any experience with Apistogramma mendezi ?

[anewbie]

I can't find much about these fishes other than that there are a few colour forms. Are they highly aggressive like trifs or more passive like lizzies; i presume they are polgymous but being in their own little complex i'm not sure - when i first saw pictures of them I thought they were bitaeniata like fish. Tom's website has a few pictures of different forms but no write-up so i guess he didn't own them.

 

[Phil_1983]

I once had them (1,1) in a 175 litre tank with dense plant growth with pH around 6 and ec in the 90 to 120 us/cm. They spawned in there but the fry never became free swimming.

I had the "Santa isabel" Form. At least they were sold as such.

There was more aggression between them than agassizii. At least when I had them.

This is the tank they were in.

 

[Mike Wise]

Most books published on dwarfs discuss them. They do belong to the bitaeniata-group but in a different complex from the many forms of A. bitaeniata. Behavior-wise they are very similar to these forms. Coming from the Rio Negro they are a blackwater species and are regularly reproduced by dedicated aquarists in water below pH 6 and soft. There are 2 basic forms. The form originally discussed as Querstreifen/Cross-striped Apisto occurs in left bank (eastern) tributaries of the Negro where A. paucisquamis, which has a similar cross-stripe caudal pattern does not occur. The form originally discussed as Langsstreifen/Long-striped Apisto occurs in right bank tributaries where A. paucisquamis is also found. I guess this different caudal pattern helps them distinguish the other species from their own. Females of the 2 forms are indistinguishable, at least to me.

Me? I've always been drawn to a different paucisqumis-complex species: A. sp. Miua. I've had it only twice in the past 40 years and never been able to breed it successfully.

 

[anewbie]

Most books published on dwarfs discuss them. They do belong to the bitaeniata-group but in a different complex from the many forms of A. bitaeniata. Behavior-wise they are very similar to these forms. Coming from the Rio Negro they are a blackwater species and are regularly reproduced by dedicated aquarists in water below pH 6 and soft. There are 2 basic forms. The form originally discussed as Querstreifen/Cross-striped Apisto occurs in left bank (eastern) tributaries of the Negro where A. paucisquamis, which has a similar cross-stripe caudal pattern does not occur. The form originally discussed as Langsstreifen/Long-striped Apisto occurs in right bank tributaries where A. paucisquamis is also found. I guess this different caudal pattern helps them distinguish the other species from their own. Females of the 2 forms are indistinguishable, at least to me.

Me? I've always been drawn to a different paucisqumis-complex species: A. sp. Miua. I've had it only twice in the past 40 years and never been able to breed it successfully.

Thanks - based on pictures jeff sent i am assuming the catch location was santa isabel but not 100% sure. They were sent with some 'red' elizabeth. Kind of want some blue elizabeth but they seem less common.

Oh well i have one 29 i could put them in but not sure. As for a. sp miua never been available and I'm not sure i'm of the right age to start a trip to try to find them.

 

[Jonathan A]

I was also looking at Jeff's list, mendezi are one of my bucket-list spp. (which tbf is not a small list) so I was diving through the forums for anyone else's experience. Here's what I found:

apistogramma mendezi fry
mendezi spawned
mendezi maintenance
most difficult spp to breed

I'll say the "most difficult spp to breed" thread got me a little nervous but then I remembered many consider A. bitaeniata tricky to work with and I had great success with my F0s and they are in the same clade. Is my confidence unreasonable? perhaps. am I buying 10 mendezi anyway? yes.

 

[Jonathan A]

There's also this breeding report from one of my local club members https://www.pvas.com/post/apistogramma-mendezi

 

[anewbie]

The problem is i'm more interested in detail behavior of the fishes then just breeding them. The more species I keep the differences i think i see in how they behave not just with themselves but also around other fishes. We talk generalities about polygamous m/f aggression but some species are distintinctly more aggressive than others. aquarium size makes a huge difference and I get that make sharing experiences harder. I have some species only aquariums and some mix aquariums. One negative is i keep the f1 for a long time (usually 12 to 18 months) which seem to retard future breeding. Conversely it takes for ever for the f1 to grow up. Certainly while young the frys seem to get along well enough (young here means 8 to 14 months old). Sadly when they hit puberty sometimes things get a bit messy a bit too fast.

 

[Ttw]

My experience with A. miua mirrors Mike's.

 

[Mike Wise]

Kind of want some blue elizabeth but they seem less common.

The only A. elizabethae that I would presently think about keeping is the form from the Rio Içana; a spectacular color variety. I guess after all of these years keeping apistos I've become a bit jaded.

 

[anewbie]

The only A. elizabethae that I would presently think about keeping is the form from the Rio Içana; a spectacular color variety. I guess after all of these years keeping apistos I've become a bit jaded.

Out of curiosity what colour ? Oh well i guess as having fewer years of fish keeping has allowed me to still enjoy the novelty of them.

 

[Mike Wise]

It is a bluish fish with a red/orange lower abdomen and red and blue metallic streaks in front of the suborbital band on the head.

 

[anewbie]

It is a bluish fish with a red/orange lower abdomen and red and blue metallic streaks in front of the suborbital band on the head.

I see the first one on tom's website.

 

[Mike Wise]

Yes, like that one but the stripes on the face are more blue and red horizontally striped. Actual photos of the Icana form are rare. I only know of 3. Matsuzaka 1996 shows a young male photographed by Sasaki and the DATZ book has a couple of photos by Koslowski.

 

[anewbie]

Yes, like that one but the stripes on the face are more blue and red horizontally striped. Actual photos of the Icana form are rare. I only know of 3. Matsuzaka 1996 shows a young male photographed by Sasaki and the DATZ book has a couple of photos by Koslowski.

How does this one compare:

Jimmy Reid Photography

Apistogramma elizabethae ♂️

www.facebook.com

 

[Mike Wise]

No, those are only blue stripes below the preorbital stripe on a typical red morph of A. elizabethae. The Icana form shows blue and red stripes below the preorbital stripe. Reid's fish is a good looking fish however, most likely from the Rio Uaupes.