Peaceful South American Darwf's?

[Mr. Zee]

Hello folks. I'm planning on setting up a South American Dwarf tanks (55
gal) and would like to have some peaceful cichlids and perhaps some Cardinal
tetras in it. I'm not really interested in breeding. Can anyone recommend
some good species? I've heard Laetacara dorsigera is a good bet but can't
seem to find them for sale anywhere. (Store or internet) Any help
appreciated. By the way, I'm just getting back into this hobby after 15
years, (preinternet). Thanks again for any advise.

[Rob]

Hi,

Dorsigers and curviceps are both quite peaceful - my preference of the two
are curviceps as they are typically more colorful and have more outgoing
personalities. I've also kept Apistogramma borelli, which is one of the
more peaceful apistos and tolerates harder water than most of the others.
I'd also highly recommend the smaller varieties of checkerboard cichlids
(Dicrossus filamentosus and D. maculatus) - they're very pretty and a lot of
fun, but you should make sure your water conditions are very good if you
want them to thrive.

That said: even though many apisto species can be relatively aggressive,
you can probably do very well with almost any of the them if you keep the
numbers and male-female ratio correct (most are harem breeders, but it's
reasonably easy to sex them with all but the youngest specimens, as most
apistos have pronounced sexual dimorphism). I've kept several varieties in
the past - always in a lagely S. American community tank. I had a number of
dither fish, including cardinals, and there were no real problems with
aggression, and the cichlid squabbles that did occur were generally for show
and were highly entertaining. Apistos that you may want to avoid if you are
really concerned with aggression would be A. nijsenni (although it's one of
my favorites - also called "Panda" apisto), but if you don't overcrowd or
have too many males you should be fine.

As a rule: with any of the dwarfs a planted tank is highly appreciated by
the fish, and pretty much necessary for some of the shyer species like
dorsigers to be comfortable. With apistos: be sure that the fish look
robust and healthy before you buy them - I've had a few bad experiences with
imported fish that came in with hollow bellies and never recovered. Very
sad...

Good luck, and enjoy getting back into the hobby!

- Rob

"Mr. Zee" > wrote in message
.net...
> Hello folks. I'm planning on setting up a South American Dwarf tanks (55
> gal) and would like to have some peaceful cichlids and perhaps some
> Cardinal tetras in it. I'm not really interested in breeding. Can anyone
> recommend some good species? I've heard Laetacara dorsigera is a good bet
> but can't seem to find them for sale anywhere. (Store or internet) Any
> help appreciated. By the way, I'm just getting back into this hobby after
> 15 years, (preinternet). Thanks again for any advise.
>

[Mr. Zee]

Thanks very much for the info! Yes, I'll have a planted tank. I really
enjoy 'getting it right' so that the plants (and fish!) will grow. Wow,
there is so much information now available because of the internet. I see
Tropical Fish Hobbyist is still around and took out a subscription on it
again. That magazine brings back many great memories...Thanks again!
"Rob" > wrote in message
news:N%M2e.859268$6l.761806@pd7tw2no...
> Hi,
>
> Dorsigers and curviceps are both quite peaceful - my preference of the two
> are curviceps as they are typically more colorful and have more outgoing
> personalities. I've also kept Apistogramma borelli, which is one of the
> more peaceful apistos and tolerates harder water than most of the others.
> I'd also highly recommend the smaller varieties of checkerboard cichlids
> (Dicrossus filamentosus and D. maculatus) - they're very pretty and a lot
> of fun, but you should make sure your water conditions are very good if
> you want them to thrive.
>
> That said: even though many apisto species can be relatively aggressive,
> you can probably do very well with almost any of the them if you keep the
> numbers and male-female ratio correct (most are harem breeders, but it's
> reasonably easy to sex them with all but the youngest specimens, as most
> apistos have pronounced sexual dimorphism). I've kept several varieties
> in the past - always in a lagely S. American community tank. I had a
> number of dither fish, including cardinals, and there were no real
> problems with aggression, and the cichlid squabbles that did occur were
> generally for show and were highly entertaining. Apistos that you may
> want to avoid if you are really concerned with aggression would be A.
> nijsenni (although it's one of my favorites - also called "Panda" apisto),
> but if you don't overcrowd or have too many males you should be fine.
>
> As a rule: with any of the dwarfs a planted tank is highly appreciated by
> the fish, and pretty much necessary for some of the shyer species like
> dorsigers to be comfortable. With apistos: be sure that the fish look
> robust and healthy before you buy them - I've had a few bad experiences
> with imported fish that came in with hollow bellies and never recovered.
> Very sad...
>
> Good luck, and enjoy getting back into the hobby!
>
> - Rob
>
> "Mr. Zee" > wrote in message
> .net...
>> Hello folks. I'm planning on setting up a South American Dwarf tanks (55
>> gal) and would like to have some peaceful cichlids and perhaps some
>> Cardinal tetras in it. I'm not really interested in breeding. Can
>> anyone recommend some good species? I've heard Laetacara dorsigera is a
>> good bet but can't seem to find them for sale anywhere. (Store or
>> internet) Any help appreciated. By the way, I'm just getting back into
>> this hobby after 15 years, (preinternet). Thanks again for any advise.
>>
>
>

[Rob]

Sounds like you're on the right track. Enjoy and good luck!

- Rob

"Mr. Zee" > wrote in message
link.net...
> Thanks very much for the info! Yes, I'll have a planted tank. I really
> enjoy 'getting it right' so that the plants (and fish!) will grow. Wow,
> there is so much information now available because of the internet. I see
> Tropical Fish Hobbyist is still around and took out a subscription on it
> again. That magazine brings back many great memories...Thanks again!