs? 3 pairs? Totally not sure on this, but I love GBRs
10 - 15 corys. Not sure which species, but most likely pandas, julii or sterbai
I would love a pair or a harem of apisto cacatuoides, but, the bottom of the tank already looks crowded, so not sure I can do these.
Do I need some dither fish with those? If so, I am thinking Congo tetra as I love their flowy fins.

Thoughts on the list? Can I add more Angels? More Geo?

Thanks a lot in advance.


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## Auballagh (Jan 29, 2003)

Okay then....
What does it mean you have the opportunity to 'build' a 90 gallon tank? Does this mean you are actually going to construct/build a completely new aquarium from acrylic or glass? There is a HUGE amount of difference in what can be successfully kept depending on the bottom dimensions (footprint size) of a 4 foot long tank. So, what you can possibly 'build' in this case; will influence stocking recommendations a LOT.


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## dbblackdiamond (Sep 30, 2021)

Auballagh said:


> Okay then....
> What does it mean you have the opportunity to 'build' a 90 gallon tank? Does this mean you are actually going to construct/build a completely new aquarium from acrylic or glass? There is a HUGE amount of difference in what can be successfully kept depending on the bottom dimensions (footprint size) of a 4 foot long tank. So, what you can possibly 'build' in this case; will influence stocking recommendations a LOT.


My apologies, I should have been more clear: I have the opportunity of buying a 90G tank and put together my own stocking list. The tank will be 48" long, 18" wide and 24" high.


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## Auballagh (Jan 29, 2003)

For a 90 gallon tank, your stocking list has too many fish. Recommendations are as follows,

Six Angelfish would be a good number.
Tapajos Red Earth Eaters (RHT) are a highly social Cichlid species that will DEFINITELY appreciate more numbers. However, Earth Eater Cichlids are a harem-keeper species, with one male becoming dominant over multiple females in his territory (or 'harem'). However, RHT males are notorious for being VERY dominant and aggressive with the females kept with them in the harem. For this species I would recommend stocking with no less than 4 females for a 1M-4F RHT group. The best, most assured way to do that will be to purchase 8 -10 fish, and over time remove the males from the tank as they emerge in maturity until you have one male left.
NOTE: Failure to cull out excessive male RHTs from the group, in a 4' X 18" bottom area tank, will result in beat up, thrashed Cichlids. There just isn't enough room for those less dominant males to escape the 'King Daddy's' aggression when he drives them away from his group of females. If this is allowed to continue in a smaller aquarium, the dominant male will almost certainly kill off all of the other males in the tank.

You will not be able to keep the Corydoras catfish with that group of RHTs. The RHTs will not share the bottom area with those catfish in that small of a tank. If you decide to go with the Corydoras catfish instead of the RHTs, those numbers look good.
You won't need dither fish for this tank. But, if you decide to go with Tetras, the African Riverine, Congo Tetra is too large a species for keeping in this tank. A mid-sized Tetra such as the Bleeding Heart or Black Widow would be preferred to keep in the 6 - 10 numbers needed to keep them happy.
The German Blue Ram is one of the most water sensitive Cichlids you can keep. The tank could accommodate 4 - 6 of them, but I'm not sure you can keep up with the water changes to drive those Nitrates down to the super-low levels needed for the health and keeping success of this species. GBRs are best when kept in species-specific aquariums, with their sensitive nature and keeping needs as the priority.
So instead....
- A 1M-4F harem of A. cactuoides would work. The Cockatoo at least, is an Apisto Cichlid that is bit less water sensitive than the GBR. You will still need to keep those measured Nitrates in the water below 20 PPM to reduce stress and maintain healthy conditions for those Apistos (And the RHTs - they are very sensitive to getting HITH/HLLE, if the Nitrate levels got too high in their aquarium).


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## dbblackdiamond (Sep 30, 2021)

Auballagh said:


> For a 90 gallon tank, your stocking list has too many fish. Recommendations are as follows,
> 
> Six Angelfish would be a good number.
> Tapajos Red Earth Eaters (RHT) are a highly social Cichlid species that will DEFINITELY appreciate more numbers. However, Earth Eater Cichlids are a harem-keeper species, with one male becoming dominant over multiple females in his territory (or 'harem'). However, RHT males are notorious for being VERY dominant and aggressive with the females kept with them in the harem. For this species I would recommend stocking with no less than 4 females for a 1M-4F RHT group. The best, most assured way to do that will be to purchase 8 -10 fish, and over time remove the males from the tank as they emerge in maturity until you have one male left.
> ...


