Apistogramma eremnopyge "fresa"

[PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn]

anything to know specifically about them

I found out their from Rio Itaya, but that's about it, been looking for other fish found around there but found very little (2 plecs (Panaque changae, Pseudohemiodon sp. `marbled` and a killifish species (Aphyolebias sp. "Rio Itaya"))

currently have 7 in a 10g tank quarantining, they were an impulse buy at the BCA convention, because I didn't want to come home with nothing (came back with 3 BN plecs (1 of which jumped out of the tiniest gap, so only 2 now) 3 Nannacara taenia and 7 Apistogramma eremnopyge "fresa")

 

[bigbird]

Morning,

Well sounds like a good buy that you have. This is a relative new apisto, so maybe also post photos of your purchase, just in case. My suggestion would be too look at the web page http://www.cichlidae.info/gallery/country.php?id=pe
there you can find list of native and endemic fish of Peru.
have fun and hope this helps
cheers jk :biggrin:

 

[PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn]

well not complaining given I paid 4-5 quid for 7 ($8-10)

their still little (maybe an inch) so not a lot of colour, there is a definite stripe, and their eating well (NLS 1mm cichlid formula, use it in all my tanks)

only thing is I'm going to have to treat 1 of the nannacaras as it seems to have developed fungus (though seems a little denser than normal fungus) on the end of the dorsal (must have been some fighting going on that I didn't see) so going to get some melafix and primafix tomorrow

need to get them into a better tank, with plants (just a little java moss currently) and need to get some peat and leaf litter to provide tannins and some cover

also, what size tank should they end up in, currently in a 10g.

they were in Mark Breeze's lots (microman I think) marked in the auction list as F1

 

[Microman]

Yes my fish indeed...
A eremnopyge have been in the UK for a good few years since its first importation into the UK in 2003 and its a species that i have had in my aquaria and bred on many occasions.
Your fish are F1 from wild... pretty poor pic of the parents below.
Mark...

 

[PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn]

I notice you have a sponge filter on there as well as sand, any issues withh blue-green algae. its starting to develop now in the tank with them in (normally I keep the tanks bare bottomed, however felt it would benefit to have sand for these)

I know with increased circulation (internal filter) that the levels would decrease or vanish, however not sure how the fish would react.

btw what size tank you got yours in. noticed a 33"*12 tank in the papers today. which I might see about picking up, would that be big enough for all 7 if it were fairly heavily planted

 

[Apistomaster]

As you described your fish's situation the first things that popped into my fish brain was tank too small and water quality was a problem.
Apistogramma always do better in the largest possible size tank you can provide them. I try to encourage people to not go by how small Apistos are but rather, imagine they are a four inch Cichlid and choose the tank sized accordingly.
I am thinking your fish need a larger aquarium, better filtration and much improved water conditons..

 

[Zack Wilson]

It seems a little unlikely that the fungus on the front of the dorsal would have merely resulted from a scuffle, though it's possible. As Apistomaster said, though, this points to water quality issues. Generally you don't see fungus unless water quality is deteriorating and the spores are plentiful. Then they make take advantage of an injury. If the tank is new and so heavily stocked, you may be seeing the results of the tank breaking in. This is also additional stress on the fish. Treat the symptom and the cause, in this case. If you can remove the fish in need of medication, it would be best for the other fish. It's hard with such small fish, but topical treatment of the wound is also nice when possible.

Eremnopyge are much like bitaeniata in care. They can be shy at first and will generally be a little more challenging than some other typical apistos. Soft water with a low pH is certainly in line with their liking. Typical dwarf cichlid fare, warm, clean water, and Bob's your uncle.

My eremnopyge started breeding for me when I softened the water up (no detectable hardness), pH dropped to mid fours, temp 79F. Once they started they wouldn't quit. As always lots of food makes for fat, happy, breeding fish.

 

[chris1932]

This is one of the first Apistogramma that put in an leaf litter tank. I was concerned that they wouldnt do well, and I didnt see very much of them for around a month or so. All of the food I put in was eaten when I checked back daily. It struck me as odd when the female came around parading an impressive group of fry "75 strong" right in front of the tank. They are the least demanding of the wilds I have kept in terms of time to spawn. I have them in 12x24x13 fifteen gallon tank with a large chunk of driftwood and five to six inches of uncompressed oak, beech, and almond leaves. There is a Hydro number 3 sponge filter with the uplift tube trimmed just shy of the waters surface and a heater set at 77f. The tank gets only ambient light from the 150 gallon tank across from it. They are fed blackworms, daphnia, bbs, microworms, and cyclops. The water in the tank has no detectable hardness or alkylinity, low tds around 23moh and resistivity of 45-50. The pH is between 4.5-5.5 depending on how well the blackwater filter decides to work. They are happy little fish and are getting more personable as time goes on.

Chris

 

[Apistomaster]

I always use at least some fine sand substrate in Apistogramma tanks. They like to sift it and I just seem to have better results. Only a few spp, A. borelli, are some I have bred in a bare tank except for potted and floating plants, driftwood and a cave.

I haven't tried leaf litter much except when I had a pair of wild A. nissenji that spawned three times but never raised any fry. I tried oak leaves over the thin quartz sand, pH 5.0 and RO water.