Favorite Apistogramma

[Don cheech]

What is your favorite Apisto
Mine are
A. Double red & Fire red
Macmasteri red shoulder
And others its tough to have a favorite there are just so many beautiful ones

 

[anewbie]

I'm not sure i have a favorite; but i am very pleased with a. lineta and a. sp winkelfleck. Not so much with a. ortegai - also the wc cockatoo are pretty nice but rather vicious.

 

[Mike Wise]

I would love to have A. wickleri again. It was a domestic strain of giant (4"+/10cm) very blue A. steindachneri. It hasn't been in the hobby since ~1980.

 

[Don cheech]

I would love to have A. wickleri again. It was a domestic strain of giant (4"+/10cm) very blue A. steindachneri. It hasn't been in the hobby since ~1980.

 

[MacZ]

I definitely have favourite dwarf cichlids. Obviously the whole genus of Dicrossus, but also Biotoecus and wild Mikrogeophagus.
If I was pressed to name a favouite Apistogramma though... A. elizabethae and A. ortegai probably.

 

[anewbie]

I definitely have favourite dwarf cichlids. Obviously the whole genus of Dicrossus, but also Biotoecus and wild Mikrogeophagus.
If I was pressed to name a favouite Apistogramma though... A. elizabethae and A. ortegai probably.

The wild caught blue rams i have are really colouring up nicely - to the extent i don't understand why people go for the 'german blue' variety.

 

[rasmusW]

Of the species i’ve kept, i have to say a. Baenschi and a. Atahualpa.
Beyond that there is too many beautiful fish to pick from.

-r

 

[anewbie]

By the way this is male a. lineta:

I believe there is another catch location that has a red version of this fish.

 

[Ttw]

Like Mike wickleri was a favorite. Also A. guttata.

 

[Frank Hättich]

By the way this is male a. lineta:

Your fish doesn't look like a typical A. lineata to me. Rather I believe that it's A. sp. Blutkehl which is also found in the Rio Atabapo.

 

[rasmusW]

Like Mike wickleri was a favorite. Also A. guttata.

A. guttata is on my wishlist…

-r

 

[anewbie]

Your fish doesn't look like a typical A. lineata to me. Rather I believe that it's A. sp. Blutkehl which is also found in the Rio Atabapo.

Jeff sold it as a. lineta but i wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Is there a significant difference in behavior ?

I see the lineta has more red in the face; i do have a 2nd male with a bit more red but nothing like the pictures. The fins look similar but not quite the same.

 

[Frank Hättich]

Jeff sold it as a. lineta but i wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Is there a significant difference in behavior ?

I see the lineta has more red in the face; i do have a 2nd male with a bit more red but nothing like the pictures. The fins look similar but not quite the same.

The main difference are the abdominal markings: lineata shows 3-4 rows of vertical streaks/oval blotches, whereas Blutkehl often shows darkend/blackend vertical bars below the lateral band (sometimes in addition zigzag stripes).
Moreover, if the caudal fin of your fish isn't completely patterned by vertical rows of narrow stripes, it's not lineata (from your picture, I can't see whether or not this is the case).

For comparison A. lineata:

A. sp. Blutkehl:

 

[KenL]

Of the Apistos I have kept in the past, I would say that nijsseni, panduro and steindachneri were my favourites.

 

[martin_c]

From the species i ever had myself, i'd also say A. elizabethae.

Some species i like but never had:
A. cf. flabellicauda
A. D12 ("Pacman")

 

[Jacobus]

For me the more lushly finned Apistogramma's that, according to me also have a typical friendly facial expression (if such exists): the iniridae group: uaupesi, flabellicauda, lineata, sp. Blutkehl, iniridae etc.

 

[firenzenz]

My favourite is probably the next one I get. Apistos are like a virus more than an infectious disease. Just when you think you’re cured a new strain appears and grabs you. I can’t believe after 20 yrs of keeping and breeding hem it’s taken me until recently to keep Borelli. So I guess they are current fave although Elizabethae is probably my dream fish as in NZ there is limited supply of apistos and a pair of Elizabethae would cost me about US$350.00 and forget about ever seeing wildcaught rarer species hete