Wow... Thank you for taking the time to give me such a detailed response. This is so informational. If I understand correctly, if I remove the corys, I can do the 6 Angelfish with 4 RHT and either 6 GBRs or 5 Cockatoo, right?

If I was to change to a 4' X 24" bottom area tank, will that change anything? I am unfortunately stuck at 48" in length, but I could go up to 24" in width and the total capacity of the tank would go to 120G.


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## Auballagh (Jan 29, 2003)

Yes. You can have the six Angelfish in there regardless. For the Corydoras catfish, it's either them *OR* the RHTs. You can't have both.
And no to the GBR, as they are too sensitive to poor water quality (need their own, smaller tank). But, you can defiunitely stock with the 1M-4F Harem of Cockatoo Apistos.
-
And definitely, YES. If you get a 4' X 2' bottom area tank, it will make a very big difference in your stocking choices. I had two of those, at 4' X 2' X30" (Marineland XH, tall). Those 150 gallon tanks worked out extremely well in the 4 foot long spaces I could accomodate them in at my house. They were literally as much "tank as I could fit" into the space I had available. 
This one was a heavily planted New World set up.









Potted Aquatic Plants In New World Aquarium?


Hello All, I have been strongly recommending the use of potted aquarium plants in many of my posts lately. Potted plants are recommended for a few reasons. As follows, When the aquarium is stocked with Cichlid residents that seemingly could make a Tracked Excavator envious of their digging...




www.cichlid-forum.com





The other one was an African Mbuna tank.


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## dbblackdiamond (Sep 30, 2021)

Got it on the GBRs. If i go to a 4' x 2', keeping in mind the type of tank i am going for, how would you change the stocking list?


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## Auballagh (Jan 29, 2003)

Hmmmm....
okay then, a bit of fun? So, based off of what you've shown me that interests you so far... Here is how I would stock out (and ultimately set up) another *150 Gallon Tank* (4' X 2' X 30").
It's a potential Dream Tank for you! So *GO BIG*, right?

4 Angelfish, _Pterophyllum scalare_
3 Flag Cichlids, _Mesonauta festivus_
2 pairs of Redbreast Acara, _Laetacara dorsigera _
1M-4F Tapajos Red Earth Eaters, _Geophagus sp. _Tapajos
10-12 Bleeding Heart Tetras, _Hyphessobrycon erythrostigma _*- OR- * 6-8 Congo Tetras, _Phenacogrammus interruptus _
1 Rhino/Chocolate Pleco, _Pterygoplichthys scrophus
_
_
-_
Similar to my previous 150 gallon aquarium, I would heavily plant it with non-substrate rooting plants (Various Anubias species, Java Moss & Java Fern) affixed to very large (Mountain Lace) rock pieces along with large/interesting pieces of bog wood. Larger species of substrate rooting plants (Amazon Sword, bunch stem plants) would be potted up in glass, goldfish bowls. (Large growing substrate rooting plants look great, and are Nitrate-eating HAWGS).
A base of Pool Filtration sand mixed in with a bit of very small and larger sized natural-colored gravel, would serve as the bottom substrate.
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Preferred filtration would be overflow w/sump and a DIY made, undergravel jet (UGJ) water discharge-flow system. *- OR- * an alternate (simpler/less technical) filtration choice, could be provided with a combination Tidal 110 Hang On Back filter and an OASE BioMaster Thermo 600 canister filter.
-
A simple, black (or dark blue) painted glass background would finish this Bad Boy off pretty nicely. 

And now THAT, would be some serious 'eye candy' - a true 'centerpiece' aquarium! 

.


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## dbblackdiamond (Sep 30, 2021)

Auballagh said:


> Hmmmm....
> okay then, a bit of fun? So, based off of what you've shown me that interests you so far... Here is how I would stock out (and ultimately set up) another *150 Gallon Tank* (4' X 2' X 30").
> It's a potential Dream Tank for you! So *GO BIG*, right?
> 
> ...


