What species of Apisto for my tank?

So, on the 19th my 38g is getting upgraded to a 55g, and I've been eyeing a number of apisto's, and after some research, and narrowing, have come here to solicit opinions. ^__^

Current stocking for the tank is; Tons of Malawa Shrimp, 14 Dario Dario, 23 Erythromicron Danio, 20 Pygmy Corydoras, 1 Bumblebee Goby & 1 Bamboo Shrimp.
Final stocking is intended to be; Tons of Malawa Shrimp, 14 Dario Dario, 40 Erythromicron's + 5-10 CPD's, 40 Pygmy Corydoras, 1 Bumblebee Goby, 2 Bamboo Shrimp, 2 Vampire Shrimp. & Apistos.

Tank is a cavey bamboo jungle made of hygro pinnatifida, a few stems of hygro angustifolia, and persicaria hydropiperoides. A big mat of Hydro. Sibthorpioides growing off a log, lots of phoenix moss. Ground cover is Blyxa Japonica, Marsilea Minuta, Echinodorus tenellus & quaddicostatus.




I change my canister filter (Rena XP2) every 3 or 6 days(I dose every three days; Excel, Flourish, and Iron), & a 30% change weeklyish. PH is around 7.5

I'm looking for Apistos that will fit in with the current set-up, not scaring the cats or danios too much. Ideally not eating ADULT shrimp. I'd like them to set up a cave and breed. I'm hoping to get the cats, darios and danios breeding as well, but I'm not terribly concerned if apistos eat a bunch of their fry.
I'm currently considering Borelli, Agassizi "Tefe Pearl Blue", Baenschi "Inka", Cacatudies ("Orange Flash" in particular), and Hong Sloi "II". More info on these or any species of Apisto would be greatly appreciated.

That seems like quite a bit of fish for a 55 gallon tank.

everything he has listed other than Apistos are all under an inch..most are barely 1/2 inch full grown.

PlantedAquariumSeattle wrote:That seems like quite a bit of fish for a 55 gallon tank.

How familiar are you with the species I'm using? Dario Dario, Pygmy Corydoras, Bumblebee Goby; Erythromicron & Margitatus Danio, all stay around .75". And 3 of them school. Together.


Update: I got a pair of A. Agassizi "Tefe Pearl Blue"s around the 20th, and after feeding them blackworms, from Aquarium Co-Op, then mosquito larvae, from a tub in our back yard, then a %50 water change, and they're flaring in circles and making sexy dances at each other in QT.

Also, on Sunday, I converted everything in my 38G over into a 55G. I'm watching the Apistos' eat and poop until my persicaria's straighten out. They're all curvy and "S" shaped from being uprooted for 2 days before the move.

I was thinking your final stock for the tank seems like a lot. But I'm wrong. They are all very small fish with a very small bio load. What is your filtration on your 55?

PvtPain66k wrote:I change my canister filter (Rena XP2) every 3 or 6 days

Rena XP2's rated at 300GPH, for a 75G tank.

Nice! If your successful with breeding your new A. Agassizi Tefe I know someone interested in them

male and female in the 55
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I was initially worried that my D. Dario's would try to stand their ground vs the Apistos. I was mostly wrong. They DO flare and do the cichlid, "this is my turf!" tail-swing. The apistos hover toward the offending dario until it retreats. Hilarious to watch.

Very nice! Where did you find them & do they have more?

Clarks in Bham. They have a stray Agassizii "double red", who was mated the time before last we went... now he looks pretty tore up. They also have a gorgeous Agassizii "wild" male.
They've had TONS of apistos lately.
They have/had a ridiculous cacatuoides "orange flash" pair($39) & baenschi "inka" ($58, I believe). The misses convinced me to get the Tefe's instead of either of them. They were $38. The Inka male likes to hide under the log in the tank they're in, so you'll probably need an employee to see him, but, he is DAMN pretty...
They also have borelli's, super reds', and a bunch more I can't recall because I was focused on those four pairs. ^__^

Oh my, I'm going to B-ham today. I have room for 1-2 more Apisto's and is time to check out Clark's S&F plant stock.

Tanks!

About that worry I had of the Darios' standing their ground... Turns out I was right to be worried. I've found two darios' with scrapes on their sides. Same size and shape on both, and looks like it's from holding their ground vs Mr. T(efe).
He don't hate 'em, he pity the fools'.  
Which is why they are going into a 16g or 10g QT tank 'til I can count 'em up, heal 'em up, and figure out where they're going.