Apistogramma Borellii Breeding Diet

[quartz_aquatics]

I received my proven pair of borellis a week ago and I think they are ready to breed. Ive seen the male being flashy towards to female and he’s been hanging around one specific coconut cave that he keeps trying to lead her to. She looks like she’s been in her breeding colors since the day I received them. I was wondering what food I could feed them to speed up courtship. I’ve heard mixed opinions on bloodworms so I’ve been holding off on them. Ive been feeding BB shrimp, hikari cichlid gold and cichlid staple, shrimp pellets, algae wafers, and some random flakes. I plan on upgrading their main diet to NLS flakes (plz lmk if this is a good idea). Any tips that could help speed up the breeding process would be greatly appreciated

 

[MacZ]

For breeding conditioning drop the dry foods. Frozen or live Artemia (brine shrimp), daphnia, white mosquito larvae, black mosquito larvae, blackworms, tubifex.... That's what you need.

I received my proven pair of borellis

Sorry to say, but those are not Apistogramma borellii. Those are Apistogramma sp. "steel blue" a contender for being a hybrid. Nobody really knows what they actually are. Only thing that's certain: They do not occur in the wild.
If the "proven" concerns the "pair" - ok, all good and well. If it concerns the "borellii" part you've been ripped off.
Edit: Ah, I just saw others have told you already. Well then.

 

[Apistoguy52]

Fun fish. When I was maintaining this species, I had at least 3 generations that had eaten only BBS

 

[Ben Rhau]

Live BBS and/or grindal worms would be easiest for conditioning. But honestly they might just breed anyway.

 

[quartz_aquatics]

For breeding conditioning drop the dry foods. Frozen or live Artemia (brine shrimp), daphnia, white mosquito larvae, black mosquito larvae, blackworms, tubifex.... That's what you need.


Sorry to say, but those are not Apistogramma borellii. Those are Apistogramma sp. "steel blue" a contender for being a hybrid. Nobody really knows what they actually are. Only thing that's certain: They do not occur in the wild.
If the "proven" concerns the "pair" - ok, all good and well. If it concerns the "borellii" part you've been ripped off.
Edit: Ah, I just saw others have told you already. Well then.

Kind of upset that they’re not actually borellii’s but these guys are still stunning

 

[Ben Rhau]

My first apisto pair was sold to me as borellii and I thought they were steel blue. They turned out to be cf. resticulosa. which aren’t common and also not popular. I kept them for about a year and swapped them out for what became a dream species for me (Alto Tapiche). I got a lot of practice and learning from the first pair, though.

 

[quartz_aquatics]

My first apisto pair was sold to me as borellii and I thought they were steel blue. They turned out to be cf. resticulosa. which aren’t common and also not popular. I kept them for about a year and swapped them out for what became a dream species for me (Alto Tapiche). I got a lot of practice and learning from the first pair, though.

interesting. the seller is persistent on the fact that they’re borellii’s even though they aren’t. The female looks like a borellii though, what do you think? I have yet to find a picture of a female steel blue

 

[Ben Rhau]

@Frank Hättich would be the authority here, but they look like steel blue to me.

 

[Apistoguy52]

100% not borellii. 100% sp steel blue

 

[MacZ]

100% not borellii. 100% sp steel blue

Agree.

The female looks like a borellii though, what do you think?

Not a lot. Much too pronounced blue mask and at least in the perspective in the pictures the body is too elongated while also much more cylindrical.

I have yet to find a picture of a female steel blue

Female sp. Steel Blue & fry

I know they're supposedly hybrids, but I have Neanderthal DNA; I guess that makes me a hybrid too.

www.apistogramma.com

@Hellfishguy is still around here from time to time, he might be able to provide better pictures.

 

[Apistoguy52]

The female looks like a borellii though, what do you think?

Here’s a link to some reasonable pictures. Compare the black lateral band, and the black caudal spot of your fish to these pictures.https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-archives/apistogramma-borellii-wild/

 

[MacZ]

http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/Apistogramma_steel_blue1.pdf

Also of help maybe. I missed the link earlier in the dwarfcichlid.com-article

Apistogramma sp. "Steel Blue"

Information and photos of Apistogramma Steel Blue

www.dwarfcichlid.com

 

[Frank Hättich]

@Frank Hättich would be the authority here, but they look like steel blue to me.

Yes they are Steel-blue.

 

[Mike Wise]

Also the claim of "proven pair" is not exactly true either. Yes, they probably bred in the past, but both fish will breed with most other members of the opposite sex. The old saying "any port in a storm" comes to mind.

 

[quartz_aquatics]

Also the claim of "proven pair" is not exactly true either. Yes, they probably bred in the past, but both fish will breed with most other members of the opposite sex. The old saying "any port in a storm" comes to mind.

the previous owner said that the male killed like 6 other females and ended up pairing up with this one. I find that apistos and rams are way more picky about their mates than other cichlids so id say “proven pair” is pretty appropriate in this situation

 

[Ben Rhau]

the previous owner said that the male killed like 6 other females and ended up pairing up with this one.

We don't know the situation with the previous owner, but my guess is that the females that were killed simply weren't ready to breed, and the male tried to chase them out of his territory to make room for a female that was. That's a lot different from compatibility/pairing. The same pair can coexist if the female has a place to hide until she's ready to breed.

I find that apistos and rams are way more picky about their mates than other cichlids so id say “proven pair” is pretty appropriate in this situation

That behavior can't be generalized across the entire genus. The species most often attributed to the presumed "Steel Blue" hybrid are of the regani lineage, and as such are polygamous. i.e., they do not form bonded pairs.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

the previous owner said that the male killed like 6 other females and ended up pairing up with this one.

They are pretty aggressive. My Steel-Blue adventure <"ended in tears">, but before that I could see that they are much more aggressive than most Apistogramma spp.

....... I kept "Steel-Blue" for a while and in their case the dominant male was absolutely relentless in his pursuit of the sub-dominant, and if he caught up with him, he would go full-out to inflict as much damage as possible.....

and ended up pairing up with this one.

They aren't paired, that female was receptive, if she hadn't been, or when she isn't ready to spawn, the male will try to drive her out of his territory while he waits for another female to arrive, he doesn't know that there isn't another female. If she has nowhere to hide another death is likely.

edit: What @MacZ says

cheers Darrel