Apistogramma is 93 species, and the trade sells about five
These are the dwarf cichlids of South America, and the name on the shop label is a genus. Our sources publish figures for three of the species in it and none at all for two that people search for by name.
Wikipedia gives the scope: there are currently 93 recognized Apistogramma species, and undescribed species, sometimes cryptic, are known to exist in the genus. They live in tropical and subtropical South America in the lowlands east of the Andes, with the highest diversity in the western Amazon and Orinoco basins. Adults measure between 2 and 8 cm, 0.8 to 3.1 in, in standard length depending on species.
Aquarium Co-Op puts it at almost 100 species and describes the fish a keeper meets: the brightly colorful males tend to reach 3 to 3.5 inches, 8 to 9 cm, often with impressive extended dorsal fins, while females are a bit drabber and stay around 2 to 2.5 inches, 5 to 6 cm.
What the genus figure hides is in station 02. Seriously Fish publishes 72 to 84 °F for A. cacatuoides and 68 to 79 °F for A. borellii, and Aquarium Co-Op recommends 80 to 82 for the genus. One of those species tops out below the genus recommendation.
One more piece of vocabulary, because it explains the substrate in station 04. Aquarium Co-Op: as a close relative of Mikrogeophagus cichlids, or small eartheaters, apistos also like to sift through very fine sand.
What this guide is
- The question
- Five thousand six hundred searches a month for a genus, and another four thousand across five species names.
- Why it is filed here
- Under water and health, because the water is what these fish are known for and it is where our sources disagree most.
- What it is not
- A record. A record on this site carries nine fields for one species, and this is 93 species with figures published for three.
The water, species by species and for the genus
| Published for | Temperature | pH | Hardness | Size and tank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The genus, per Aquarium Co-Op | 80 to 82 °F | Somewhat acidic to neutral, no figures | 4 to 8 dGH, 70 to 140 ppm | Males 3 to 3.5 in, females 2 to 2.5. A single or pair in 20 gal |
| Apistogramma cacatuoides, per Seriously Fish | 72 to 84 °F | 5.0 to 6.0, for wild populations | 0 to 15 dGH | Males 75 mm, females 50 mm SL. A base of 60 by 30 cm for a pair |
| Apistogramma borellii, per Seriously Fish | 68 to 79 °F | 5.0 to 8.0, depending on origin | 1 to 15 dGH | Males 65 mm, females 50 mm SL. A base of 45 by 30 cm, about 41 liters |
| Apistogramma agassizii, per Aquarium Store Depot | 73 to 84 °F | 5.0 to 7.0, with captive-bred comfortable at 6.5 to 7.0 | 1 to 10 dGH | Males 3 to 3.5 in, females 2 to 2.5. 20 gal for a harem |
| The genus, per Wikipedia | not stated | not stated | not stated | 0.8 to 3.1 in standard length across 93 species |
Read the temperature column and the genus figure does not fit one of the species. Aquarium Co-Op recommends 80 to 82 °F, and Seriously Fish publishes 68 to 79 °F for A. borellii. The recommendation sits one to three degrees above that species’ published ceiling. Aquarium Co-Op does hedge, saying depending on the species, and the species figures are what the hedge is about.
The pH column is where the reputation and the shop tank part company, and two sources say so directly. Seriously Fish gives 5.0 to 6.0 for wild cacatuoides and adds that commercially-bred fish are less demanding. Aquarium Store Depot puts it in figures: wild-caught fish need very soft, acidic water below pH 6.0 and may carry internal parasites, while captive-bred stock handle near-neutral, moderately soft water well, comfortable at 6.5 to 7.0.
So the blackwater fish of the reputation is the wild fish, and almost nothing in a shop is one. That is not a license to ignore the water: the hardness figures agree closely, at 0 to 15, 1 to 15, 1 to 10 and 4 to 8 dGH, and every one of them describes soft water.
