Apistogramma rositae

[Phil_1983]

I suppose it is species specific but typically the females will bite my fingers and the males will run and hide.

My A. baenschi did show the same behaviour. Well, close, not biting, but less shy females, swimming directly towards my hand while the male was hiding the moment the lid opened.

 

[rasmusW]

time for a small update.
There is a bunch of fry here i still haven’t caught and the mother is guarding the next batch somewhere in the back of the tank.
Sorry for the dirty frontglass and crappy phone pics.
Next update will be with a propper camera.

-r

 

[KenL]

Not sure how you could ever catch any Apisto in that tank.

 

[rasmusW]

Not sure how you could ever catch any Apisto in that tank.

If you start to catch them as soon as the mother kicks them out, it’s not that bad. At that time they haven’t fully started to fear the net… -or so, I say to myself.

-r

 

[Mike Wise]

This is where a bottle trap is handy. Just make sure you check it every hour or two.

 

[rasmusW]

This is where a bottle trap is handy. Just make sure you check it every hour or two.

When I use my bottle trap i always do it while I sit infront of the tank, to make sure some extra hungry adult male doesn’t get trapped aswell.

-r

 

[Mike Wise]

You need to make the opening too small for adults (learned that the hard way). I drill an opening in the cap large enough for fry but too small for adults.

 

[rasmusW]

Ahh! Yes ofcause. I’ll do that for my next one. Thanks.

-r

 

[anewbie]

Weird - most of the species i have the male seems to not go after the frys even when given a chance. In fact even the older f1 seem to mostly ignore the frys.

It would be interesting to categorize the species as to which are cannibals and which are not.

 

[rasmusW]

Weird - most of the species i have the male seems to not go after the frys even when given a chance. In fact even the older f1 seem to mostly ignore the frys.

It would be interesting to categorize the species as to which are cannibals and which are not.

I think, Mike just meant that the traps hole should small enough to not catch any adults. -and not as protection from adult fish.

-r

 

[Mike Wise]

Most will not eat older fry. The problem is that they (usually the female) try to drive their fry out of their territory (the tank)e when they are ready to breed again. I have 2 tanks where this is occurring right now. Time to break out the bottle traps.

 

[illumnae]

My rositae were surprisingly great parents and continued caring for their fry for a couple of months. After I finally got round to moving the fry to another tank, the pair immediately bred again so it seems to me that they held off laying another batch of eggs until the first batch were removed

 

[rasmusW]

Most will not eat older fry. The problem is that they (usually the female) try to drive their fry out of their territory (the tank)e when they are ready to breed again. I have 2 tanks where this is occurring right now. Time to break out the bottle traps.

What do you put into the trap to lure them in? -just their normal food or some sort of secret sauce?

-r

 

[anewbie]

I can say that both my Bluketa and Ipiranga did not bother with older f1 when brooding a 2nd time - and the older brood did not seem to bother with the frys nor did the frys show much fear around them. The bluketa female would chase the older frys if they got too close to her new brood the first week or so but i twasn't much of a chase more of a tail wag and they left her alone.

Maybe i'm just lucky.

 

[anewbie]

i wanted to say more here because i often wonder why they didn't eat the frys if there is some secret sauce that allows them to avoid being canibals. I was esp amazed with the ipiranga and was often fearful the 2nd brood would be eaten by the first when feed the fishes since there was a wide gap between the broods (5? 6? months).

 

[Mike Wise]

Different species behave somewhat differently. More polygamous species tend to be more intolerant of juveniles in their brood territory than those that are more monogamous (like Blutkehl) or form breeding partnerships (like rositae and Ipiranga).