Hello from Columbus, Ohio

[PhishyPhysics]

I've recently graduated, and now I have free time to dedicate to my fish! Very excited to get the ball rolling again! For the past 8-10 years I have had on and off luck with A. cacatuoides. Good parents, bad parents, clean tanks, dirty tanks... I've had it all it seems. My current challenge is a difficult reverse trio of F1s that are refusing to spawn for me, but I will not give up! I still have more tricks up my sleeve!

These little dudes are hard to come by here in Central Ohio. Something about hard water and all that. I'm hoping to use this community as a good source for stock and advice.

Other fish I am having success with right now are German Blue Rams and Kyoga Flamebacks.

In the future I would like to expand my Apisto collection to include bitaeniata (preferably Rio Tigre or Tefe) and trifasciata.

 

[OGNickyB]

hey there--another Columbus fella here. have you found anywhere around here with Apistos available? looking to populate a tank with a pair or a trio. any help appreciated.

 

[Josh]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[PhishyPhysics]

Josh: Thank you!

OGNickyB: In retail stores I have only seen them at Aquarium Adventures, and usually their orders have only been double red male Agassizii.

All of my stock have come from the local club CAFE (highly recommend you join), online orders, or from other club auctions. I had the fortune this past fall of being able to attend the Columbus, Cincinnati, and Akron auctions.

Including myself, there are about 3-4 people I know of that have an interest in Apistogramma in Columbus. All of them are CAFE members.

In the Cincinnati club (GCAS) there is one maybe two breeders of Apistogramma. The one gentleman has the username eric_from_richwood. He produces excellent cacatuoides.

Heads up: It took me quite a few months to find apistogramma locally here in Columbus, but if you stick with it something will show up. If you want a rare or unusual species your best bet is online such as aquabid, or direct from breeders such as Ted Judy. Hope this helps!

 

[OGNickyB]

Thanks for the heads up! I know Garrett and Jeremy, so I'll check in with them. I worked at Aquarium Adventure for a couple of years ... so I like to avoid that place; I know their margins haha. As an aside, if you're looking for a good LFS in Columbus now, Rivers to Reefs just opened at Morse and Cherry Bottom, so check it out if you haven't already. I was really just hoping to acquire a captive bred pair from a local hobbyist in this case, since they generally seem to be the hardiest specimens in my experience, plus their having been reared in the local water is a real plus.

Just looking for bitaeniata or viejita, but I'd happily settle for cacatuoides if that's all that can be found.

If you ever have some fry you want to offload, hit me up! To that tune, I might have some plants from time to time as well, if you're interested.