a little information goes a long way

[JTS]

Hi All
just new to the forum, looking to set up 28 gal tank(currently on a fishless cycle) for apistos. ideally interested in apisto trifasciata, aggassizi or caucatoides. or a mix of these any suggestions re how many, pairs or harems what dither fish will be suitable and anyone reccomend any good shops in the glasgow area.
cheers

 

[Apistt_ed]

hi JTS,


Well, with the floor space of your 28gallon, A trio/harem (1-2 males w/ up to 4females) or two pairs (tops) would be sufficient. Any more than that and it'd be uncomfortable for the fish. Great dithers are pencilfish, platys, small killies, and hatchetfish are all fine.

 

[JTS]

thanx

Hi Apistt ed
thanx for the information, i intend to get some dither fishes first before deciding to go with either two pairs or the harem. Can that be any two pairs ie trifasciata and agassizii or two pairs of trifasciata, you also mentioned that killies can be used as dither fish i like them too. will keep you posted on progress.

 

[curviceps]

Regarding Killies - I have one bad experience. Having never kept killies before, I didn't pay special attention to the fact that differnet types of killies have different temperaments. Maybe it was just the individual, but the gardneri male I got quickly tore the tail of one male guppy to shreds and left holes in the tails of two other male guppies. This was before it quickly died in a few days, having made it mark on the world (my tank) and leaving behind its girl.

So:

1) please research the type of killifish that would best meet ur needs, in terms of fish compatibility and water chemistry compatibility,

2) maybe it was just the guppies who it took a dislike to and may leave dwarf cichlids alone, I will never know, but I had a feeling it was creating some terror in my community tank!

Cheers
Jim

 

[JTS]

killies

cheers jim.
was that the aphyosemion gardneri? aka steel-blue aphyyosemion,lovely looking fish, although these fish are known for thier aggression and fin nipping. i intend to research which killies if any would be suitable with apistos. my intention is to research splash tetras(copella arnoldi) as well. but i aint gonna rush in to it altough i'm desperate to get the tank filled with fish. currently awaiting selection of plants from greenline

 

[JTS]

a little information

can any1 advise me on the meaning of F1's and the proper pronounciation of apistos i have a few good books but none give the pronounciation only the name and commonly known name. probably my favourite is the aquarium atlas by Dr Rudiger Riehl & Hans A Baensch

 

[curviceps]

F0 - wildcaught
F1 - F0's kids
F2 - so on...

Cheers

 

[Apistt_ed]

can any1 advise me on the proper pronounciation of apistos i have a few good books but none give the pronounciation

Apistogramma is pronounced "a-pee-sto-gram-ah"
Apistogramma aggassizi is pronounced "a-gass-eez-eye"
" cacatuoides pronounced "kac-aw-two-oid-eez"
" trifasciata pronounced "try-faas-see-ata"

all of these do get a little more difficult as you get into names like nijsenni "nee-szen-eye" but in most cases, you can get away with their more popular names.

aggassizi aka aggie
cacatuoides aka cockatoo dwarf
trifasciata aka three-stripe apisto or just tri

john

 

[Mike Wise]

I wouldn't worry about pronunciation. Everyone butcher them, particularly me. A prime example is Julidochromis marlieri. I've heard it pronounced every way but the correct one. Marlier (a Frence ichthyologist) pronounced his name "Mar'-lee-eh", so the proper pronunciation is "mar'-le-eh-ee" - not "mar'-ler-eye" or (cringe) (mal'-er-eye). John's has a couple of good examples (no offence, John):

Apistogramma aggassizi is pronounced "a-gass-eez-eye"

John misspelled it. It is A. agassizii. I have no idea why Steindachner used a double "i" on the end; he probably spelled it phonetically. A single "i" would have been sufficient. It is named for the Swiss-American naturalist Louis S. B. Agassiz (pronounced the same as the great tennis player Andre Agassiz - a-gas-si'). According to the rules of the ICZN, species named in honor of people are pronounced as the person pronounces his/her name. Since Agassiz's name ends with a long 'e' sound, the first 'i' should be pronounced as a long 'e', the second 'i' is pronounced "eye". So the name should properly be pronounced "a-gas-si'-ee-eye". I no of no one who pronounces it this way!

nijsenni "nee-szen-eye"

Again, A. nijsseni was named in honor of the highly respected Dutch ichthyologist Han Nijssen - who pronounces his name Nye'-szen. There is only a single 'i' (possessive singular in Latin) which is always pronounced as a long 'e' (as is the suffix "ae" as in 'algae'). Therefore A. nijsseni is properly pronounced "nye'-szen-ee", but most people pronounce it like John does.

