Apistogramma rositae

[rasmusW]

Hi all!

A month or so ago i got 4 of these. I think I got two pairs but they quickly went into hiding and first started to come out a couple of weeks later. Sadly i haven’t seen the second female, so i assume she is dead.

On a happier note, the other female brought out her first batch of free swimming fry today.
Here’s a few pictures. I’ll take propper pictures next time.

-r

 

[illumnae]

Awesome, it's rositae breeding season. Mine are raising fry too!

 

[timleming]

Hi all!

A month or so ago i got 4 of these. I think I got two pairs but they quickly went into hiding and first started to come out a couple of weeks later. Sadly i haven’t seen the second female, so i assume she is dead.

On a happier note, the other female brought out her first batch of free swimming fry today.
Here’s a few pictures. I’ll take propper pictures next time.
View attachment 17356View attachment 17357View attachment 17358View attachment 17359View attachment 17360

-r

Females can be very aggressive at times . Mine killed all 6 pencilfish.

 

[anewbie]

Females can be very aggressive at times . Mine killed all 6 pencilfish.

Yes women are meanie.

 

[martin_c]

Females can be very aggressive at times . Mine killed all 6 pencilfish.

Sry for spoiling the mood, but sentences like "my Apisto killed xy.." always trigger me.
If an apisto kills another fish for territorial reasons then it either took at least days of ignoring it and not intervening (by removing the hunted fish) or if it took only hours the tank was undersized and understructured to begin with.

 

[anewbie]

Sry for spoiling the mood, but sentences like "my Apisto killed xy.." always trigger me.
If an apisto kills another fish for territorial reasons then it either took at least days of ignoring it and not intervening (by removing the hunted fish) or if it took only hours the tank was undersized and understructured to begin with.

In a 20 long there was not enough seperation and my a. sp bluketa (similar to lineta) viciously attacked the Nannostomus mortenthaleri I had in the aquarium. I moved mine over to a 65 which was 18 inches tall (not the bluketa but the dithers); but i could see how it could quickly transition from peaceful to dead dither in a short period of time. Esp since they might get alone fine for months and upon breeding the situation changes in hours. Even in a 40b i've had some of the more defensive females attack dithers of all sort.

 

[Cockatoofreak]

In a 20 long there was not enough seperation and my a. sp bluketa (similar to lineta) viciously attacked the Nannostomus mortenthaleri I had in the aquarium. I moved mine over to a 65 which was 18 inches tall (not the bluketa but the dithers); but i could see how it could quickly transition from peaceful to dead dither in a short period of time. Esp since they might get alone fine for months and upon breeding the situation changes in hours. Even in a 40b i've had some of the more defensive females attack dithers of all sort.

Aren't these pencil fish known for inhabiting the lower reaches of a tank and preying on fry? Got me wondering if my "hockey Stick" (on order) will be safe...?

 

[anewbie]

Aren't these pencil fish known for inhabiting the lower reaches of a tank and preying on fry? Got me wondering if my "hockey Stick" (on order) will be safe...?

I'm not sure that is true - i've heard different things - certainly i was able to raise between 20 and 40 frys without any noticeable losses - they might be opportunistic. As for lower reaches i was watching one of my n. marginatus poke around the substrate this morning for bits of food so there is that data point - of course the mortenthaleri are quite a bit larger with larger mouths.
--
In truth going forward i only have one small population of morthenthaleri left and they are aging out so not sure i will be able to comment in the future (they are with the d39 in a 65). I thought i had 15 left but the count is much smaller - in truth they seem to have a shorter life span than some of the other species such as marilyn and unifasciatus or maybe they were just old when i received them.

 

[Cockatoofreak]

I'm not sure that is true - i've heard different things - certainly i was able to raise between 20 and 40 frys without any noticeable losses - they might be opportunistic. As for lower reaches i was watching one of my n. marginatus poke around the substrate this morning for bits of food so there is that data point - of course the mortenthaleri are quite a bit larger with larger mouths.
--
In truth going forward i only have one small population of morthenthaleri left and they are aging out so not sure i will be able to comment in the future (they are with the d39 in a 65). I thought i had 15 left but the count is much smaller - in truth they seem to have a shorter life span than some of the other species such as marilyn and unifasciatus or maybe they were just old when i received them.

Anyone have any experience on this with "hockey Stick" pencil fish?

 

[Ben Rhau]

By "hockey stick" I assume you're referring to either N. eques or unifasciatus. It's thought that the adaptation to swimming at an oblique angle is to provide an advantage for feeding at the surface. I've kept N. unifasciatus, and they mostly fed at the surface, but could be coaxed to come lower if there were worms at the bottom.

