• 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!

Search results

  1. gerald

    Mixing Rams of same sex

    Hard to predict. Cichlid social dynamics are complex, and individual personalities and behaviors vary. Adding another female is probably safer than adding a male, but be prepared to intervene if necessary (move somebody to another tank). Also, a temporary divider sometimes helps them get used...
  2. gerald

    Black head

    Without a veterinary exam we can only guess. But if it was an aneurysm or stroke, I'd think at least some of them would die quickly. Has this been a slow progression with all the fish that have been affected like this in your tank so far? Is there any info in the veterinary literature or zoo...
  3. gerald

    Black head

    "Affecting one after the other" sounds like a slow-growing internal infection, probably bacterial but maybe viral or sporozoan. Loss of pigment control happens when the nerves are infected.
  4. gerald

    Sexing of German Rams

    I'd guess they're probably two females, based on the rosy-pink bellies, head shape, and blue spangles on the black lateral spot. Time will tell. Yes the black spot (and other colors) can come and go. BTW your Tinypic hosting site seems to have a malware infection. I got one of those "your...
  5. gerald

    Reference thermometer...anyone use one?

    A bottom thermometer with its base under the sand can be several degrees cooler than the water above if the room is much cooler than the heated tank water, since there's not much water movement in the substrate. I use floating or hanging ones (away from the heater) that a give a better estimate...
  6. gerald

    Is this a A. Cacatouides?

    Looks like one of the Laetacara species, possibly L. dorsiger, curviceps, araguiae, etc.
  7. gerald

    Need explanation please?

    Somebody with a big mouth and attitude probably had a tank (on a crooked stand) leak after buying a DI unit, and proceeded to rant extensively wherever he could find an audience about how the DI water caused his tank seams to fail. Sounds like a wacky theory to me.
  8. gerald

    33 gallon long - Dicrossus filamentosus and friends

    Did you notice any heavy breathing at the store (I'm talking about the FISH) before they were netted and bagged? I usually watch fishes' behavior carefully for 5 min or so before I buy them in stores.
  9. gerald

    Rio Orinoco biotope questions

    I've seen Mayaca (the feathery plant in Tom's last photo) a few times in the Sandhills region of North Carolina, in low-conductivity blackwater stream habitats that look pretty similar to Tom's photos. But it was rooted in organic-rich sandy mud near the stream bank, not in plain sand. The...
  10. gerald

    Need explanation please?

    If your source water is hard or has high mineral content, then a deionizing filter placed BEFORE the R.O. unit will help the R.O. membranes to last longer before they get plugged up with minerals. If your source water has low to moderate mineral content, then DI is unnecessary. Disclaimer: I...
  11. gerald

    Apistogramma borellii range?

    Keep in mind that fish seek out groundwater seeps in streams and lakes during times when the rest of the water-body is too warm or too cold. Where these seeps enter the stream or lake there can be "micro-habitats" (often in root mats along the shore) 10 degrees warmer in winter or cooler in...
  12. gerald

    Female move eggs from one cave to another?

    They've hatched and she's moving the newborn fry, which is normal. In another 4-5 days they begin swimming and feeding.
  13. gerald

    Need advice please???

    The averages for 2017 were 47 mg/L sulfate, 33 mg/L sodium and 13 mg/L chloride. It's not from salt water ingress or geological deposits. It's from upstream wastewater discharges, salt applied on roads in winter, urban runoff, and water treatment plant chemicals (sodium permanganate, sodium...
  14. gerald

    Need advice please???

    My tap water (Raleigh NC), which is quite soft (20 to 30 mg/L GH hardness) has conductivity about 210 uS and TDS about 140 mg/L. Three ions: sulfate, sodium, and chloride, comprise 80% of the total ions (by weight) according to the City's water quality report. The hardness ions Ca and Mg...
  15. gerald

    Need advice please???

    Is that 143 ppm the GH hardness reading or the TDS reading? If it's hardness, that's pretty high (8 degrees GH) but if that's a TDS measurement then a lot of that TDS might be from other ions in your tap water (Na, Cl, SO4, SiO2, etc) in which case GH might not really be too high.
  16. gerald

    Need advice please???

    Measuring pH and TDS will NOT tell you GH hardness. Unless TDS is very low, then the water is soft, but moderate to high TDS could have very low to very high hardness, because TDS is comprised of many other ions besides the ones that create hardness. Only a GH hardness test kit (or separate Ca...
  17. gerald

    D-I-Y Jar Filter

    I made this air-powered internal filter from a plastic jar (Archer Farms Peanut jar from Target), needlepoint screen, and plastic pipe. Cut the top off the jar so that the jar lid will fit inside it, drill or cut several holes in the lid, glue the lift pipe over one of the holes, cut a circle...
  18. gerald

    how to hatch apisto agassizi eggs?

    Diet could also be a factor, if the mother is not getting enough of the right fats and proteins to make nutrient-rich egg yolk.
  19. gerald

    Cockatoo unhappy

    Might be a slow-growing internal infection, such as Mycobacterium. It's especailly common in older fish, but can infect stressed fish at any age. They may live several months to a year or more with symptoms coming and going before it finally kills them, often from kidney, spleen, and liver...
  20. gerald

    Wood

    Note about "soft wood" meaning: Foresters (in North America at least; not sure about other continents) use "hardwood" and "softwood" to mean flowering trees (Angiosperms) and conifer trees (Gymnosperms), respectively. Willow (Salix) is a "hardwood" tree with soft wood. Bald cypress (Taxodium)...
Top