Finally found a store that had Apistogramma in stock!

[d6s]

2 days ago, my wife and I went to Londontowne Tropicals in Edgewater, MD. I was finally able to see some Apistogrammas in person and picked up a beutiful pair of Agassizii 'Blue Flame'

They are in my quarantine tank now and will be transferred to my 36 gallon tank when the time comes.

Any advice would be helpful! so far I have dropped in some fluval bug bites and they loved them.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

........ Picked up a beutiful pair of Agassizii 'Blue Flame'

They are in my quarantine tank now and will be transferred to my 36 gallon tank when the time comes.

Any advice would be helpful! so far I have dropped in some fluval bug bites and they loved them.

Congratulations.

In terms of advice, a lot is going to depend on what your tank is like, so can we have a picture?

Cheers Darrel

 

[d6s]

Hi all,

Congratulations.

In terms of advice, a lot is going to depend on what your tank is like, so can we have a picture?

Cheers Darrel

Here is my display tank. 36 gallon bow front currently with 2 sword tails, 8 black skirt tetras, 6 panda Cory’s, and 3 mystery snails.

The apisto pair is in my quarantine tank. The male is very active all the time and the female likes to hide. She is now laying on the bottom in a quite peculiar way so I’m keeping my eye on here. Parameters are looking okay though so I hope she’s okay.

 

[MacZ]

The apisto pair is in my quarantine tank. The male is very active all the time and the female likes to hide. She is now laying on the bottom in a quite peculiar way so I’m keeping my eye on here. Parameters are looking okay though so I hope she’s okay.

She's a goner. Sorry. Doubt she'll make it, even if you give her something to hide in quarantine (which is advisable). And I recommend NOT getting another one. Please read on why.

Which is luck in bad luck: Your tank is not suitably decorated for dwarf cichlids. One can easily look under or behind the rocks and the wood. That means the fish couldn't evade each other. The female would be chased to death in that setting or in the unlikely case of her making it and spawning she'd be chasing him. You'd need to rearrange so the wood and rooks form sight barriers, glass to glass.

There are certain other issues (other bottom dwellers, small footprint, probably rocks raising hardness/pH...), but I don't want to curb your enthusiam completely.

So without these issues dissolved I'd at best add a single male and that's it.

 

[d6s]

She's a goner. Sorry. Doubt she'll make it, even if you give her something to hide in quarantine (which is advisable). And I recommend NOT getting another one. Please read on why.

Which is luck in bad luck: Your tank is not suitably decorated for dwarf cichlids. One can easily look under or behind the rocks and the wood. That means the fish couldn't evade each other. The female would be chased to death in that setting or in the unlikely case of her making it and spawning she'd be chasing him. You'd need to rearrange so the wood and rooks form sight barriers, glass to glass.

There are certain other issues (other bottom dwellers, small footprint, probably rocks raising hardness/pH...), but I don't want to curb your enthusiam completely.

So without these issues dissolved I'd at best add a single male and that's it.

Here’s a better shot of the QT tank. She was more active this morning, swimming around and what not.

The main tank does have barriers to almost the full front and back of the tank, where the rocks end, there are plants and gaps in the wood have rocks in the way. At least on the bottom 6 inches or so. Multiple caves as well.

I’m hoping for the best and I’m sure they’d do just fine in the tank.

 

[MacZ]

The main tank does have barriers to almost the full front and back of the tank, where the rocks end, there are plants and gaps in the wood have rocks in the way. At least on the bottom 6 inches or so. Multiple caves as well.

If I can look through to the back glass on a foto, it doesn't cut it. Go down to the eye level of the fish and tell me you have completely blocked sight. Also caves are worthless. Especially if they only have one entry point. Dark holes mean predators in nature. Dwarf cichlids avoid that.

Be prepared to rework the tank. Really, be prepared for that.

 

[d6s]

If I can look through to the back glass on a foto, it doesn't cut it. Go down to the eye level of the fish and tell me you have completely blocked sight. Also caves are worthless. Especially if they only have one entry point. Dark holes mean predators in nature. Dwarf cichlids avoid that.

Be prepared to rework the tank. Really, be prepared for that.

She’s doing much better tonight. Added some aquarium salt as a precaution as it has helped me with other fish in the past and she was slightly more perky this morning and much much more active when I got back from work this evening. Hoping she can keep this up.

As for the tank, I will see how things go, I can definitely re-do my tank but I’ve slowly been building it the way it is to have broken sightlines and cracks and crevices throughout for hiding and a few caves if they decide to breed.
My plants were initially slow to take off but the addition of CO2 has helped tremendously.

Now if I can just figure out how to drop my KH numbers I’d be happy.

 

[MacZ]

As for the tank, I will see how things go, I can definitely re-do my tank but I’ve slowly been building it the way it is to have broken sightlines and cracks and crevices throughout for hiding

I understand you have put effort in, but I still think you looked too much from the human perspective. Hope it doesn't bite you back, as it will probably the combination with the Corydoras.

Now if I can just figure out how to drop my KH numbers I’d be happy.

Use RO, distilled or rainwater to dilute or as the only source water. And removal of limestones.

Good luck then.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

As for the tank, I will see how things go, I can definitely re-do my tank but I’ve slowly been building it the way it is to have broken sightlines and cracks and crevices throughout for hiding and a few caves if they decide to breed.

You just need a lot more plants and cover. This is the top view of my kitchen tank, but it is pretty much full of plants, wood and structural leaf litter.

and these are Ruby Tetra (Axelrodia riesei) that reside in the tank. It doesn't have any Apistogramma at the moment, but when it does? It doesn't look any different.

My plants were initially slow to take off but the addition of CO2 has helped tremendously.

You don't actually need CO2, plants can only make use of the extra carbon if all the other essential nutrients for plant growth are available. I'm not a CO2 user, but I'm a great advocate of planted tanks.

Now if I can just figure out how to drop my KH numbers I’d be happy.

Use RO, distilled or rainwater to dilute or as the only source water. And removal of limestones.

That one. I'm a rain water user, but it rains a lot in the UK.

cheers Darrel

 

[anewbie]

Having run several aquariums with co2; the longest for 5 years; i'm mixed and when i moved i decided to mostly do away with co2. It does create a few problems - very few of the plants i buy actually require co2 to grow well - and without co2 they just grow slower which is fine - it gives me more time to do other things than manage over grown plants. I did turn co2 on the 550 but have been slowly reducing it with the intention of eventually turning it off - you can't just turn things off right away as it creates a nasty imbalance but i hope doing it slowly will allow the plants to adjust without the shock of going to zero instantly.