# choosing an apitso



## new2plnts (Jul 8, 2008)

I have been looking at getting some apitsos from aquabid since cant get any locally. Was curious as to which ones are better and easier than others and such. they would be going into a 75 gallon so thinking maybe getting a few different pairs or is this not good. Also any people I should stay away from or should def get. Thanks


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## Knotty Bitz (Mar 11, 2009)

Cockatoo chiclids are a good choice and are easy to breed. Buy 6 juveniles and let them mature in your tank. Over time when a pair forms it is probably best to get rid of the other four or put them somewhere else. They are fairly easy to breed too once a pair forms. German blue rams and bolivian rams are a good choice too.


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## new2plnts (Jul 8, 2008)

Yeah I have 3 GBRs now but no one has any females around where im at which is ashame cuz my male gbrs are nice looking I was looking at the triple reds and such for apitsos


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

new2plnts said:


> Yeah I have 3 GBRs now but no one has any females around where im at which is ashame cuz my male gbrs are nice looking I was looking at the triple reds and such for apitsos


You must live next to me... I spent 2 months looking for a female. Finally found one, bought a pair, they paired up in about a week.


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

Knotty Bitz said:


> Cockatoo chiclids are a good choice and are easy to breed. Buy 6 juveniles and let them mature in your tank. Over time when a pair forms it is probably best to get rid of the other four or put them somewhere else. They are fairly easy to breed too once a pair forms. German blue rams and bolivian rams are a good choice too.


+1

Apistogramma agassizii, A. caucatoides, A. borellii, A. hongsloi, A. trifasciata, A. panduro and A. nijsseni are all beginner friendly species. The cauacatoides and agassizi are the most popular and come in many selected (ie: not wild type) variants. This usually means they've been acclimated to captive water for many generations, but their color usually results from inbreeding which can weaken the fish- you may need to try and try again to get a good batch of either of these.

GL!


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

West African dwarf chiclids are a great choice too. The pelvicachromis genus has several very colorful fish.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

BryceM said:


> West African dwarf chiclids are a great choice too. The pelvicachromis genus has several very colorful fish.


http://www.invertzfactory.com/images/nigerian_red_cribs/DSCN3627.JPG


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

as a begginer i had a male and a female kribensis and they had a huge amount of babies, those were my first babies ever. they are really nice and have good colors and all.


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

I had really good luck with cacatuoides (cockatoo) and now have some borellii spawning. the cacs were way prettier though.

Never had luck with rams- they would just drop dead on me.


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## new2plnts (Jul 8, 2008)

Im thinking of getting the triple reds as i like the look of them alot. 
Byrce what do u reccommend for the pelvchromis as i saw you got some nice ones and where to get them. Thanks also have a pair of kribs in tank now but have yet to spawn nit sure why they havent thanks for replies keep em coming


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## Knotty Bitz (Mar 11, 2009)

Make sure you have enough hiding spaces if you are putting them in with the gbr's. Your tank is certainly big enough but make sure you have some plants, driftwood, or rocks, so that they can establish seperate territories.


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

I wouldn't mix pelvics with rams or apistos as the pelvics will win the fight for territory. Apistos are the wimps of the cichlid world (IMO!).

As for type of pelvics- there are many species available online. In the store you're going to mainly find P. pulcher which is a great choice for a beginner. I used to breed specific localities of P. taeniatus namely "Keinke" and "Lokoundje". I also worked with a red morph of pulcher.

my vid of the keinke (yes these were my fish):





my vid of the Lokoundje:





P. pulcher "red":





awww... now I kinda miss my pelvics. I lost one of each pair eventually and moved onto rainbowfish. Hope that helps and check out the behavior of the fish once they breed- it's really cool to watch but you gotta have fish that can take a beating (like swordtails! ha).

GL!


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## dawntwister (Sep 29, 2007)

new2plnts said:


> I have been looking at getting some apitsos from aquabid since cant get any locally.


Have you tried your local aquarium association?


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