Wow!!!! Thank you so much for this response. I absolutely love it.  If I am building such a tank, I am going with the simpler less technical option. Also, I am not sure I have the skills and knowledge to pull the whole potted plants, but one can dream. Thank you for making me discover the Flag Cichlids and the RedBreast Acara. I didn't know about these. I think I would go with the Congo Tetras, ditch the pleco as I am not a pleco guy and keep the Cockatoos.  My idea of the 90G seems so small now that I can have that, so I just need to convince my partner to let me get such a beast. Easy, right?  And it would truly be a 'center piece' aquarium as it will be a peninsula type setup, dividing our kitchen space with our living room space.

Stupid question: why the tidal 110 HOB filter in addition to the OASE? I thought the OASE 600 would be enough for a 150G tank.


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## Auballagh (Jan 29, 2003)

Yes, a single, OASE 600 canister filter is technically rated to support an aquarium _'Up To 160 Gallons' . _
Oh... great! But, what does that actually mean? A couple negatives in this case informs a single source of water current is provided from the spray discharge bar of the canister, plus it also means that if there is some sort of failure in that canister filter, you're left with..... 0.
-
Adding the HOB, Tidal 110 will provide a more uniform source of water current from your filtration for a larger portion of the tank. That will help to promote better oxygenation of the water, and help to prevent 'dead spots' where waste can build up. Another filter will also ensure that the tank is properly supported in biological filtration capacity. For New World Cichlids (even the medium-growing ones you are considering), that can be a tall order to achieve for a single source of filtration (unless it is a sump). And redundancy, in Primary Life Support Equipment? Is truly a wonderful thing.
-
Oh, and I wouldn't stress overmuch the potted plant thing.









Help stocking 75G Geo tank


Hey yall, first post here. New to geos and South Americans, but not new at all to aquariums. Have had salt and fresh in the past, very successfully. I have a brand new 75 G, cycled completely. I have some nice Driftwood that is staining the water somewhat, anubias, amazon sword, plants...




www.cichlid-forum.com





Follow the URL links down in that posting thread located a little behind yours here in the SA section, and you will get more info about potting up aquatic plants than you may have guessed. It's easy! Actually kind of fun to do and the results I've had, have made the whole endeavor absolutely worth it.


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## dbblackdiamond (Sep 30, 2021)

Auballagh said:


> Yes, a single, OASE 600 canister filter is technically rated to support an aquarium _'Up To 160 Gallons' . _
> Oh... great! But, what does that actually mean? A couple negatives in this case informs a single source of water current is provided from the spray discharge bar of the canister, plus it also means that if there is some sort of failure in that canister filter, you're left with..... 0.
> -
> Adding the HOB, Tidal 110 will provide a more uniform source of water current from your filtration for a larger portion of the tank. That will help to promote better oxygenation of the water, and help to prevent 'dead spots' where waste can build up. Another filter will also ensure that the tank is properly supported in biological filtration capacity. For New World Cichlids (even the medium-growing ones you are considering), that can be a tall order to achieve for a single source of filtration (unless it is a sump). And redundancy, in Primary Life Support Equipment? Is truly a wonderful thing.
> ...


Thank you for confirming what i was thinking about the OASE + the Tidal 110. I agree that for a tank this size, redundancy is a good thing. 

I had already looked at your thread on the potted aquarium, but the pictures don't show anymore. Is there a way for those pictures to be uploaded again.


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## Auballagh (Jan 29, 2003)

Yeah, my posted image links of thast 150 gallon tank got busted almost immediately. You need to scroll down in that thread in the CA section to 'StuW2' and his posted replies. He was able to re-post those images I uploaded, and they came in great.


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## dbblackdiamond (Sep 30, 2021)

Auballagh said:


> Yeah, my posted image links of thast 150 gallon tank got busted almost immediately. You need to scroll down in that thread in the CA section to 'StuW2' and his posted replies. He was able to re-post those images I uploaded, and they came in great.


Thank you and my apologies for not scrolling far enough.


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## dbblackdiamond (Sep 30, 2021)

Auballagh said:


> Yeah, my posted image links of thast 150 gallon tank got busted almost immediately. You need to scroll down in that thread in the CA section to 'StuW2' and his posted replies. He was able to re-post those images I uploaded, and they came in great.


I just looked at both of those threads and this is sooooo cool!!! I have been doing research on CO2, but it looks to be fairly complicated and costly, whereas I love the idea of using natural soil to provide the plants with what they need. I would assume that the setup would work whether the plants are potted or not. For instance, I could have a layer of of potting soil slopping up towards the back of the tank covered with 1.5" of sand on top, right? Would that achieve the same thing as with the pots?


