Last night I netted two sleeping apistos out of the quarantine tank, and added them to the 40 gallon planted tank with the angel. I took the two apistos that hung out near the filter pipe together (as together as cichlids can be without having something to quarrel about). I left the most dominant one that claimed a whole rock and the surrounding area, and I left the one that was always hiding unseen in the other rock.

I didn't realize how easy it would be to net sleeping fish in a quarantine tank :D . I picked up a rock for about five seconds, looking around for the apistos. Hmmm, where are they? Then two sleeping apistos fall out of the rock back into the tank. Good thing I was holding the rock over the tank.

The angel is more or less minding her manners with the two apistos. I was worried that she would see them as something fun to chase and bite at. The apistos are exploring; occassionally one will flare and sidle up sideways to the other, which completely ignores it, or does a little of its own posturing before going back to exploring. Then the tables turn, and it's the other apisto doing the following and posturing. If I have to remove one in the future, I'll remember to do it while it's sleeping.

How would a pair of juvie apistos behave? Would they completely get along?

My male and female have totally different personalities. I never see them fighting at all. The male patrols the tank constantly, very active and very busy, and the female hangs out by or in the coconut hut. She rarely moves away from it. She really seems to prefer that coconut shell over the clay pots, while he claims the opening underneath the big centerpiece of driftwood.

My female is about 1 1/2 inches, and the male is about 2 1/2, so I'm not sure whether they are considered adults or not, and of course, they are cacatuoides, not agassizi!

Kim

I probably do have two males. They're not real aggressive with each other yet, so I guess I'll just wait, watch, and remove if need be.