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Apisto Questions

georgedv

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
335
Location
South Carolina
I read in many places that Ap. Iniridae are tough to breed because of their water requirements......so.......In a 29g high I have 2 female and 2 male Ap. Iniridae that I got from Ted Judy last April. About 10-12 days ago one of the females showed up with about 20-30 free swimming fry. Four days later the second female also had 20-30 of her own (women always competing). As time progressed the first batch slowly started disappearing. Thus far I can not say the same for the second batch, but it is still early. My question is...are the fry disappearing because of their environment (water parameters) or inexperienced female? In other words at what stage of breeding does water parameters affect success. PAR: pH6.4 Kh1 (I think I read this right...very soft) gH my test kit sucks (reads like 300+ppm).

Next question is, if these water parameters are good for Ap. Iniridae, would it be logical to say that it would also be good for panduro, hongsloi, trifasciata, borelli, agassizi , Dicrossus Filamentosus, gold and EB-Rams.

Finally, my Ap. trifasciata have grown quite a bit and all seem to be males. I do not know how old they might be. At this point the are just at one inch. Most pics I have seen of females are obvious so I have some doubts here. At what age or size will sexes be more apparent.

Thanks for any help apistogramma.com

george
 

Mike Wise

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Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,202
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
Peter's suggestion is one possibility. Other possibilities are that the water conditions (nitrogenous waste) are deteriorating from over feeding, or the opposite, that the fry are not getting enough of the right foods and starving. Other tank members might be eating the fry, too. We just don't know enough about your tank maintenance and feeding methods to give you a better answer. As for most of your A. trifasciata being males, that usually indicates that they were bred/raised in at high temperature. Another possibility (unlikely) is that most of the female fry were out-competed by (normally) large more assertive males.
 

georgedv

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
335
Location
South Carolina
I do weekly water changes, about 15% for the Ap. iniridae. When no fry were present I always syphoned off the bottom, but now I do 20% off the top. The tank is full of java moss and decaying oak leaves. I read that both provide lots of food for fry. If you have a suggestion to add food for 2-4 day old fry please let me know. I feed bbs daily to apisto tanks plus tetra flakes.

Sorry on the trifasciata I was not clear. I got four from David about a month ago. Just wondered at what age or size their sexes would be more noticeable.

And please if you have any input on the question: Next question is, if these water parameters are good for Ap. Iniridae, would it be logical to say that it would also be good for panduro, hongsloi, trifasciata, borelli, agassizi , Dicrossus Filamentosus, gold and EB-Rams.....please input:).

thanks
 

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,202
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
You should be feeding the fry directly and not expect them to survive on leftovers from feeding the other fish in the tank. This usually means more frequent and heavier feedings. This also means larger or more frequent water changes (or possibly breeding in larger tanks?). My guess is that the fry weren't getting enough food. As for water changes, I try to use 'change water' with close to the same values as the breeding tank water for the first 3-4 weeks. Then I slowly adapt them to tap water.

As for the A. trifasciata, 1"/2.5cm fish are usually a bit young for precise sexing. That being said, if they all look like males now, then they won't look like females later. Juvenile males, after all, look very much like females.

Personally, I'm a bit surprised that you iniridae successfully bred at pH6.4. Most breeders aren't successful until they drop the pH to below 5.8-6.0. It's possible that the female bred in a part of the tank where more tannins are being produced and the pH in the area was lower than the overall aquarium. Such micoenvironments can be made. All of the species you list should successfully breed at or just below pH6.4 except D. filamentosus, which should require a lower pH (5.5-5.8). But if you can breed A. iniridae at pH 6.4 then I guess it's possible for you to breed the checkerboards in the same conditions.
 

georgedv

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
335
Location
South Carolina
Thanks a million Mike. I will increase bbs feedings and amounts. I will also do two 20% water changes per week in the A. Iniridae tank.

As for the pH I am not 100% certain my readings are correct because my kit gives me strange readings. Last reading week ago was pH6.4 Kh 1 (so far it makes sense) and gH over 300ppm. basically the gH is giving me a reading opposite of what the other two are saying. I got another kit and got similar results. When I used buffers to test water in buckets to see what the kits would do they showed readings corresponding to the type of buffer I used. Of coarse the amount of the buffer I put in the buckets were doses a bit higher then recommended for the amount of water...just a tad higher.

I am trying to get the water parameters where I want them by using rain water and filtering it through peat and oak leaves for a week before using it. I'm going to try this for two weeks for the D. filamentosus and refresh the peat and oak leaves at one week.. ....fingers crossed.

My A. Iniridae females bred on opposite sides of the tank, from what I can tell. One used a coconut shell and the other dug underneath a clay saucer that I use to drop food in. The first female, that lost her batch is currently hiding there again. I hope to see another batch from her.

As for feeding, as I understand it, the fry will take bbs after using their egg sack. I squirt bbs in the tank to attract the other fish
(a female aggi, three platy fry, 4 A. iniridae) and then several squirts in the fry and then back three squirts for the others. I use an eye drop type that I believe is about 15mml and is red when I dose.....maybe too much?????

I don't mean to hog any ones time, but getting my water to where the A. iniridae bred is going to be an anniversary for me.

Thanks again.
george
 

georgedv

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
335
Location
South Carolina
I just wanted to update about Ap. Iniridae. Since starting this article they bred many times. I finally pulled seven fry out a week ago, but only two are now left. A few days ago I remade their tank 100%. Within a few hours the dominant male and female were at it. I am 99% sure their coconut shell has eggs.

I just can not figure out why the Dicrossus filamentosus are not breeding. I am now left with 1 male and 2 females about age 2. Could something else in the water chemistry be missing or something in their setup? I am just about out of head hair and soon will be pulling at my legs.....any help is welcome.

george
 

georgedv

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
335
Location
South Carolina
Sorry for the delay, but had an emergency.

No they are in separate tanks. I use the same substrate (pool sand), wood from same tree, no rocks, some floating sprites, anubias anchored to wood, coconut shells and small flower pots. water is gotten from same faucet, into a 40gal container w/peat moss....make water changes same time same amounts...etc...etc....BUT all tanks except Iniridae have some rotala that I add seachem plant fertilizer.....could that effect the KH or GH.....
If you remember in another thread I felt that my water testing kit was giving me wrong readings....but anyways could that effect these results here.

Thank you Mike

george
 

dw1305

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
2,755
Location
Wiltshire UK
Hi all
..BUT all tanks except Iniridae have some rotala that I add seachem plant fertilizer.....could that effect the KH or GH.....
Yes, it will definitely make the dGH and TDS higher, whether it makes the dKH higher would depend upon whether the potassium source is KHCO3.

cheers Darrel
 

georgedv

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
335
Location
South Carolina
In another thread I am asking for help to breed aggies in a 10g tank. I know most would say 10g is too small. However, since they are side by side this might create an illusion for the fish that predators and competitors are near by and thus re-enforce pair instincts.

A few months ago one of the 29g tanks that houses borellies, and is a tank with lots of plants that gets fertilizers added, had a successful spawn. Going through some notes I can say that for several weeks prior to the spawn (for some reason???) that tank did not get fertilized at all. I did water changes as scheduled and the tank contains lots of oak leaves. Quite possible I will have to either choose between keeping/breeding apstos and aquatic gardens or at least separate them.

george
 

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