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## Auballagh (Jan 29, 2003)

dbblackdiamond said:


> I would assume that the setup would work whether the plants are potted or not.


In a word:* NO*
-
Why? The reason would be the 1M-4F Harem Group of RHT Earth Eater Cichlids you want to stock with! Those things are gonna dig, sift and really WORK that substrate in the aquarium over. It seriously is, _"Just How They Roll, Man..."_
So no... if you want to have substrate rooting plants in this tank, you are gonna be forced (like I was, because of the digging/destructive New World Cichlids I was dealing with in my own aquarium) to put those aquatic plants in pots. THAT is why I post up the pictures of just what an aquarium with potted-up aquatic plants actually looks like. Done right, those plants are gonna grow like crazy for you and look just fine. 

Oh, and CO2? 
Nope. 
That's high-tech. And yes, CO2 WILL enable strong growth in your aquatic plants. But it IS freaking costly to set up, and requires a lot of tinkering and continual maintenance to work right. I never thought it was worth the effort - so I've never used CO2 to push growth for the aquatic plants in my aquariums. You can go low-tech with this, and have great results.


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## dbblackdiamond (Sep 30, 2021)

Auballagh said:


> In a word:* NO*
> -
> Why? The reason would be the 1M-4F Harem Group of RHT Earth Eater Cichlids you want to stock with! Those things are gonna dig, sift and really WORK that substrate in the aquarium over. It seriously is, _"Just How They Roll, Man..."_
> So no... if you want to have substrate rooting plants in this tank, you are gonna be forced (like I was, because of the digging/destructive New World Cichlids I was dealing with in my own aquarium) to put those aquatic plants in pots. THAT is why I post up the pictures of just what an aquarium with potted-up aquatic plants actually looks like. Done right, those plants are gonna grow like crazy for you and look just fine.
> ...


Tat is a great point!!! Thank you. I am a newbie, so I didn't think about that.


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## dbblackdiamond (Sep 30, 2021)

Auballagh said:


> Hmmmm....
> okay then, a bit of fun? So, based off of what you've shown me that interests you so far... Here is how I would stock out (and ultimately set up) another *150 Gallon Tank* (4' X 2' X 30").
> It's a potential Dream Tank for you! So *GO BIG*, right?
> 
> ...


Hi, over the last week or so, i have been talking to LFS in my area and getting the acaras and the festivus is going to be a challenge as nobody stocks them. When i asked if they'd willing to order some, they said no as apparently there is no market for them right now. Apparently, the only cichlids folks are interested in are african cichlids, but not really south or central american ones. Even the apistos will be hit and miss. I have seen some locally, but was also told that the market for them is limited, so not sure how often I'll be able to find them. I might have to settle for something else. Interestingly, GBRs are a dime a dozen here. Go figure! 

With that in mind, i think i can get severums. I have read that they can be tough on plants, but are otherwise fairly placid. This will be a planted tank, so i have some concerns there, but otherwise, they seem to be a good replacement option for the acara and the festivus. Thoughts? I am think one male or maybe 2 max. Oh and i have settled on the 120G tank (48x24x24) because of budget constraints.


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## Auballagh (Jan 29, 2003)

Sorry to hear you are having problems in getting the fish you want to stock this tank with. Typically for quality stock, a lot of us are forced to make purchases online or through special arrangements with a supportive LFS.
With that said, regarding those Severums? Nope.
Severums are a wonderful South American Cichlid, and will look and work out in amazing fashion with all sorts of different community tank setups. Unfortunately, they are not a good choice for those stocking recommendations I gave you earlier.