There is no temperature all four figures allow. Aquarium Co-Op starts at 80 and borellii stops at 79, so the four published ranges have no value in common. Take borellii out and the other three share 80 to 82 °F, which is exactly the genus figure; put it back and the genus has no shared setting at all, which is the same arithmetic our freshwater fish silo runs on its own records. Our water and health page is where this site keeps the arithmetic of overlapping bands, and this is the clearest case on the site of a genus figure that does not fit its own members.
A pair, or a harem? Our sources say buy two, or buy four
This is the second disagreement and it decides what a keeper actually takes home.
- Aquarium Co-Op: a single or pair of apistogrammas would do best in a 20-gallon aquarium or larger, and separately, one male for every two to three females is a good ratio.
- Seriously Fish, on both species: a base of 60 by 30 cm for cacatuoides and 45 by 30 cm for borellii, both given for a single pair, with larger tanks needed for groups.
- Aquarium Store Depot: one male with 2 to 3 females is the correct social structure, and pairs lead to chronic female stress.
Two sources price a tank for a pair and the third says a pair is the arrangement to avoid. Nothing our sources publish resolves it, and the reason it matters is in the next paragraph rather than in the ratio: on a fish where the female does the brood care and the male defends a territory, a pair means one female absorbing all of the male’s attention.
Wikipedia gives the biology behind both positions, and it does not settle them either: some species breed in polygamous harems, while other species form monogamous pairs. So the answer is species-dependent and not one of our three care sources says which species is which.
What every source agrees on
Two males without females is the one arrangement nobody allows. Aquarium Co-Op: two or three males with no females will definitely result in fighting. Seriously Fish adds the rule for the tank rather than the group, that wild fish should not be mixed with other Apistogramma, and Aquarium Store Depot asks to avoid other bottom-dwelling cichlids entirely.
Our stocking page collects the same shape of problem from four other records: a group figure and a tank figure published by different people and almost never multiplied together. Here the multiplication is the whole question, because a harem of four in a twenty gallon is a different tank from a pair in the same box.
Caves, sand and leaves, and the only source that counts the caves
The caves
Aquarium Store Depot is the only source we hold that publishes a number: one cave per female, minimum, and add extras, which it works out as at least four caves for one male and three females.
Aquarium Co-Op asks for the same furniture without counting it: this feisty little fish likes to establish its own territory, so provide lots of caves, catappa leaves and hardscape as hiding spots, and live aquarium plants with dense foliage will also help break line of sight and minimize aggression.
Line of sight is the phrase to keep. It is the same requirement our female betta fish guide found for a sorority and our honey gourami record found for a group: the fish must not be able to see each other all the time.
The substrate, and why it is specific
Aquarium Store Depot: fine sand is the correct substrate, with driftwood, dried botanicals and Indian almond leaves. Aquarium Co-Op gives the reason, and it is behavioral rather than aesthetic: as a close relative of the small eartheaters, apistos like to sift through very fine sand, and it says to add that kind of substrate if you want to see the behavior.
Sand appears on four records here for four different reasons, and this is the fourth: our clown loach record asks for it to protect barbels, our assassin snail record because the animal hunts buried, our kuhli loach record because the fish buries itself, and this one because the fish sifts it for food.
The leaves are the other shared requirement. Indian almond leaves appear on our what do shrimp eat guide as a biofilm surface and here as cover and tannin, which is the same botanical doing two jobs in two tanks.
Sexing, and the male that pretends to be a female
Three sources describe the same difference and one of them adds the catch that makes it unreliable in a shop tank.
- Seriously Fish, on both species, in its own spelling:
Males are larger, more colourful and develop more extended fins than females.
- Aquarium Store Depot, on agassizii: males have a flame-shaped, spade, elongated point to the caudal fin and a larger body, while females have rounded, much smaller fins and smaller bodies.
- Aquarium Co-Op gives the size split for the genus, males 3 to 3.5 inches against females 2 to 2.5.
Then the sentence that undoes all three in a shop: Aquarium Co-Op records that subdominant males can hide their colors to look like a female.
