Apistogramma Question

[Beast97]

I have a 46gal bowfront with platy, one male opaline gourami, one male chinese algae eater and 3 cory cats. Could I put apistos in there or would that not work? I have lots of hiding places and plants in it, and my tank is completely cycled.

 

[FreshyFresh]

You could try it, but the gourami may or may not be an issue. Some can be real jerks. Others not so much. I prefer pearl gouramis since they tend to be mild mannered. I'd re-home the chinese algae eater because they can get a foot long and just be an all around issue in general in a smaller tank like this.

 

[Beast97]

Yeah I got the chinese algae eater out. I have 200gal horse water troughs and he lives in one. I replaced him with three otocinclus. My Opaline Gourami (I named him Boss) is semi-aggressive. He's never hurt anyone- he just kinda chills and hangs out with the platy

 

[FreshyFresh]

You may know this already, but read up on Otos. I've never kept them, but they do best in mature tanks with lots of bio films for them to munch on. They're usually very malnourished from the store and will continue to be until you tend to their specific feeding needs by sinking softer veggies for them, sinking veggie wafers etc. They will wither and die without specifically being fed.

 

[Beast97]

Don't worry- I've read up on them before I bought them. I have tons of plants with that film in my tank that they can munch on, plus I give them algae pellets. My tank is supplemented with oxygen and it is completely cycled. I noticed they started looking more active and less skinny. They were a bit shrimpy from petco.

 

[Beast97]

I've also had my tank running for 8 months