Apistogramma viejitas....What can you tell me about them?

[cmoreash]

I am setting up a 10 gallon tank for a pair of apistos, and I am curious about apistogramma viejitas. What can everyone tell me about them? I have had a lot of trouble finding info online.

-How easy are they to breed?
-How is aggression compared to other apistos?
-Do you need to split up the pair before/after spawning?
-What are suitable tankmates?
-What kind of water parameters are necessary?
-How hardy are they, and what is their lifespan?
-How do you sex them?

Thank you for any help you can give me. Cacatuoides are still my first choice for this tank, but I might change my mind depending on how these are. They are sooo beautiful! Well thank you again.

cmoreash

 

[rocketman]

hello, i will add 1 answer to your questions. i have a pair of viejita's that are spawning. when the female lays the eggs and the male fertilizes them,i move the male to the other side of my divided 20 long. the female i noticed after spawning gets real aggressive and the male ends up on top of the water hiding. they have spawned 3 times and every time i introduce the male back to her, everything is fine until spawning occurs again.this is my experience with them.
take care.

 

[Neil]

cmoreash,

-How easy are they to breed?

They are a soft, acidic water fish (5.5pH, 2GH) that are not the easiest fish on the block! But they aren't the toughest either!

-How is aggression compared to other apistos?

They are small, but pretty tough, especially to each other.

-Do you need to split up the pair before/after spawning?

I don't! If you give them adequate hiding spots and a large enough tank, they should be fine. But it is always a good idea to keep a close eye on things after spawning. Male aggressive before, female aggressive after.

-What are suitable tankmates?

That kind of depends on tank size and whether they breed or not. Tetras are always a good choice to keep them feeling secure and in the open more.

-What kind of water parameters are necessary?

Soft, acidic and CLEAN water. temp at 79-80 degrees.

-How hardy are they, and what is their lifespan?

They are not one of the hardiest apistos around, but given the proper conditions they will be fine. If you have them for 2 years, I would consider it a success.

How do you sex them?

The males will develop extentions on the dorsal and anal fins. Depending on the form that you have they may well be an upper and lower edging of red on the caudal fin. Males will be bigger (7cm), females will be smaller (4-5cm) when they are full-grown. But the sure fire way is when they spawn the female gets a very! yellow and black color pattern.

Good luck, Neil

 

[cmoreash]

another question: pricing

Alright, so how would i go about removing fry if necessary? Do they lay the eggs on objects, leaves, or just on the substrate (i know they like caves to lay the eggs in) thank you

 

[Neil]

cmoreash,
Like all Apistogramma, they are cavity or cave spawners. This means that, given the choice, they will lay their eggs inside or underneath something. However, they will lay on leaves or even the glass. If you give them a movable cave, it will be easy to transfer to a different tank, but you could also move an entire plant or cut the leaf off that they spawn on.