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New member from Vancouver BC

crazy72

New Member
Messages
6
Location
Vancouver BC
Hi everyone,

I've been keeping fish for many years, with a few apistos here and there. Now my 12-year-old son Adam has developed an all-consuming passion for apistos, so here I am joining this forum! We have 4 tanks, ranging from 33G to 75G. My favourite fish at the moment are GBRs.... and apistos, of course.

We are looking for apisto borellii and apisto pertensis. Ideally tank raised. If you know anyone who has them and is able to ship to Vancouver, please let me know.

Happy fish keeping. Looking forward to exploring the forums here.
 

Bart Hazes

Active Member
Messages
228
Hi Crazy72, good to know there is a new generation of apisto lovers coming up. I consider Curtis Jerrom in Calgary as the best Canadian source for Apistos with Below Water (Oliver Lucanus) in Montreal being another source with sometimes very special species. Both sell mostly or exclusively wild caught fish but I am tank raising F1 fry for 8 species at the moment and those will be for sale by Curtis once old enough. For borelli you may be able to get a local store to special order tank bred fish for you. I don't think pertensis is being commercially bred.
 

crazy72

New Member
Messages
6
Location
Vancouver BC
Thank you Bart for this info. I will follow up with my LFS. Raising 8 species of apistos sounds like serious business! My son will wish you were his Dad! :)

What species are you raising then?
 

Bart Hazes

Active Member
Messages
228
Thank you Bart for this info. I will follow up with my LFS. Raising 8 species of apistos sounds like serious business! My son will wish you were his Dad! :)

What species are you raising then?

A. rubrolineata
A. norberti
A. baenschi
A. sp. Melgar
A. allpahuayo
A. sp. Abacaxis
A. eremnopyge
A. panduro

And I have a breeding A. agassizii at the moment. Except for the panduro they are all wild caught so F1 fry.
 

crazy72

New Member
Messages
6
Location
Vancouver BC
A. rubrolineata
A. norberti
A. baenschi
A. sp. Melgar
A. allpahuayo
A. sp. Abacaxis
A. eremnopyge
A. panduro

And I have a breeding A. agassizii at the moment. Except for the panduro they are all wild caught so F1 fry.

Wow this is an impressive list. Congrats. How are the Abacaxis in terms of temperament? Aggressiveness when breeding, for instance, compared to other apistos. There isn't much info about them to be found online. How about water requirements? One thing that works well for me with the Borellis is that they like our water (very soft but only slightly acidic). So no need for RO or anything. Plus they are civilised even with fry around.
 
Last edited:

Bart Hazes

Active Member
Messages
228
From my first group of 6 Abacaxis the dominant male killed off all others. Definitely the most aggressive apisto I've seen. A second batch from a different supplier has been quite mellow. I had 5 in a 40 gallon breeder with also a pair of A. allpahuayo and have not seen aggression. Both pairs bred but the allpahuayo were dominant and the Abacaxis gave up on their spawn. Interestingly, the male Abacaxis a little while later chased the female allpahuayo from her fry and the male Abacaxis started to guard the allpahuayo fry as if he had to fulfil his fry-guarding instincts. I move the Abacaxis pair to a new tank with just some dithers and that is where I now am raising about 40 fry. The female took care of the fry initially but after a few weeks the male again took over and now keeps the female away from the fry. Not sure if this male fry guarding is typical for Abacaxis or just the one I have. Only other apisto I've seen this is for another pair of A. allpahuayo.
Abacaxis is a blackwater species but not so picky regarding water parameters. Not quite as forgiving as borellii but should be good to keep and possibly breed in your water. The A. pertensis you mentioned may be more difficult and demanding of very soft and more acidic water.
 

crazy72

New Member
Messages
6
Location
Vancouver BC
Thank you very much for the detailed reply. What I had read about A. Pertensis seemed to indicate that it would tolerate less acidic water, but then information is rather sparse on these guys. And the Abacaxis sound like a little too much of a handful for me at this point :).
 

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