Read that against station 03 and the practical problem appears. A keeper buying one male and three females on color, from a tank of juveniles, may be buying two males, and two or three males with no females will definitely result in fighting per the same source. Nothing our sources publish gives a way to tell a subdominant male from a female.
This is the third record or guide on this site where the sexing method fails on exactly the fish a shop sells. Our honey gourami record carries Seriously Fish saying the nuptial color change does not occur in males of the ornamental strains, and our platy record carries a size difference that cannot separate a male from a juvenile.
Apistogramma breeding, and the water that decides the sex of the fry
What our sources describe
Aquarium Co-Op: cave spawners that display parental care, with females usually guarding the eggs while males defend the entire territory, and it says they can be bred in a 10-gallon tank. Seriously Fish, on both species: a substrate spawner which normally lays its eggs in crevices or cavities among the decor, the female is responsible for post-spawning care of eggs and fry, and in smaller tanks the male may require removal due to female aggression.
Aquarium Store Depot gives the timetable: eggs hatch within 24 to 72 hours, and the first foods are infusoria and naturally occurring microorganisms from a mature, planted tank, then freshly hatched baby brine shrimp. Aquarium Co-Op names the same fry foods and adds vinegar eels and micro worms.
So the female is the parent, the male is the security, and the male is the one that gets removed. That is the opposite arrangement from our honey gourami and betta records, where the male builds the nest and guards it.
The fact no care sheet mentions
Wikipedia publishes something none of our three care sources raises, and it connects the fry to the water rows in station 02: warmer water results in more males across all studied species, and more acidic water, lower pH, also results in more males in some species.
Put that beside Aquarium Co-Op’s recommended 80 to 82 °F and Seriously Fish’s pH 5.0 to 6.0 for wild cacatuoides, and the standard recommendation is the warm, acidic end of the genus. A keeper following the usual advice is, on Wikipedia’s account, tilting the brood toward males in a fish where two males and no females is the one arrangement every source forbids.
That connection is ours rather than any source’s, and it is the reason this guide is filed under water and health rather than under breeding: on this genus the water is not only a comfort setting, it is a lever on what comes out of the cave.
Wikipedia also notes that three species in the genus practice mouthbrooding, and not one of our care sources says which, so a keeper whose fish holds eggs in its mouth will not find that species named here.
Apistogramma tank mates, read against our own records
Three sources publish a list and all three of them warn about the same two things: shrimp and other bottom dwellers.
| Named | By | Our record, against 80 to 82 °F and pH 5.0 to 7.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Tetras | Aquarium Co-Op, as compatible | Ember tetra, 72 to 82 °F and pH 5.5 to 7.0. The only record here whose pH sits in the same place |
| Pencilfish and hatchetfish | Aquarium Co-Op, as compatible | no record here yet |
| Small dither fish | Seriously Fish, for wild specimens, naming Nannostomus | no record here yet |
| Dwarf shrimp | All three, as prey | Cherry shrimp. Aquarium Co-Op: they will hunt down your dwarf shrimp, baby fish, and any other small creatures |
| Bettas | Aquarium Co-Op, to avoid | Betta. Both species are semi-aggressive and territorial, per the same source |
| Other bottom-dwelling cichlids | Aquarium Store Depot, to avoid | Oscar, angelfish, discus and flowerhorn are the cichlid records here, and all four are far larger |
| Other Apistogramma | Seriously Fish, for wild fish | no record here yet |
| Fin-nippers and boisterous species | Aquarium Store Depot, to avoid | No record here is described as a nipper by its own sources |
The shrimp warning is unanimous and it is the strongest statement in any of our sources. Aquarium Co-Op: they will hunt down your dwarf shrimp, baby fish, and any other small creatures. Aquarium Store Depot puts dwarf shrimp on the avoid list and says they will be hunted. Our cherry shrimp record carries a 30 to 40 mm adult whose young hatch at about a millimeter.
