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How many Cockatoo Apistos in a 20H?

1K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Ibn 
#1 ·
I bought a trio of baby apistos the other week. Because of their size sexing was difficult and the LFS caught what he thought was one male and two females. Well, it turns out that I actually have two males and a single female.

My question is whether I should return the smaller male to the LFS and trade it for a female, or perhaps go back and buy another trio of females only (they were $11 each, but 3 for $25).

Can I fit six of these fish in a well planted 20H?
 
#2 ·
Not a good idea. The males get quite large and aggressive once they're sexually matured. Would be better if you took the extra male back and trade him for a female (should be able to do a straight trade since males are sold more easily).
 
#5 ·
Bill,

I'm going to flaunt conventional wisdom here, because in my ignorance I ran right over it. You might consider returning the female...

I had 4 mature males (definately males) in my 20 regular for months. They had occasional squabbles, carved out their turf, and they got along just fine until I took 2 back to the LFS for two females. Then all heck broke loose.

I lost them all to a preditory shrimp, but if I hadn't I'd have to say I'm sorry I took the two males back. When it was just guys, they got along just fine. And they're better looking too!
 
#6 ·
scolley said:
Bill,

I'm going to flaunt conventional wisdom here, because in my ignorance I ran right over it. You might consider returning the female...

I had 4 mature males (definately males) in my 20 regular for months. They had occasional squabbles, carved out their turf, and they got along just fine until I took 2 back to the LFS for two females. Then all heck broke loose.

I lost them all to a preditory shrimp, but if I hadn't I'd have to say I'm sorry I took the two males back. When it was just guys, they got along just fine. And they're better looking too!
Ah, but you still had two males to fight over the new females. I'm planning on keeping just the one male an letting him have his small harem. He can take out any aggression on the countless Endlers in the tank. :))
 
#7 ·
I just got 2 males and two females about a month ago. I had meant to get a trio but ordered a second male also. Everthing was fine until the females started to show their breeding colors. The dominant male will not tolerate the other male near him. Luckily for now he just chases him off and hasn't done any damage. One of the females just spawned and won't tolerate the other near her nesting area. If you get a second female you may run into a problem since the apisto don't really use thr tops of the tanks and the females may not tolerate each other. However I think with enough hiding places they should be fine.
 
#8 ·
i just set up a 20H cacutoides tank (orange flash) and ordered a pair (got a freebie 3rd) I'm positive one is a male and one is a female, but the third is questionable. i know high quality OF females are supposed to have some orange in their fins, and that's what this one has... it's no where near as colorful as the male, but nowhere near as "plain", for lack of a better word (no such thing as a plain apisto imo) as the female. I ordered mine online from Apisto Dave Soares, so trading them in would be a bit of a problem :) if it turns out my third is a male, what should I do? right now they're about the same size, a little over an inch (smaller than my adult gold white clouds in the same tank, orange fish themed tank), and I've seen no squabbling so far. they all stick to the bottom, and have lots of hiding places in driftwood caves, under low anubias leaves, or in the dense java ferns growing on the driftwood. the males don't have "turf" so much as the females, right? the females stake out territory, them males just fight over dominance? or am I thinking of another group of cichlids?

Oqsy
 
#9 ·
Well, something told me to make the drive up to Albany today so I went as soon as my wife came home from work. Good thing as they were down to their last two females (had a bunch of males, though). The new female's fins are very yellow, which I've read are the show of her breeding colors. She's only a little over 1/2" long so I hope she's not ready to spawn already.
 
#10 ·
It's against conventional wisdom, but it can work if you don't mind having a sneaker male among the pair. The sneaker male eventually carries the marking of a female and due to this, the male will leave him alone (not totally, but won't chase him til death). Once the dominant male is out of sight, the non-dominant male colors up.
 
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