Hello from South Africa

[Martin]

My name is Martin and I'm a fishaholic...

I stay in Johannesburg, I've been keeping fish on and of for the past 20 years. Mostly Cichlids - Malawis, Key Holes, Rainbow Cichlids , "Kribs" and Rams etc

The fish trade in South Africa is small compared to the rest of the world and Apistos are as scarce as hens teeth.

I have a Juwel Lido 120 (29g) that is just shouting to house some dwarfs:



The tank has been running for about a month and as you can see the Tetras have helped me with the cycling of this tank. Since I won't be able to get hold of any wild caught specimens, I've made sure that my water is soft and Neutral.

I would appreciate any tips on creating a better home for these dwarfs, so any suggestions on the tank decor or water paramaters would be appreciated.

I've been trying to track down some Apistos locally and came across these:





This was taken at my LFS, sorry for the picture quality, these are screen captures from a video I took on my phone.

They are being sold as only "Borelli"

These all seem to be male?? (1 1/2 to 2 inches). When I asked one of the staff he confirmed this and said the suppliers don't send females to protect their business interests. I find this ridiculous since not everyone with an aquarium wants to become a fish farmer.

More concerning is the rust colored streaks and blotches on the flanks of these fish.

Are these marks signs of a bad strain, inbreeding or hybridization?

If anyone can confirm if these are in fact Borelli I would appreciate it. If there really aren't any females I'm seriously considering not buying these specimens. This would be a shame as these are the only Apistos I'm aware of in the whole of South Africa !!!

Also, if any fellow South African Apistokeepers are reading this, please let me know, hopefully I'm not the only guy in South Africa still wanting to keep these little guys.

Thank you
Martin

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
With the normal disclaimer that I'm pretty poor at IDs from photos, but they look like <"Laetacara araguaiae">.

cheers Darrel

 

[Martin]

Hi all,
With the normal disclaimer that I'm pretty poor at IDs from photos, but they look like <"Laetacara araguaiae">.

cheers Darrel

Thanks Darrel,

That opens a big can of worms, it certainly could be....mmm

 

[Mike Wise]

Sorry Darrel, but these are Laetacara curviceps. Martin, females look very much like males. They are slightly smaller, slightly less colorful and have more rounded tips on the dorsal and anal fins. With luck you will find a female in the group. It is a wonderful dwarf acara that work well in planted tanks.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Sorry Darrel, but these are Laetacara curviceps..

Mike I'm quite chuffed that I got the right genus.

cheers Darrel

 

[briztoon]

If they are Curviceps, look in their dorsal fin. These are (poor) photos of my old female. In the middle of her dorsal fin is a metallic spot. Male curviceps do not have a metallic spot in their dorsal. The third photo shows my old pair, the male is in the background.

 

[briztoon]

Looking in your bucket photos, I would bet my last brass razoo, that this is a female.



And this is a male.

 

[Martin]

Thanks briztoon, see you beat me to it LOL, kinda makes my new post redudndent...

 

[Josh]

Welcome Martin!