The tetra recommendation is the one worth checking against the water rather than the temperament. Our ember tetra record carries pH 5.5 to 7.0 and 18 to 179 ppm, which is the softest, most acidic water on this site and the only record that would sit comfortably in what an apistogramma is published for. Our platy record, at pH 7.0 to 8.0 and 214 to 321 ppm, is the opposite end of the same hobby.
Our tank mates grid only pairs records against records, so it cannot hold this genus until a species record is written. What it can already show is the water: the cichlid records here are all too large, and the one recommendation our sources make that we hold a record for is the ember tetra.
What this guide will not answer
Figures for 90 of the 93 species
Our sources publish care figures for cacatuoides, borellii and agassizii. Apistogramma hongsloi and Apistogramma nijsseni are searched more than most fish on this site and appear in none of our four sources, and neither do Apistogramma panduro, Apistogramma bitaeniata, Apistogramma viejita, Apistogramma trifasciata or Apistogramma elizabethae.
Whether to buy a pair or a harem
Two sources price a tank for a pair and a third says pairs lead to chronic female stress. Wikipedia says the mating system varies by species and no care source says which species is which.
Which fish in the tank is a female
Subdominant males can hide their colors to look like a female, per Aquarium Co-Op, and nothing our sources publish separates the two.
A lifespan for the genus
Only Aquarium Store Depot publishes one, 3 to 5 years, and it publishes it for agassizii. Aquarium Co-Op and both Seriously Fish profiles give none.
Which species mouthbroods
Wikipedia says three species do. None of our care sources names them.
A record
This is a guide rather than a record, and it will stay one until a single species has enough sourced figures to fill nine fields. On the figures above, cacatuoides is closest.
Apistogramma questions, answered from the sources
What is an apistogramma?
A genus of South American dwarf cichlids. Wikipedia: there are currently 93 recognized Apistogramma species, with undescribed and sometimes cryptic species known to exist, living in the lowlands east of the Andes, and adults measure between 2 and 8 cm, 0.8 to 3.1 in, standard length depending on species. Aquarium Co-Op calls it almost 100 species and describes males at 3 to 3.5 inches against females at 2 to 2.5.
What water do apistogramma dwarf cichlids need?
Soft water, and the temperature depends on the species. Aquarium Co-Op gives the genus 80 to 82 °F with 4 to 8 dGH and somewhat acidic to neutral pH. Seriously Fish gives A. cacatuoides 72 to 84 °F at 0 to 15 dGH and A. borellii 68 to 79 °F at 1 to 15 dGH. Aquarium Store Depot gives A. agassizii 73 to 84 °F at 1 to 10 dGH. Every figure describes soft water and the temperature figures do not agree.
Do apistogramma need blackwater or acidic water?
The wild fish does and the shop fish mostly does not, and two sources say so. Seriously Fish gives pH 5.0 to 6.0 for wild cacatuoides populations and adds that commercially-bred fish are less demanding. Aquarium Store Depot: wild-caught fish need very soft, acidic water below pH 6.0 and may carry internal parasites, while captive-bred stock handle near-neutral, moderately soft water well and are comfortable at 6.5 to 7.0.
What is the best apistogramma for a beginner?
Our sources do not answer it directly. Aquarium Co-Op describes A. cacatuoides and A. agassizii as relatively easy to breed without calling either a beginner fish. Aquarium Store Depot is the only source with a verdict and it is a negative one: agassizii is a good second or third fish for hobbyists who have built some foundation with basic tropicals, and not for complete beginners.
What tank size does an apistogramma need?
Twenty gallons is what two of our sources publish, for two different arrangements: Aquarium Co-Op for a single fish or a pair, Aquarium Store Depot for a harem of one male and two or three females. Seriously Fish gives base dimensions instead, 60 by 30 cm for a pair of cacatuoides and 45 by 30 cm, about 41 liters, for borellii. Aquarium Co-Op adds that they can be bred in a 10-gallon tank.
Should apistogramma be kept in a pair or a harem?
