Apistogramma Boroelli

[draavk]

Hey all... quick question (I wasn't able to find anything on Boroelli's on a search in this forum)

What would be the best #'s to keep of these little guys?
1M 1F, 1M 2F or perhaps even a reverse herium?

Also, will they accept flake food or do they need live?

Thanks for any responses!!

-Mike

 

[Moi_Eater]

Hi Mike,

Try doing a search again, there is a lot of info on this forum.

I believe it is spelled "borelli"

HTH

 

[draavk]

thanks... found a ton of information... I think I've seen the spelling both ways... I'll stick with yours though

-mike

 

[2la]

It's "borellii".

 

[Moi_Eater]

2la,
You're right, I forgot the second "i"
Thanks

 

[aspen]

imo, borelli's do better in smaller tanks with tetras etc, not other dwarfs. they are less agressive than most. i like the trio combo- m, f, f.

rick

(p.s., 'borelli' will definately yield the most results in a search)

 

[draavk]

this would be the only dwarf in the tank.

 

[2la]

You get all of 7% more hits using "apistogramma borelli" versus "apistogramma borellii" in Google (1,380 versus 1,290). The catch is, I'm more trusting of information taken from websites that have the wherewithal to spell the fish's name right :wink: (although the confounder here is that its common name is "Borelli's apisto," so you'll catch those websites as well using just one 'i'...). Just some food for thought.

 

[draavk]

have a pair now!!!

well the shipment finally came in and along with a few other club members we now have A. borelli

They look to be adjusting in the tank nicely... the female is SO tiny!!! They don't really have a defined "cave yet" as there are a few YoYo Loaches currently in the tank that "own" the current caves... There are a number of heavily planted sections that provide them cover.

Also the other interesting thing is they (both the male and the female) seem to of taken a slight interst in the American Flag-Fish pair in the tank... perhaps because they are similar looking... I figure the next thing I really should do is provide a bit more cover... so that they can hide if need be... the only thing I'm concerned about is if the female is to timid that she won't get any food :/

any ideas comments?

thanks all.

-mike

 

[Moi_Eater]

Hello Mike,

I had the same problem with one of my female A. viejitas. She was so small and would always hide or hang out on the bottom. I had to feed a little extra so some food would get past the other fish. Then she would get some as they dropped past her or she picked food off the gravel. The way I got her to be a little more aggressive when feeding is to feed some bbs. I squirted some near her and she ate ravenously. From then on she would come up nearer to the surface to eat no matter what type of food I fed. The thing I noticed with my sub-adult and adult fish is that the smaller ones have the advantage when I feed bbs versus pellets or flakes.

Hope this helps!

 

[Neil]

draavk,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

Sorry, I missed your greetings a couple of weeks ago!

 

[draavk]

no worries.. thanks. (side note, for some reason I'm not picking up the tags in messages... so isntead of a specific font/size/color... I see the tags...)


So... I have my 2 borellii in my community tank, and well for the most part the male and the female don't hang out much, if at ALL together.

I've found them both to be non-aggressive, to the point that they actually get minorly harassed. (key problem fish seems to be a female molly that harasses the male borelli)

Is this common behavior??? will the male/female eventually "find" each other?

There are quite a few hiding places and a lot of folliage that neither of them are skittish (which is suprising since the female is so small). I figured they would find a cave/hiding place and pretty much call it their own... but they haven't.

Will they?

-mike

 

[aspen]

hi mike. i have had rams get their fins ripped right off by an aff male, who had 'paired' with a female ram i had in the tank. i wouldn't keep them with any dwarfs, except maybe something as agressive as a viejita.

i find the borelli's to be the nicest dispositioned dwarfs i've ever kept, especially friendly, but not as rambuctious as rams. if the female is so small, she may have to grow out a bit to become sexually mature, and show her nice yellow colour to attract the male. when you see her in her yellow coat, then they will probably find a place to protect from the other fish.

be watchful of the tankmates you have in their, those borelli's are no match for an aff if he gets a mind to being nasty. borelli's are not too sturdy.

rick

 

[2la]

Rick, what do you mean by "aff"?

 

[draavk]

I was thinking the same thing what does "aff" mean? (another name for a ram?? or a different aggressive cichlid?)

right now there really isn't anything overtly aggressive in the tank.
(cory, yoyo loaches, neons, cherry barbs, oto cats, SAE, 1 molly, 2 american flag fish, female betta, male betta)
male betta I could see causing some trouble with the bright color of the Borelli but he's in an isolation box at the surface... the female betta has flared a few times at the male Borelli, but never nips.

The only chasing has been from the american flag fish and the female molly... and in both cases it's primarly towards the male.

I did notice that there is some really light yellow coloring on the finnage of the female... I take it as she becomes more and more mature that will brighten up/expand? how neat

thanks for the feedback thus far!

-mike

 

[radiodug]

American Flag Fish - AFF

 

[draavk]

ack!!!!

hm... ok, I might relocate the 2 AFF into a tank that has more alage in it anyways

I'd rather keep my main show tank peaceful to be able to watch the dwarves pair up and do their thing...

the AFF were to eat the alage (which they seem to be slacking with)

thanks for the AFF feedback!! and if I'm seeing even the female acting a bit aggressively then they definetly need to go (she nipped the tail of a yoyo loach for no reason last night... he was just peacefuly sleeping in a cave and she swam up and bit his tail1!)

 

[draavk]

just a few snapshots of my pair

-mike