Suitable cat for small SA biotope?

[Cento]

So, I am in the planning stages of converting my growout tank into a SA biotope. Its a 10gal with Black Tahitian Moon sand, some river rocks, a few larger decorative rocks, 2 Duetto 100's (two were needed for growout bioload, but it may be overkill for SA), and also in the near future there will be live plants going in.

What cat would you recommend with a pair of apistogrammas and small school of white clouds? I was thinking Corydoras duplicareus, but I'm not sure about availability in my area. Any suggestions?

[MatsP]

Almost any cory would be great in such a tank. A group of about 6 would be the right number.

Obviously, availability can be an issue, but generally, there are half a dozen or so fairly common corys and another good dozen that turn up from time to time, not counting shops that specialize in unusual/rare fish in general or corys in particular.

If we list the corys by "hits" in the Cat-eLog, C. duplicarus is in the top 25, so it's not THAT rare (I'm sort of assuming that hits are related to how often they are available, which isn't EXACTLY true, but there certainly is a relationship between availability in shops and hits on our website).

And there are several others that look similar, that are also on that top-25 list:
C. metae
C. adolfoi

You should be able to find something of that sort in a shop near [1] you, I'm pretty sure... Also, if you have a shop with some independence - one that isn't part of a huge chain of stores, they usually have a list from their wholesaler with quite a few more species than they actually carry in the store. So they may be able to bring something in, even if they don't regularly carry it. Completely independent "Mom and Pop" stores are best for this in some ways - the only problem is that they probably only get their fish from one or two suppliers. Big stores (or small chains) have a bit more freedom to order from several different importer/wholesaler companies, and this gives them a bigger selection to choose from.

[1] Near here is a relative term, Canada is a big country with some pretty large areas where the distances to nearest ANYTHING is huge - if you live 50 miles from the nearest supermarket, I would expect that you have to go a similar distance or further to find even a small selection of corys.

--
Mats

[wrasse]

Are you keeping strictly to a SA biotope?...... the white clouds are from China.

[Cento]

Are you keeping strictly to a SA biotope?...... the white clouds are from China.

True... I was told though, that they would serve as excellent dither fish for the apistos and are very unobtrusive, contributing to the peace of the tank... But I'm open to suggestions on the dither fish. I gather dither fish don't really affect cats.

So to answer your question: I guess no, I'm not set on keeping it strictly a SA biotope. In fact many of the plants I'm planning on aren't from South America.

Almost any cory would be great in such a tank. A group of about 6 would be the right number... And there are several others that look similar, that are also on that top-25 list:
C. metae
C. adolfoi....

Thanks for the tips Mats (as for the availability, I'll address that in my other thread). So 6 small corys would be fine with the type and amount of inhabitants I'm planning on? That'll make me quite happy. It'll be an active tank. I was always under the impression that traditional SA setups where more "calm" and "less hurried" then the African setups I am used to. I am looking forward to this setup because it'll also me my first real planted tank.

[Richard B]

I gather dither fish don't really affect cats.

Directly or indirectly or both, in a strict sense this is wrong.

Dither fish are put into a tank to bring reassurance to more timid fish that "everything is ok, like, no predators about". The dither fish may well bring reassurance to the cats as well as apistos.

Any fish kept in the same tank as another fish does have an effect.

[wrasse]

As you are still 'planning' your set-up, may i suggest you go SA the whole hog.....
Tetras, pencils and/ or hatchets can replace the white clouds.
Small cats - corys, otto's, ancistrus.
Dwarf cichlids - Apistos, nannacara, laetacara.
And Plants? The swords, bacopa, frogbit, etc etc.

And when anyone asks, you can say, well erm actually its a genuine SA biotope.

[Cento]

As you are still 'planning' your set-up, may i suggest you go SA the whole hog.....And when anyone asks, you can say, well erm actually its a genuine SA biotope.

True... It would be nice to go the whole nine yards on the tank, but unfortunately I can't when it comes to the plants (you've intrigued me with the pencil fish, however). I was looking to java moss, java fern, anubias and the like because I can't afford (or be bothered.. ) to get CO2 injectors and change the lighting to higher outputs for some of the more authentic yet demanding plants. That is of course, unless somehow the plants I choose are harmful to my SA fish (I guess I should have put all this in another thread, eh?).

[Cento]

Directly or indirectly or both, in a strict sense this is wrong... Any fish kept in the same tank as another fish does have an effect.

Thanks for the tip Richard. I agree, I guess I just never thought about it that way. Makes sense when you think about it. As wrasse mentioned, I may try more authentic dither fish. I guess it couldn't hurt to stick closer to a natural community.

[wrasse]

Fair comment..... your choice of plants avoids all sorts of issues.

And pencil fish?..... I have a shoal of Nannostemus Eques, I can highly recommend them. Within the confines of a tank they stick together in a shoal, unlike so many 'shoaling' fish. They occupy the top-most water levels. They are totally inoffensive and eat most foods given, providing they are small enough.

[racoll]

Cento,

Your choice of plants is a good one, and this should turn out to be a nice tank.

However, I would be careful with your water parameters in this tank.

The Tanichthys are mountain stream fish that will do best in an unheated aquarium with a bit of current.

The Apistogramma are lowland Amazon fishes, and generally require warmer water (25C+).

The

Corydoras duplicareus

are blackwater, acid-loving fish from the Rio Negro, and will do better at slightly cooler temps, but maybe not an unheated aquarium, as they are still from the Amazon basin.

However, provided your tapwater is not too hard, you get mostly tank raised stock, you pick your Apistogramma species with care, and, you set your thermometer to about 23-24C, you should be okay with these choices.

[Cento]

Sorry to drag this one out of the dungeon again, but now that the last of my fry are out of the growout tank, I'm almost done with the "planning" stage of my first planted tank, and I wanted to start ordering fish.

In the time that has past since the last post, I've been doing copious amounts of research on many different aspects of this project. Hence I've adjusted my preference of cory to the "panda" variety. I was thinking four. What do you think?

To give you background on the setup its: 10gal, 2 x Duetto 100's (modified with bioballs, Purigen, and a spray bar on each), heater, Black Tahitian Moon Sand, and a 15W T8. I plan on keeping the aforementioned cats plus 2 small apisto's and 6-8 shoaling fish.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!