I'm thinking of opening my home to some south americans!

I have some general questions on south americans. Hmmmm

1 - what is there water requirements?

2 - what's the minimum tank size for a pair?

3 - can they even be put in pairs?

4 - do I need live plants or can I load the tank up with fake plants?

5 - do they like a lot of current?

6 - do they prefer sand or gravel?


Sorry for all the questions! Feel free to add any other advice!

Good for you CT. I like these little cichlids from SA.

1 - what is there water requirements?

Most of the Apistos are happy with neutral or slidely alkalic water

2 - what's the minimum tank size for a pair?

A 10g will do just fine

3 - can they even be put in pairs?

Yes, they can

4 - do I need live plants or can I load the tank up with fake plants?

They would prefer live plants

5 - do they like a lot of current?

Not especally

6 - do they prefer sand or gravel?

I would give them sand


I keep mine in a 35g with some Bolivian Rams. They do like to have some pieces of wood in their tank. The wood will help to keep the ph low.

Thanks Klaus! I have a 20 gallon that will be empty soon and I found a local breeder.

Another couple of quick questions...

Can I put 2 pairs of different kinds of apistos in the same tank?

What type of lighting do they like?

I know if I decide to get live plants that I will need some type of good lighting to keep them alive. Right now I have 15 watts with a cheap plastic lid.

So what's the ideal PH?

Do you have any pictures of your tank?

Thanks again!

Okay so I took some fish to trade in at the LFS and I got the diftwood for trade of some fish. This is what my 20 gallon looks like now!

I'm letting the driftwood soak for a week before I add the new fish and I have the sponges from the filter in my 90 gallon filter so I won't lose bacteria.

The plants I got were.... Micro swords, rangeri swords and lutea. The guy gave me some bamboo just because they had so much of it. Although you can't see it in the back of the tank.

Let me know what you think and any critism is welcome.

I'm the last person who should be giving any advice about plants (well, maybe Kim too), but I was told that you should remove the plant from the temporary "pot" that it comes in.

I somehow managed to kill just about every one of mine in short order, so I'll be anxious to see how yours fare.

The tank looks nice so far. Good luck with it.

Can I put 2 pairs of different kinds of apistos in the same tank?

I am not sure. I don't know that much about them but I am sure that they will interbreed.

What type of lighting do they like?

I just use one 20 watt warm

So what's the ideal PH?

Due to the drift wood in my tank, the ph is about nutral (7.0)


Here are some pictures of the tank:





Apistogramma Cacatuoides (Orange Flame)

Thanks Aura...I would like to get rid of the pots but the roots have grown out of the pots and I'm afraid to get them out and wind up breaking all the roots off.

Klaus...I tested my water and the ph is 7.6 today and the kh & gh is under 150 ppm. The tank looks great!

I went and picked up my fish from the local breeder and he said that it would be okay to put 2 different pairs in a 20 gallon. Right now they are acclimating, I'll show some pics then.

Good luck, Cturner!

I know you'll do just fine!

Can't wait to see the pics!

Klaus, your pics were amazing as usual!

Well I'll post some pics tonight, although they won't be near as good as Klaus's pics!