As long as you get the pronunciation close, no one should care. I certainly won't.

 

[JTS]

curviceps, apistt ed and mike, thanks, sometimes you hear different pronounciations it can all get a little confusing. still i dont feel too silly now.

looking to research good aquatic dealers in my area now.

are wild caught the ideal fish to go for or are tank bred a bit hardier and easier to keep?

 

[Apistt_ed]

You are correct! Generally the tankbred fish are hardier/easier to keep because they should be somewhat acclimated to aquarium life. In more cases than not, wild fish will come with high demands and will be more difficult to maintain. The parasites, sickness, and high stress of being in a aquarium leaves the keeper and fish with more stress than necessary. john

 

[JTS]

thanks apistt_ed.

just another quick question,

i understand that in some cases keepers of south American dwarf cichlids put leaves into the aquarium to resemble their natural habitat, dead oak leaves i think, is this true? also i have sand in my tank will the two mix?

john

 

[JTS]

:redface: sorry another question what does sp mean as in the name of the fish was...

A SP "Miua" Blue varient

john

 

[Apistt_ed]

thanks apistt_ed.

just another quick question,

i understand that in some cases keepers of south American dwarf cichlids put leaves into the aquarium to resemble their natural habitat, dead oak leaves i think, is this true? also i have sand in my tank will the two mix?

john

Feel free to ask as many questions as you feel the need to want to know more... We'll try our best to answer them to the best of our abilitites.

Ok, to answer your questions now. Dried oak leaves can and have been used as decor for the tank. Just make sure they're fully dried. As for your sand question, it is fine. Just make sure it's natural sand or silica sand. I know of other sands and substrates that do change water chemistry. Crushed coral and such sands that have certain minerals in them will act as buffers and your water values will change.

The "sp." in some names are used in identifying species that haven't been assigned scientific names. When new species are discovered, but haven't been officially named yet, they are sometimes assigned an "sp" name. Once a scientific name is assigned to a species the "sp" is dropped. Examples are, Apistogramma sp. inka 50, when discovered were given that name before science could give it a proper name, once it was deemed officially a new species and is recorded, it was given the new and official name Apistogramma baenschi.

hope this helps. john

 

[JTS]

thanks again apistt_ed,
educating you certainly are (sorry i seek not to flatter).
the sand was bought from the lfs and i now it's definately not crushed coral (had that with the malawis) hope to get some pics in the near future
cheers
john

 

[Oldsan]

killies

cheers jim.
was that the aphyosemion gardneri? aka steel-blue aphyyosemion,lovely looking fish, although these fish are known for thier aggression and fin nipping. i intend to research which killies if any would be suitable with apistos. my intention is to research splash tetras(copella arnoldi) as well. but i aint gonna rush in to it altough i'm desperate to get the tank filled with fish. currently awaiting selection of plants from greenline

More on killies as dithers:

Very good killie dithers would be the Lampeyes, which are not like typical killifish in that they are shoaling fish, active swimmers, peaceful, and not at all shy. They occupy the same niche in West Africa that characins do elsewhere. They like current near the top, high oxygen, and love a planted tank. Poropanchax normani is a hardy and pretty one, stunningly gorgeous in a school, and fairly easy to find if you look around a bit. If you have floating plants you'll see fry appear at alarming rates after a few months of good food. I've kept them with Apistogramma agassizii without any problems, except that they are pretty good at picking off Apisto fry if mom isn't watching. With the "threat" of an Apisto present, they tend to school a bit tighter too, but they don't get stressed over it. They aren't really jumpers and they are the one killi I've kept in open-topped tanks without any losses.

I don't think other killies would be suitable dithers. Most killies do not share their habitats with many other fish and they do best in a species tank. Fundulopanchax gardneri (it's no longer in the Aphyosemion genus by the way) would not be a good choice - they can be very aggressive and I think they would terrorize Apistos and perhaps vice versa during Apsito breeding periods. However, if you are into trying killies alone (not as dithers) F. gardneri is a very rewarding fish to keep and breed and stunning to watch.

 

[Oldsan]

Dried oak leaves can and have been used as decor for the tank. Just make sure they're fully dried.

They also release tannins into the water, lowering pH and hardness, and possibly have an antibacterial effect.

 

[JTS]

thanks oldsan

on both replies,
as stated i intend to research the killies as dither fish or companions for apistos.
if the dead leaves lower ph and hardness will this affect how much bogwood you have in your tank?

john