# Dwarf cichlids....mixing



## Ady34 (20 Aug 2014)

Hi all,
after a little advice.
Im wanting to add some dwarf cichlids - apistogramma species and ram cichlids to a set up i have. It is primarily an angelfish tank, but has a small school of corydoras duplicareus a few otto catfish and will have another school of 'dither' type fish, cardinals, rummys or black neons (currently undecided).
Firstly is it possible to house different species of dwarf cichlids safely, its a 120cm x55cm x55cm, and secondly what may be suitable?
I have soft water and its in a semi biotype style with fine white sand, rocks, wood and some leaf litter. Temperature is 79.5f.
Id like to have a pair of rams and some other apistogramma, perhaps nijsseni? but open to more suitable suggestions. These will be a kind of feature fish so colour would be nice  Will they fare ok with the other fish and is it ok to mix or are you better sticking with just a single species?
Thanks,
Ady.


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## roadmaster (20 Aug 2014)

Can only share my experiences.
Microgeophagus Ramirezi are near fearless while protecting nesting sites and cory's are keen to invade these areas once they get the scent from the eggs or so it seemed to me.
But if this is of no concern,then they can co-exist but a pair may not be able to fend off the cory's which would mean no fry.
Other's experiences may differ.
Adult Angelfish could easily take as snacks, more streamlined tetra's such as the rummy nose,cardinal's, so I might want larger bodied tetra's.
Cannot speak to the appistos and compatibility with the ram's or others for I have only kept them in small species only tank and not very successfully.They did not readily take to prepared foods for me,  and I was ignorant at the time of the ease with which I could have provided a culture of live micro worms etc.


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## Ady34 (20 Aug 2014)

Thanks roadmaster.
Ive actually found a site dedicated to apistogramma and it seems perhaps a group of male only dwarf cichlids may be a better choice. I may just stick to Rams. Ill do some more research.


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## DrMike (12 Oct 2014)

Rams (_M.ramirezi_) are truly awesome little fish, but please buy the wild type, all the man made forms (Electric Blue, Giant, Balloon, Golden, Long Fin) are very inbred and tend to be sickly and short lived. The better quality Rams are a little more pricey and tend to be called 'German' or 'Czech' - because that is where the better quality captive bred ones come from, they're actually natives of Venezuela and come from the Los Llanos, an area of seasonal swamp and dry prairie, much like the Pantanal in Bolivia. Many species of Echinodorus grow around the margins on the waterholes of the Los Llanos, and a Ram biotope should really include lots of those. They are quite brave little fish, but easily bullied by larger tank mates (Angels!), and will pluck the eyes out of Corys which _will _try to eat their eggs as a last resort - not that this stops the Corys!!! Best kept on their own, or with smaller characins, but beware of Cardinal Tetras, I once made the mistake of keeping Rams in a tank with a large shoal of Cardinals, it looked great, but when the Rams bred the Cardinals showed their true character (relations of piranhas) and were voracious and unstoppable fry predators, simply mobbing the parents and young with numbers in a feeding frenzy - the stress of this eventually killed the Rams.

If you want a slightly bigger, and much tougher, Ram consider the Bolivian Ram (M.altispinosa) these make excellent tank mates for Angels and/or Discus, but beware they'll also take the eyes of Corys that get too nosy. Corys and Dwarf Cichlids are not really a good combination I'm afraid.

What about Keyhole Cichlids (C.maronii) they may not look so colourful, especially as youngsters, but the adults are beautiful fish and they have a really nice temperament, being placid, peaceful fish that won't harm fish or plants. They are also really easy to tame and will learn to take food out of your fingers very quickly - people who keep them rarely regret it.

If you want a tough, easy Apisto. the best option is A.cacatouides the 'Cockatoo'. You could keep a small colony of those in your tank, and the females breed in caves which protects them from predation, but again be wary of mixing them with Corys.


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## mark4785 (6 Nov 2014)

I agree with DrMike on the points raised about M.ramirezi. They are often short-lived, most commonly succumbing to the hexamita parasite which is one of the most difficult infections to treat and they can easily die from having to put up with stressors. From my experience, the real culprits that create stress for them are the tetras that often dart in and out of their personal space. Providing your aquarium has some hiding spots for Corydoras, I think it would be fine to keep the M.ramirezi with them.

I don't think it would be wise to keep m.ramirezi with apistogramma species as the latter are very territorial and they prefer a slightly acidic to neutral pH while the former prefers heavily acidic water of around 4-6 pH.


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## Ady34 (19 Nov 2014)

Thanks for the advice, ive decided to keep neither


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## GlenFish (19 Nov 2014)

My experience with Apisto Nijsseni is that they are very aggressive, particularly the female. Mine continually harassed corydoras and tetras whenever they came near. I'd advise against them in a community. Rams are a much calmer choice, as are Apisto Agassizii in my experience........


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