They WILL absolutely destroy aquatic plants. I'm not sure even PLASTIC plants won't get chewed, nibbled and sampled by Severum!
They will almost certainly bully, push around and just make things completely miserable for those Angelfish. Severums are pretty calm and easy-going Cichlids by New World aggression standards at least. But, stocking with Angelfish? It's too much - don't do it.
-
And, the 120G, 48"X24"X24" is a great tank! There is a LOT of size and 'bang for the buck' in a four foot long tank, with one of those.
And, I advocate PATIENCE in acquiring the Cichlids you want for this new aquarium. I mean seriously, why the rush? Done right, with plenty of BIG rocks and nice bog-wood pieces, this tank will take a while to get settled out and established. Getting those plants you want set up and emplaced, takes time if you do it right. So, a phased approach to stocking it out with those fish you want, will most probably work out best. Recommended stocking order,
1) Bristlenose Catfish
2) Congo Tetras
3) Angelfish
4) RHT group
-
After that... you may find a line on purchasing some absolutely KILLER Red Breast Acaras or Festivum (Can't believe they don't have those - they're a wonderful, classic Cichlid!).
*- So, patience now. Take a breath. -*
You have a LOT of work ahead in just getting that tank set up and running properly. The fishless cycling process can be long and more than a bit frustrating to complete (It WILL shorten the length of that process, if you begin setting up your live plants in the tank very early). 
And lastly....
You should very seriously look at also getting a QUARANTINE TANK, along with your 120G. A 20 gallon tank is usually a good size for quarantine purposes. And often enough, you can purchase used smaller tanks, at ridiculously cheap prices by people who are no longer interested in keeping an aquarium. If you DON'T believe you need to get a quarantine tank? Just take a long look at the posts we have been getting in the Illness and Nutrition section of the site. There have been a LOT of sick fish infecting newly established aquariums. Really frustrating, sometimes horrible stuff that could have been easily prevented by the use of a dedicated, new arrival quarantine tank.
Get one!


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## dbblackdiamond (Sep 30, 2021)

Auballagh said:


> Sorry to hear you are having problems in getting the fish you want to stock this tank with. Typically for quality stock, a lot of us are forced to make purchases online or through special arrangements with a supportive LFS.
> With that said, regarding those Severums? Nope.
> Severums are a wonderful South American Cichlid, and will look and work out in amazing fashion with all sorts of different community tank setups. Unfortunately, they are not a good choice for those stocking recommendations I gave you earlier.
> 
> ...


I agree about the patience and I am in no rush, but being in Canada, our options to acquire fish can be very different from the US and we don't have access to the same services, such as online ordering. The great news is that Congo tetras, Angelfish and RHT are all readily available locally.  For the apisto, I might just have to keep my eyes open and jump on the opportunity when I see one. 

I agree about the quarantine tank and it is something that I have been thinking about. I currently do have a 20G tank that could be used, but it does have my step-daughter fishes in there, so I might need to look at something else, but it is definitely on my mind. Thank you in any case for not assuming that I was thinking about it and recommending it to me.


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## dbblackdiamond (Sep 30, 2021)

The tank that this group helped me put together and stocked finally came together over the weekend. The tank finished cycling on Saturday, wholesale water change on Sunday and off to the LFS. As per the posts above, my thoughts was to stock over time, but I have talked to every LFS here (including big box stores) and the story is always the same: stock to extremely hard to come by and they have no idea when specific fish will be in stock. Apparently, Covid has created major issues with their supply chains and it is basically everybody's guess as to what will be available when. With that in mind, I decided to take a chance and basically go all in and get the tank fully stocked in one go.
I know it is risky, but most of the fish are juveniles, so even though, that is a lot of fish, they are all pretty small and shouldn't overload my current colony of good bacteria, as it was able to convert 4ppm of ammonia in 24hrs and the resulting nitrites in 36hrs. As the fish grow, the colony should grow with them. I will definitely keep an eye on the levels of ammonia, nitrites and nitrates for sure for the first little while. 

After 24hrs of the fish being in the tank, everything is looking good. 
Here is the stocking list:

6 Geophagus Tapajo: they are juveniles, but for 1 of them the lady at the LFS was pretty sure he was a male. The rest should be female, but I am thinking there might be another male there, so I might have to cull him, depending on how things go,
2 Platinum angels,
2 black angels,
2 diamond scale gold angels,
5 apisto panduro (normally I wouldn't have gone with those as they need soft water, but the LFS I got them from works with a local breeder and they seem to do well in our water)(1M, 4F),
8 Congo tetras(3M, 5F),
2 Bolivian Rams (1M, 1F)
1 super red BN pleco.










So far, everyone is pretty active, with the Geophagus being the more shy of the bunch. They have stayed towards the back of the tank. especially the male, so hopefully they get a little braver and come to the front. I thought the apistos would stay at the bottom of the tank and hide in the various caves, but they have been pretty fearless and have been exploring the entire driftwood structure. The rams have been awesome, being super active.

