Apisto riparium

[prototop]

Trying out a few different swords.

Had a single female, from the last spawn posted above, that survived. Now old enough to bring out her own freeswimmers. They may try sooner, but this seems to be the age and size, in my experience, where a female can be expected to succeed in rearing her fry to a juvenile stage. No guarantee it will happen of course.

 

[skoram]

Stunning photos. the FTS above looks like an incredibly authentic biotope (not that I'm an expert). The fish must be extremely happy and are thus rewarding you with many fry.

 

[prototop]

Thanks skoram. Yeah, the tank has worked out quite well as a breeding tank. Been contemplating making a larger version in wood. See if I get around to it. So far this tank seems to be able to accommodate two breeding females. Although leaflitter is an excellent way of medigating aggression, three aggressive females gets too cramped.

Still a healthy amount of fry, a few days later.

 

[Mrs. Susie]

Gorgeous tank. Love ripariums. Any problems with fish jumping out of the tank? That would be my worry.

 

[prototop]

Thank you. I have lost a few tetras on that account, yes. But I think it has alot to do with how safe the fish feel. With a dark substrate and alot of floating plants to hide underneath, it doesn't happen as often as one might think. I would not however, keep copellas or hatchetfish in a tank like this. None of the apistos have jumped out so far.

Right now most of the plants have been cut back, in order to give the new swords a chance to grow.

And still a good number of fry growing larger.

 

[madilynbo]

This tank is such an inspiration! Just lovely!

 

[Karin]

I love this thread!

 

[prototop]

Thank you madilynbo & Karin. I'll post some pictures of the tank, when the plants have grown in a bit more.

I think there are 4-5 juveniles, that have reached a somewhat safe size. Ironically, their biggest theat now is their mother guarding a new batch of eggs. But with these little fryhunters around, her raising any more fry is probably out of the question.

 

[Karin]

Prototop, how many fishes do you have in 85L including the cacs? Love your tank!

 

[prototop]

As of right now, I have a pair of cacs, plus five black neons.

 

[Karin]

Thank you... I am redoing my 80L tank, and planning on three Carnegiella and a pair of cacs. Like your tank a lot.

 

[prototop]

Sounds good! I hope you'll share it on the forum, once it gets under way. I am by no means an expert, but I'll gladly give a few pointers, if possible.

 

[Karin]

Absolutely!!! Thanks, I ll wait for your comments!

 

[rr16]

This is looking good. Experimenting with a bit of a riparium myself at the moment, but it's much more heavily stocked and heavily filtered (and a bigger tank - around 250-300). I like the way they evolve over time and can look completely different from one month to the next.

 

[prototop]

Hey rr16, I'm looking forward to seeing how your tank comes along. And you're absolutely right, the look of the tank changes alot over time. Even though it might not look that appealing at times, having patience and allowing the tank to evolve, often means I have something more interesting to look at, then anything I could've planned out myself.

 

[rr16]

Hey rr16, I'm looking forward to seeing how your tank comes along. And you're absolutely right, the look of the tank changes alot over time. Even though it might not look that appealing at times, having patience and allowing the tank to evolve, often means I have something more interesting to look at, then anything I could've planned out myself.

Don't know if I've put any pics on here yet. Built a hood with a viewing window but it gets condensed up.

 

[prototop]

I thought you meant the tank in this thread http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/threads/5-foot-biotopish.19122/

Regardless, I hope you are able to fix the issue and we get to see the result

 

[rr16]

Turns out I did post it. Just updated it with some photos from my phone.

 

[Larry Rogers]

Hi all,
Lovely tank, I really like ripariums. Have a look at these threads on the UKAPS forum: <http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/208l-high-humidity-riparium.24238/#post-248568> & <http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/toms-bucket-o-mud-rare-update.14521/> You might like the Echinodorus in the second one.

Get some caves, I like the 1/2 coconut with a notch cut out. It can be a small notch, as the male doesn't have to physically enter the cave to fertilise the eggs.
I agree about the quarantine, but they are a good dither/target fish for A. cactuoides, and I used them a lot.

Do you know what the fern in front of the Nephrolepis is? is it Phlebodium aureum? If it is it doesn't like being wet all the time.

cheers Darrel

I use a three inch piece of pvc pipe 1 1/4 inch thinwall. Easily concealed, easily sterilized,and cheap so if it becomes compromised you throw it out. two more females and another male might solve aggression problem with male towards females. If he is constantly competing and breeding he has no time for domestic disputes.

 

[prototop]

@Larry Rogers Right now I'm using small tinted glass bottles. Dont know if they get too small for a fully grown female, but they seem to fit them for now. And there are a few alternatives in the tank.

The top of the tank have grown in a bit, and although I'm compromising with the biotope aspect, I have put in what I believe to be a Muehlenbeckia, which seem to be doing well and filling in the space between the other plants.

Out of, as far as I can tell, seven fry in all, one of them has turned out to be a male.

I'm a bit concerned about inbreeding at this point, since the last spawn was parent x offspring, and the one before was sibling x sibling. So, I might try and see if I can catch him, along with a few females, and replace them with a new male.