In general, I think you can likely keep any pencil fish with apistos and not be concerned about fry predation. Any fish will opportunistically consume a fry if it wanders away from safety. But in general, most pencil fish have been observed to be timid with aggressive species like Apistogramma. The one species that has been mentioned to be more a aggressive fry predator is N. beckfordi, but I don't have experience with them. Others have kept them successfully with apistos.

 

[Cockatoofreak]

It's N. eques I have on order. They seem better for dwarf cichlid dither fish.

I already have 10 to 12 Cardinals and Harlequins but they hog all the food and could be a problem with attacking fry. I don't know if I should rehome them and just stick with the N. eques?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Sorry if I hijacked...Maybe I should post my own thread???

...Jim

 

[anewbie]

It's N. eques I have on order. They seem better for dwarf cichlid dither fish.

I already have 10 to 12 Cardinals and Harlequins but they hog all the food and could be a problem with attacking fry. I don't know if I should rehome them and just stick with the N. eques?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Sorry if I hijacked...Maybe I should post my own thread???

...Jim

I've been told by many cardinals will hunt frys.

 

[Cockatoofreak]

I've been told by many cardinals will hunt frys.

Me too! My main concern is them grabbing food before the dwarf cichlids have a chance at it. Same goes for the Harlequins. They will go to their own tank or be rehomed depending on how much room I have for them. Too bad...they are healthy and very attractive.

 

[rasmusW]

Thanks all!

It’s great to hear you/others have succes in keeping these absolutely beautiful fish.
They have been on my top 5, wishlist for a long time.

As for dithers. I have briefly kept n. Eques and didn’t see any “warning signs” of keeping them with apistos.
But personally my “go to” will always be n. Marginatus. It’s beautiful, fun to watch and little to none fry predation.

-r

 

[anewbie]

Marginatus are certainly a lovely option and i also greatly enjoy marilyn which are very peaceful but not as colourful:

The Marginatus as you can see is a bit bold and have no problem in lower water - the marilyn are a bit shier and tend to stay a bit higher.

 

[Apistonaut]

All fish are opportunistic, but most Nannostomus variety are poor predators of fry. They almost universally have small upturned mouths to predate on small surface insects, etc. They may pick at organics towards the bottom, but this is more or less incidental or if all of your foods sink.

I've never heard of Nannostomus being ejected by a female Apistogramma in larger tanks.

 

[Apistonaut]

It's N. eques I have on order. They seem better for dwarf cichlid dither fish.

I already have 10 to 12 Cardinals and Harlequins but they hog all the food and could be a problem with attacking fry. I don't know if I should rehome them and just stick with the N. eques?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Sorry if I hijacked...Maybe I should post my own thread???

...Jim

The work it's going to take for the parents to maintain territory from a dozen+ tetra/rasbora will stress them to failure. There won't be a successful clutch and the shoalers will really suffer, too.

The female may reject the eggs and try again until she metabolically exhausts.

At some point, the male and female will be aggressive with each other after too many failed attempts. If even one parent is unable or not ready to breed, they will be subject to aggression without enough space.

 

[Cockatoofreak]

The work it's going to take for the parents to maintain territory from a dozen+ tetra/rasbora will stress them to failure. There won't be a successful clutch and the shoalers will really suffer, too.

The female may reject the eggs and try again until she metabolically exhausts.

At some point, the male and female will be aggressive with each other after too many failed attempts. If even one parent is unable or not ready to breed, they will be subject to aggression without enough space.

Thanks for the additional info regarding the end results of keeping the tetras/rasboras. That gives me more reasons to move them out and get the pencil fish.

I also, unfortunately, have more time to do so. FedEx was supposed to deliver my dwarf cichlids next day air, which was this morning. They just sent an update cancelling that and saying they will deliver Friday, the 26th. So that makes three days to make it from Florida. As the old saying goes, "I have a bad feeling about this"...

 

[Apistonaut]

Thanks for the additional info regarding the end results of keeping the tetras/rasboras. That gives me more reasons to move them out and get the pencil fish.

I also, unfortunately, have more time to do so. FedEx was supposed to deliver my dwarf cichlids next day air, which was this morning. They just sent an update cancelling that and saying they will deliver Friday, the 26th. So that makes three days to make it from Florida. As the old saying goes, "I have a bad feeling about this"...

Just be thankful your UPS/Fedex facilities/trucks aren't -20f, haha! Hoping for the best!

 

[Cockatoofreak]

Just be thankful your UPS/Fedex facilities/trucks aren't -20f, haha! Hoping for the best!

The best just happened...they were delivered and hour ago and are raring to go. Fedex doesn't know what they are doing...