Those elusive D. maculatus...

[Cooder]

Continuing the eternal search for D. maculatus in Australia... ive contacted all the reputable shops on the east coast and i cant find any...
Fishchicks says she had some but no longer orders them because of too few sales. Ill have another go at convincing her...

So, was going to ask, does anyone in Australia currently have any of these beauties? im stocking my Rio Tapajos biotope tank, and my Geos are coming tomorrow probably, aswell as a Blue ram pair that the seller threw in for me just to be nice. Ill have a go at breeding them separately.

Does anyone have any over in the states?? experiences?

Wish me luck lol

 

[wethumbs]

You mean this guy.

And this gal.

They come in on a fairly regular frequency. Once or twice per year for the WC ones, and tank raised ones even more regular. It is not a fast seller here in the States as well.

 

[Cooder]

Dont know how they cant be fast sellers, they are little beauties, nice pics.

 

[Mol_PMB]

Lovely pics! Is there a way of telling these apart from D. filamentosus when juvenile? A shop near me in the UK is offering D. maculatus at the moment but to my eyes they look the same as my D. filamentosus. (attached pic is of my fish)

 

[Cooder]

I dont think there is much difference at an early age, Mike might have to enlighten us...

 

[gerald]

I have limited experience with macs, but the few I've seen had mid-body blotches taller than wide . Mid-body blotches on filamentosus are usully either square or wider than tall (in juveniles). Not sure how reliable this difference is; both species are variable.

 

[Mike Wise]

Juveniles are hard to ID at that size. All you can do is depend on what they're sold as and hope for the best. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

 

[wethumbs]

Actually, one key way to tell the difference between them is the size and shape. D. filamentosus are typically WC due to the extreme low price for WC specimen (you will never see any tank raised specimen as this blackwater fish is not easy to spawn). So if you see them at around 1" or less, it will almost be certain that they are D. filamentosus. D maculatus are typically collected at a much larger size around 1.5" or so. By this size, they still all look like females. However, the shape of the body is noticeable maculatus as it is more robust (like a topedo shape).

 

[Mol_PMB]

Good tip thanks. I guess the ones I have at the moment are filamentosus (as sold) but I'll have a good look at what this other shop has got as it sounds like they may be maculatus. Sorry they're on the wrong side of the planet for the OP!

 

[Cooder]

Yeh its a real bummer!! if i cant find any macs ill go for A. bitaeniata or similar, closest to the rio tapajos as possible to try to stick with the biotope

 

[Richgrenfell]

Good luck. I have ordered those at least a dozen times, and they have been filamentosa every time.

 

[Mol_PMB]

Well I went to Aqualife Leyland today, and they had (or claimed to have) D.Filamentosus at £3.99, tank bred D.Maculatus at £7.99 and wild caught D.Maculatus at £15.99.

I managed to restrict myself to the four D.filamentosus that I went for; they're about the same size as the 1" ones I've got already. The Maculatus were bigger, especially the wild ones. Pics of each attached.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
The maculatus definitely are D. maculatus. Tank bred for £8 is pretty reasonable for an unusual fish, and they are relatively quick growers.

cheers Darrel

 

[Mol_PMB]

Aqualife do mail-order to the UK, but not abroad I think. Although they have a website, there's no online purchase facility - you need to call them to reserve.
I've had 2 lots of fish from them - 10 marble hatchets and the 4 Dicrossus - and they have been fine, though for quality I wouldn't rate them quite as highly as Rare Aquatics.
Aqualife definitely score on variety of species available at any one time though, so worth checking out if you want something slightly unusual.

 

[gerald]

Good photo for showing those taller narrower blotches on D. mac as compared with square or short wide blotches on D .fil. Me thinks I see a borellii too, behind the heater.

 

[Mol_PMB]

Thanks - I thought the same looking at the pics and reading your earlier comments

Quite possibly a borelli - the shop has an amazing mix of fish not all neatly separated in the tanks!

 

[Cooder]

Hmmm *secretly formulates plan to go to the UK, buy them and smuggle them back to AUS*

 

[wethumbs]

Back in the days, I knew some people would 'smuggle' fish with carry-on or carry in their coat pockets. Nowadays, it will need to fit in your body cavity to even have a chance of making it through security check.

 

[Cooder]

Im heading to FishChicks store sometime on my trip to visit some relatives so, considering that she could get them in the past, ill see what she can do for me. If not, ill have to go with an Apisto species. probably bitaeniata.

So what apistogramma occur closest to the Rio Tapajos, so i can stick as close as possible to the biotope? The species Mike told me that occur in the mid/lower tapajos itself are pretty well unavailable.

 

[Mike Wise]

Sadly, except for some from the Rio Negro, that's true for most apistos from Brazil.