Hello guest! Are you an Apistogramma enthusiast? If so we invite you to join our community and see what it has to offer. Our site is specifically designed for you and it's a great place for Apisto enthusiasts to meet online. Once you join you'll be able to post messages, upload pictures of your fish and tanks and have a great time with other Apisto enthusiasts. Sign up today!
Hi all,
I don't know why, they are really beautiful fish and not too demanding. My only thought is that when they aren't happy, they don't have the blue sheen, and look a bit washed out.
Locally you rarely can find any Apistogramma, but when you do other than "Blue-steel" (always mis-id'ed) they are the red selections of agassizii, hongsloi, cacatuoides and occasionally macmasteri (although not necessarily under any of those names). I think it is possibly a red fish thing as often the only other small non-malawi cichlid for sale is Hemichromis "lifalili".
I'm not sure about elsewhere in the UK, but the only shop I've ever seen A. trifasciata in locally (Bristol/Bath/Swindon area) was in the Maidenhead Aquatics in Brislington (Bristol), and theirs were both relatively expensive (£18.50 a pair) and all males.
I had problems getting females from spawns. If I manipulated to many things they stopped spawning, plus I had trouble finding all those males homes. Pretty fish though.
I don;t know about slow growing - my fry from July are growing at a very raopid rate. I am however under the impression that this Apisto specie matures slowly (according to the cichlid atlas) so perhaps they won't breed as soon any many oher species.