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!
Mine have bred repeatedly at Ph 6 and TDS <100. I use 1/3 peat treated, 2/3 RO water, and Oak leaves on the tank bottom. Live food is all they will eat. Blackworms, grindal worms and bbs.
TDS is an abbreviation for total disolved solids. To measure it or to measure water conductivity, one needs the appropriate meter. The Forum's Ted Judy should be able to help you with this, if you are interested.
Members of the Nijsseni-group do well in soft acidic water. KH of about 2-3 with a pH of 5.5-6.5 should do the trick for spawning. In his post, Matt (farm41) says that he's had success with two-thirds RO filtered water mixed with one-third peat moss treated tap water. This mix enables him to achieve the desired soft acidic water necessary for breeding.
I should add, my panduro's were wild caught and would never eat any frozen or flake that I could ever observe, but I also didn't try very hard on the frozen food. I just wanted to breed them and they were in very good shape when I got them, I also had a steady supply of blackworms.
Good food and great water conditions helps, I believe. I changed their water every other day 25%.
78 degrees for mine. Mine are just 12 weeks old, just starting to be able to tell the difference in sex, so far it looks like some of both. Hard to tell though, with so many juvies in the growout tank.