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Apisto riparium

prototop

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
68
Location
Denmark
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prototop

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
68
Location
Denmark
Got a few shots of some mating behavior. Or rather what leads up to it.

In my experience, a female cacatuoides usually displays a pale yellow base color with a black blotch on the side, when she is ready to mate.
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Which gets the interest of the opposite sex.
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prototop

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
68
Location
Denmark
Thank you Pinky. Hope to see more of your tanks and maybe steal a few ideas;). My plants are now crowding the lights and filling the tank with roots, so its probably time to rearrange a bit.
 

prototop

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
68
Location
Denmark
Thank you Gwendal.

My old male somehow injured his lower jaw. As a result he started to look more and more emaciated and lost his colours. Rather then prolonging what looked to be the inevitable, I dicided his time was up.
Didn't take long for the largest of the remaining males to fill the void.
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skoram

Active Member
Messages
135
wow, this is a beautiful tank. I'm curious what you did to make that background? From the photos it looks like a wall of branches.
 

prototop

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
68
Location
Denmark
Hey, sorry for the late reply. And thank you for the kind comments.

The genetics are quite interesting, unfortunately I don't have any grasp of the subject. These are the grandparents of my current stock, the pair that started it all.
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Since I had to buy a male for the females that I got from the pair, I now have a mix of two domestic strains. I'll try to get the next generation going, and we'll see what surprises that brings, if I get that lucky.

@skoram The background is a thin sheet of polystyren on which some foam is applied in order to give contoures and adhere three redmoore roots, two either side and one in the middle. It is finished off with a layer of peat/spagnum glued on. I'd be happy to explain in more detail if anyone needs it.

With regard to the tank, I replaced my e. grandiflorus with e. cordifolius, hoping they wont grow quite as tall. The change in the decor meant that the females had to redraw the boundaries of their territories.
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prototop

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
68
Location
Denmark
Thank you Josh, glad I can contribute a little, because I certainly appreciate you and the staff maintaining and improving what was already a great site.
 

prototop

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
68
Location
Denmark
Plenty of life in the tank at the moment, albeit on the smaller scale of things.

Second day freeswimmers.
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Colonies of what I presume are two kinds of nematode, seen center and top right.
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A colony of hydra under a twig, that sticks out into the middle of the watercurrent.
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I'm hoping, that this means that there is a healthy food-chain for the fry to feed from. I'll start mixing in frozen cyclops at feeding time, when/if they get a few days older.

I think my next investment will be a decent microscope, to see what else hides in there.
 

dw1305

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
2,755
Location
Wiltshire UK
Hi all,
The "nematode" worms are segmented worms (nematodes don't have segments) and either Naididae (Tubificid) (Tubifex sp.) or Annelid (Lumbriculus sp.) worms.

"I'm hoping, that this means that there is a healthy food-chain for the fry to feed from. I'll start mixing in frozen cyclops at feeding time, when/if they get a few days older." I think it does, have a look at these.
<http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/threads/buckelkopfs.15104/>,
<http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/threads/fry-tank-setup.12123/>

If you feed a lot of live food Hydra are almost inevitable. I usually treat mine with "Panacur" (Fenbendazole) (it won't effect your substrate dwelling worms) when they get really abundant.

Details here: <http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/t...-white-worms-growths-appearing-in-tank.15144/>.

"I think my next investment will be a decent microscope, to see what else hides in there." Well worth getting a microscope, filter sponge squeezings should provide a wealth of Rotifers, Paramecium, Cyanobacteria etc.

cheers Darrel
 

prototop

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
68
Location
Denmark
Thank you Darrel for corrections and links. The hydra also seems to multiply whenever I feed frozen cyclops over a longer period of time. Good to know there is a remedy if it gets out of hand.

Also Darrel, I know this isn't exactly the topic of this forum, but is there any chance that you might be able to point me in the generel direction of what this is?
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As you can see, it grows out of my now emergent javamoss and from what I've read, mos dosen't reproduce by flowers, which I initially thought it might be. It has kept the same state of developement for a week now. I tried getting google image-search to do the job, but no go.
 

dw1305

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
2,755
Location
Wiltshire UK
Hi all,
"'I've read, moss doesn't reproduce by flowers, which I initially thought it might be".

Sort of, it is the spore bearing capsule of the moss.

Java moss (Taxiphyllum barbieri) apparently doesn't produce spores very often, so it maybe another moss.

You really need a microscope to ID them, <http://www.killies.com/Truthaboutmosses.htm>.

cheers Darrel
 

prototop

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
68
Location
Denmark
Thanks again for the help Darrel. Guess I'll have to wait until i get that microscope, before I can confirm the species. The spore has since opened up.
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dw1305

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
2,755
Location
Wiltshire UK
Hi all,
Great photo, the spore capsule has opened, the end cap is an "operculum", it may remain attached or fall off (depends upon the species), and the structures holding the operculum on are "peristome teeth". The spores will come out through the caps between the peristome teeth. The younger green spore capsule behind still has its covering or "calyptra".

The shape of the spore capsule, peristome teeth etc means that it belongs to the family Hypnaceae, but all the possible options do as well, so that isn't much help.

cheers Darrel
 

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