is it possible to

[Nathan]

is it possible to breed appistos in a 3x18x18 tank? also how many pairs do u thnk i could have in it, i dont really want to much agression in ther either.

ill be using ada aqua soil so im hoping itl help induce spawning so would i be able to successfuly raise fry in a tank that big? its other tank mates would be perhaps to other pairs of appistos an 30 or so black neons

[Noddy65]

Hi Nathan
You certainly can breed them, i breed mine in 2 x 1 x 1 tanks.
The tetras may be an issue as they love to eat fry...
Fry also tend to get picked off in community tanks but with heasp of hiding places etc some might get through...another option would be to remove the eggs/wrigglers and look after them in another tank...
You can mix some apistos but they can also be aggressive, it sometimes depends on the individual fish and their ability to get along with others.
Sometimes just males of different species will get along as long as there are no females around...

Mike

[Nathan]

itl be quite heavily planted, it doesnt bother me if only a few get through, im not really wanting to get really into the breeding of them itl just give me somthn to do!!

around how many fry hatch in an average spawn?

[Noddy65]

Oh that varies....my nijsseni and panduros produce about 20 -30. My wild agassizi (the one in my sig) produced about 100 at the last spawn.
It depends on the individual fish, age and condition of the fish.

Mike

[fishgeek]

my rules of thumb for stocking apisto's
are usually 2 sq ft of floor space for each male
and half this space (within the males territory) for each female

so you could probably fit 2 males in your tank and a few girls
all depends on aquascaping
you need to break up lines of sight so no fish can see the whole tank to claim as there own territory

tetra's as stated before are better hunters than other fish and therefore you are unlikely to raise any significant numbers with the m in the tank
other surface dwelling fish may be better (i use guppy's and hatchets - the guppy's lasted 5 years in soft water so it cant be that much of an issue for them)
andrew

[Nathan]

that one in your avatar mike is awsome, any chance of brining a few down in jan :)?