Apistogramma viejita

[Robertb1979]

Hi People,
My local fish shop has some Apistogramma viejita for sale. All the pictures that I can find of these fish show them to have the blue metallic marbling on the face with red features starting behind the eyes and fading to blue down the body of the fish. The ones in the fish shop are all blue with a dark stripe running down the side of the body. They also have a vertical banding on some of the fish. They do look a lot like the first picture here http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?id=46716

These fish are only a little over an inch not including fins. There seams to be no sexual dimorphism in them. How do I tell the difference between the male and the females and what conditions would they do best in. I am relatively new to Apistogrammas so I would greatly appreciate the help.

Thanks

Rob

 

[Red Baron]

generally the male has more beautiful colors as compare to the female .

 

[Mike Wise]

I looked at the photos. The fish that looks most like the ones at your LFS are usually called "A. viejita Color Form II") this probably is a cross between several closely related species: A. macmasteri, A. sp. Rotflecken/Red-flecked, & A. viejita. They are fertile & very beautiful fish, so if you like them buy them. The true A. viejita is the bottom fish in the series (the displaying male with the black belly). The male directly above it is what A. viejita looks like in submissive moods. A. viejita always has red dorsal fin edges. The Color Form II often has dark gray dorsal edges, like A. macmasteri (if not crossed) & Red-flecked.

This fish will breed quite easily in slightly acid, moderately soft water (<10º dH). At 1"/2.5 cm they are usually too small to accurately sex, but the best chance of getting both sexes is to buy at least 2 that are the largest in the tank and 2 of the smaller (this excludes the super small runts that might be there, of course).

 

[Robertb1979]

Many thanks for the help

So to the best of your knowledge they are not a 'proper' species but a hybrid?
What are the down sides to this (thinking on the lines of parrot fish to weak strains of over bread Apistogramma cacatuoides). Most of the other fish keeper that i know are very against formation of hybrids.

Thanks again.

Rob

 

[Mike Wise]

This domestic CF II viejita is like the domestic red swordtail/helleri. It is a cross of closely related species that enhanced the red colors in the fish. Since the species used are so closely related, it has not harmed their fertility at all.