- Messages
- 27
- Location
- Charlotte, NC
Does anyone here have first hand experience of keeping colonies of Apistogramma Cacautoides?
Here is a summary my brief experience…
I received 21 (6 M, 15 F) Apistogramma Cacautoides from Dave Soares 5-6 weeks ago. I specifically asked him to pick males from one batch and females from another to allow for stronger offspring. I have no interest in being a fish breeder, but will share any surviving offspring with members of my local fish club.
I was thrilled that I received 21 fish that all survived shipping and appeared to adapt to my tanks quite well. 2 trios (1 M, 2 F) were put in 20 gallon tanks in the house and the remaining 15 (4 M, 11 F) were put in a 125 Gallon tank in the fish room.
The 125 Gal contains: 15 Cockatoos, 1 Adult Female Ram, 20’ish Fancy Guppies, 12’ish Neons, 1 Black Ghost Knife, 4-5 Clown Loaches and a 5.5 inch Severum (oddly docile, he gets bullied by the 1.5 inch Female Ram who seems to want to mate with him… it’s hilarious). The colony of Apistos is my focus in the tank and any tank mates which challenge their well being will be transferred. I have plenty of other places to put them. I’ve lost 2 female Cockatoos so far to unknown reasons (aggression ruled out due to bodies being fully in tact).
Thus far the Males in the 20 Gallon tanks (which also house a few Fancy Guppies) have amazing coloration where the ones in the 125 are growing nicely, yet are a bit dull in color. The 20 Gals have dark sand (black in one, blue in the other) where the 125 gal has light tan sand. The over half of the females in the 125 Gal have ‘yellowed up’ yet the females in the 20 Gals haven’t. No one has shown signs of mating (I know they’re still young).
Both the 20 Gals and the 125 Gal are moderately planted, properly filtered and well maintained. All mentioned tanks have ample hiding areas as well as open area. PH is a high 6 in all tanks (I’m not a fan of altering PH and related parameters; this is what it comes out of my tap at). None of the mentioned tanks have shown any Ammonia or NitrIte since the Apistos have arrived and Nitrates rarely break 20ppm, never exceed 40ppm (I baby these tanks).
I’m thinking of swapping some females from the Colony with the females in the 20 Gals to allow the more brilliant colored males the best breeding opportunities. Good idea or not?
I suspect the males in the 20 Gals have better coloration due to the darker substrate and the fact there isn’t a massive Severum intimidating them (Again, the Sev shows zero aggression to anyone but I’m sure his size alone makes them leery. They do not seem to hide or run from him at all though). What other factors may impact their coloration?
Diet is my next question… they all live off of a frozen food diet (primarily bloodworm and Brine Shrimp with a couple ‘variety packs’ thrown in). I typically feed the Guppies and Neons a few flakes to offset their appetites when the frozen food hit’s the water. I’ve seen a couple of the Apistos in the 125 nibble at flakes but not much. Is this an ‘ideal’ diet for them? Without hatching baby brines is there anything I could do to enhance this diet?
Beyond that, I would like to hear anyone’s experience with keeping comparable Colonies of Cacautoides. I had a smaller group in a 55 Gal about a year ago and the largest male killed off the other 2 males and half of the females. I was leery of setting this tank up but was ready to give each male his own smaller tank to share with a few females. I hope to never have to do this but will if necessary.
I just wanted to give myself a chance to learn from others experiences and possibly share mine as well. I know this set up is too new to rely on it’s success thus far, but at the same time… so far so good!
Here is a summary my brief experience…
I received 21 (6 M, 15 F) Apistogramma Cacautoides from Dave Soares 5-6 weeks ago. I specifically asked him to pick males from one batch and females from another to allow for stronger offspring. I have no interest in being a fish breeder, but will share any surviving offspring with members of my local fish club.
I was thrilled that I received 21 fish that all survived shipping and appeared to adapt to my tanks quite well. 2 trios (1 M, 2 F) were put in 20 gallon tanks in the house and the remaining 15 (4 M, 11 F) were put in a 125 Gallon tank in the fish room.
The 125 Gal contains: 15 Cockatoos, 1 Adult Female Ram, 20’ish Fancy Guppies, 12’ish Neons, 1 Black Ghost Knife, 4-5 Clown Loaches and a 5.5 inch Severum (oddly docile, he gets bullied by the 1.5 inch Female Ram who seems to want to mate with him… it’s hilarious). The colony of Apistos is my focus in the tank and any tank mates which challenge their well being will be transferred. I have plenty of other places to put them. I’ve lost 2 female Cockatoos so far to unknown reasons (aggression ruled out due to bodies being fully in tact).
Thus far the Males in the 20 Gallon tanks (which also house a few Fancy Guppies) have amazing coloration where the ones in the 125 are growing nicely, yet are a bit dull in color. The 20 Gals have dark sand (black in one, blue in the other) where the 125 gal has light tan sand. The over half of the females in the 125 Gal have ‘yellowed up’ yet the females in the 20 Gals haven’t. No one has shown signs of mating (I know they’re still young).
Both the 20 Gals and the 125 Gal are moderately planted, properly filtered and well maintained. All mentioned tanks have ample hiding areas as well as open area. PH is a high 6 in all tanks (I’m not a fan of altering PH and related parameters; this is what it comes out of my tap at). None of the mentioned tanks have shown any Ammonia or NitrIte since the Apistos have arrived and Nitrates rarely break 20ppm, never exceed 40ppm (I baby these tanks).
I’m thinking of swapping some females from the Colony with the females in the 20 Gals to allow the more brilliant colored males the best breeding opportunities. Good idea or not?
I suspect the males in the 20 Gals have better coloration due to the darker substrate and the fact there isn’t a massive Severum intimidating them (Again, the Sev shows zero aggression to anyone but I’m sure his size alone makes them leery. They do not seem to hide or run from him at all though). What other factors may impact their coloration?
Diet is my next question… they all live off of a frozen food diet (primarily bloodworm and Brine Shrimp with a couple ‘variety packs’ thrown in). I typically feed the Guppies and Neons a few flakes to offset their appetites when the frozen food hit’s the water. I’ve seen a couple of the Apistos in the 125 nibble at flakes but not much. Is this an ‘ideal’ diet for them? Without hatching baby brines is there anything I could do to enhance this diet?
Beyond that, I would like to hear anyone’s experience with keeping comparable Colonies of Cacautoides. I had a smaller group in a 55 Gal about a year ago and the largest male killed off the other 2 males and half of the females. I was leery of setting this tank up but was ready to give each male his own smaller tank to share with a few females. I hope to never have to do this but will if necessary.
I just wanted to give myself a chance to learn from others experiences and possibly share mine as well. I know this set up is too new to rely on it’s success thus far, but at the same time… so far so good!
:wink: 