My plan will be to add 5 apistos cacatuoides (1M, 4F) if and when I can find some.

The fish were kind of staying in the bottom half of the tank, so I reduced the flow out of the FX6 and it has made a big difference, with the tetras and the angels getting more towards the top of the tank. I'll try to take more pictures tomorrow. The only challenge about reducing the flow is that I don't get as much surface agitation, so I might need to play with this a little bit more or angle the spray bar from the OASE 600 further upwards.

Thank you for all the help. I literally couldn't have put this together without the help of this community. I am super happy with my choices and I can't wait to see the fish mature and hopefully, I don't kill too many of them in the process. 
B.


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## Auballagh (Jan 29, 2003)

Oh wow..... 
SOMEBODY has been working hard on that aquascape, hmmmmm? I see your plants are already coming in quite nicely, and the moss you've distributed on the wood looks absolutely fantastic. Those rocks look just like they got blown in with the river current.
It's beautiful!
-
Oh, and a neat trick that heavily planted tanks can do? Healthy, thriving aquatic plants tend to actually COMPETE with the beneficial bacteria in your filtration system for Ammonia and Nitrite to eat! Yep. They'll hoover up those Nitrates and Phosphates outta the water also, just not quite as readily.
So, getting those plants settled in and growing well, can give you just a little water chemistry insurance when first starting up an aquarium. (I would still do those checks for measured Ammonia and Nitrites in the water for a few days - just to be absolutely sure).
-
Fish Stocking Quibbles: You may wanna check and be sure about stocking with two species of Apisto in this tank. The only Apisto's I've ever kept was a Harem of Cockatoo's. The male in my 1M-4F group was a little TYRANT, man. Wife Beater... he was really hard on his females. And that little freak would display at and attempt to spawn with, well... ANYTHING. (Live plants, bog wood pieces, snails....). So, a male Cockatoo just might wind up swiping all of the females out of your _Apistogramma panduro_, Harem! (I suspect my male I had would have done that, if given a chance).
-
Otherwise, you're looking good! The tank should actually be pretty stuffed with fish, once adult sizes are attained by everyone in there. I wouldn't add any more fish, until you see how everything with this group works out.


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## dbblackdiamond (Sep 30, 2021)

Auballagh said:


> Oh wow.....
> SOMEBODY has been working hard on that aquascape, hmmmmm? I see your plants are already coming in quite nicely, and the moss you've distributed on the wood looks absolutely fantastic. Those rocks look just like they got blown in with the river current.
> It's beautiful!
> -
> ...


I am obviously not there yet with the nitrates, but so far ammonia and nitrites have been reading 0, so everything is going well.

I have been doing research on the apistos and from what I could gather, as long as one chooses apistos with different body types, different types can be mixed within the same tank. Apisto Panduro have a rounder body than the Cacatuoides, so they should be able to coexist happily together. I am not set on it yet so my plan is to see how the tank evolves over the next few months and then decide. Availability is also a factor as they are hard to get around here.

Everybody seems to be settling in nicely. The biggest Geophagus is still hanging out in the back of the tank while the smaller ones are happily sifting through the sand in the foreground. Other than that, the male apisto has shown no interest in the female, so things are pretty chill there. 

Quick question on the behaviour of the Geophagus: this morning, 2 of them have been jousting for a specific cave as shown in the video. One seems to have claimed the cave and the other one seems to disagree with it and want it.






Should I be concerned about this or will they eventually figure it out?


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## Auballagh (Jan 29, 2003)

Looks pretty normal to me. And, who knows? Maybe that is a male trying to display at one of the females? Hard to say at this point, and it's good to keep a close eye on things, esp. at first.... But, I always thought that if the fins look clean, no one is being chased as if their life depends on it - and all the scales are still intact? Then it's just a little drama, and things are still being worked out okay.


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## dbblackdiamond (Sep 30, 2021)

Auballagh said:


> Looks pretty normal to me. And, who knows? Maybe that is a male trying to display at one of the females? Hard to say at this point, and it's good to keep a close eye on things, esp. at first.... But, I always thought that if the fins look clean, no one is being chased as if their life depends on it - and all the scales are still intact? Then it's just a little drama, and things are still being worked out okay.


That's what i was thinking as well, but, as i have never had Cichlids, i am not sure what is just harmless posturing and what is an actual issue, so i prefer asking the experts. 😊


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