Our sources split. Aquarium Co-Op prices a tank for a single fish or a pair and separately recommends one male to two or three females. Seriously Fish gives base dimensions for a single pair. Aquarium Store Depot says one male with 2 to 3 females is the correct social structure and that pairs lead to chronic female stress. Wikipedia explains why nobody can generalize: some species breed in polygamous harems, while other species form monogamous pairs.
How many caves does an apistogramma tank need?
One per female, minimum, and add extras, per Aquarium Store Depot, which works that out as at least four caves for one male and three females. It is the only source that counts them. Aquarium Co-Op asks for lots of caves, catappa leaves and hardscape, plus dense foliage to break line of sight and minimize aggression.
What do apistogramma eat?
Meat, in small pieces. Seriously Fish calls the species primarily carnivorous and asks for live and frozen Artemia, Daphnia and chironomid larvae, that is bloodworm, regularly. Aquarium Co-Op names bloodworms, tubifex worms, blackworms, brine shrimp and daphnia, plus smaller pellets, Repashy gel food and sinking foods. Aquarium Store Depot calls them carnivores hunting small invertebrates and adds cyclops and mysis shrimp.
What are good apistogramma tank mates?
Aquarium Co-Op names tetras, pencilfish and hatchetfish and says to avoid bettas, because both species are semi-aggressive and territorial. Seriously Fish says captive-raised fish suit community aquariums while wild fish should be kept alone or with small dither fish such as Nannostomus, and not mixed with other Apistogramma. Aquarium Store Depot says to avoid other bottom-dwelling cichlids, fin-nippers, boisterous species, large or predatory fish, and dwarf shrimp.
Will apistogramma eat shrimp?
Yes, and this is the one thing all three care sources agree on. Aquarium Co-Op: they will hunt down your dwarf shrimp, baby fish, and any other small creatures. Aquarium Store Depot puts dwarf shrimp on the avoid list because they will be hunted. Our cherry shrimp record carries an animal whose young hatch at about a millimeter.
How do you tell a male apistogramma from a female?
By size, color and fins, and the method has a hole in it. Seriously Fish, on both species and in its own spelling: Males are larger, more colourful and develop more extended fins than females.
Aquarium Store Depot describes a flame-shaped, elongated caudal point on agassizii males against rounded, much smaller fins on females. Then Aquarium Co-Op: subdominant males can hide their colors to look like a female, and nothing our sources publish separates those two.
How does apistogramma breeding work?
They are cave or crevice spawners with parental care. Aquarium Co-Op: cave spawners that display parental care, females usually guard the eggs and males defend the entire territory, and they can be bred in a 10-gallon tank. Seriously Fish: the female is responsible for post-spawning care, and in smaller tanks the male may require removal due to female aggression. Aquarium Store Depot: eggs hatch within 24 to 72 hours, with infusoria first and then freshly hatched baby brine shrimp.
Does temperature change the sex of apistogramma fry?
Wikipedia says so and no care source we read mentions it: warmer water results in more males across all studied species, and more acidic water, lower pH, also results in more males in some species. Read against the usual recommendation of 80 to 82 °F and pH 5.0 to 6.0, the standard advice is the male-skewing end of the genus, which matters because every source forbids keeping two or three males without females. That connection is ours rather than any source’s.
How long do apistogramma live?
Only one of our sources publishes a figure and it publishes it for one species: Aquarium Store Depot gives A. agassizii 3 to 5 years. Aquarium Co-Op and both Seriously Fish profiles give no lifespan at all.
What about apistogramma cacatuoides, borellii, agassizii, hongsloi and nijsseni?
Three of those five have figures in station 02: Apistogramma cacatuoides and Apistogramma borellii from Seriously Fish, Apistogramma agassizii from Aquarium Store Depot. Apistogramma hongsloi and Apistogramma nijsseni appear in none of our four sources, and neither do Apistogramma panduro, Apistogramma bitaeniata, Apistogramma viejita, Apistogramma trifasciata or Apistogramma elizabethae. Seriously Fish does list the ornamental strains of cacatuoides: sunset, sunburst, double red, triple red, gold, white gold, orange flash and albino.