Hello from the U.K

[Hooky]

Hi all,

I am looking forward to learning more about keeping & breeding Apistos from this forum. I have kept Apistos before but until recently after purchasing a pair of Borelli I have took a particular interest in these stunning little fish. I would like to know if my tap water will limit me to which species I am able to keep and most importantly breed?

Also are there any other members on the forum from the U.K?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,[QUOTE="Hooky, post: 105215, member: 17793".... I would like to know if my tap water will limit me to which species I am able to keep and most importantly breed? Also are there any other members on the forum from the U.K?[/QUOTE]That will be fine for most Apistogramma species, that is very soft water. If you look at your water report (from your water company) it will tell you the pH is pH7.8 or similar, but this is from a very small amount of added sodium hydroxide (NaOH) to raise the pH and stop the water picking up lead or copper from old pipes.

I live near Bath, where Apistogramma keeping is very much a minority interest (we have hard tap water) but there are more members in the NW where you have soft water from the Pennines (Manchester) or N. Wales (Liverpool).

cheers Darrel

 

[Hooky]

Thanks Darrel

I am from the Midlands and like you said my water comes from Wales. Once I have got my Borellii breeding and successful raising the fry, I want to try and work with some of the more challenging fish such as Abacaxis, Eremnopyge and Bitaeniata rio tigre. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Also where in the UK is best for WC apistos?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Thanks Darrel

I am from the Midlands and like you said my water comes from Wales. .........Also where in the UK is best for WC apistos?

<"Elan valley"> water, about as clean as you can get in the UK.

You could try Peter Clarke (@peterclarke666) in Chesterfield, he is probably your best bet. He is "Apisto.Aquatics" on facebook.

Tim Addis might be worth talking to as well, he runs <"TA Aquaculture"> and is based at Quinton B32 1JX.

Our local Maidenhead Aquatics gets in some SA imports, but I think this depends on the fish buyer.

cheers Darrel

 

[Hooky]

Tim Addis might be worth talking to as well, he runs <"TA Aquaculture"> and is based at Quinton B32 1JX.

cheers Darrel

TA Aquaculture is my local LFS I actually got my Borelli pair from Tim, I know he has had a few Czech bred fish but wasn't too sure if he could get WC / F1 fish. I will have to ask him next time I am at the shop.

I am looking to move my Borelli pair out of my main display tank as its currently more of an community tank at the moment, what tank size would you recommend for a pair for breeding purposes?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

TA Aquaculture is my local LFS I actually got my Borelli pair from Tim, I know he has had a few Czech bred fish but wasn't too sure if he could get WC / F1 fish. I will have to ask him next time I am at the shop.

I knew he'd come back from Malta, but I wasn't sure whether he was fully back up and running.

I am looking to move my Borelli pair out of my main display tank as its currently more of an community tank at the moment, what tank size would you recommend for a pair for breeding purposes?

It really depends how much cover you have. Because A. borellii is a small fish and pretty good natured you could probably go as small as a 18" x 12" floor print for a pair, height is really irrelevant, it is just floor area. You would need to remove the fry fairly quickly.

I like 24" (L) x 12" (W) tanks and I have a lot of structure in them (below). I like plants, but you can use more "structural leaf litter".

I had to use a 36' x 12" tank for Apistogramma trifasciata, even though it is another small species the males are much more ill tempered, and you need to keep more than one female for every male. I've never had any success with two males in the same tank, or with one male, two female harems, so you need to have three females for every male A. trifasciata and the females need about 12" x 12" as a territory with at least one cave in it.

cheers Darrel

 

[Hooky]

Are Borellii harem breeders? Can I get away with just a pair. I have noticed that the female has gone a lovely yellow colour (not sure if that's her breeding colouration or that she has just settled in to her new surroundings) and the male is constantly wriggling / flaring at her. I want to get them moved out and into a tank of their own.

 

[Ade205]

Hi Hooky. Great to see another uk apisto fan, I'm also in the midlands, near Burton upon Trent.

To best of my knowledge, and as Darrel has already mentioned, apisto aquatics in Chesterfield is very good and can hv some rare fish... even got their own app! Other than that I struggle to find apistos anywhere near me.

Good luck with your Borellii, it's truly amazing when apistos spawn and you get to see their amazing parental behaviour. The first time mum brings out the new crew is epic! Also, If you want to try Cacatuoides any time and your local enough, let me know, I've pretty much always got a couple of batches growing out that are free to a good home ☺

Ade.

 

[Hooky]

Thanks Ade

What form of Cacatuoides do you keep?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Are Borellii harem breeders? Can I get away with just a pair. I have noticed that the female has gone a lovely yellow colour (not sure if that's her breeding colouration or that she has just settled in to her new surroundings) and the male is constantly wriggling / flaring at her. I want to get them moved out and into a tank of their own.

They are harem breeders, but they are fine as a pair.

If the female is yellow and the male is showing her a lot of attention she is breeding condition, does she have a suitable cave? one with a narrow entrance? I use <"1/2 coconuts as caves">.

cheers Darrel

 

[Hooky]

Hi all, They are harem breeders, but they are fine as a pair.

If the female is yellow and the male is showing her a lot of attention she is breeding condition, does she have a suitable cave? one with a narrow entrance? I use <"1/2 coconuts as caves">.

cheers Darrel

There is a coco cave covered with some IALs in the one corner of the tank. I suspect that the tank is a bit too busy with the other fish in the tank at the moment for them to breed, and even if they do breed I dont think they would be able to successfully raise the fry with the other fish. I need to get another tank set up ASAP. I have some breeding tubs that I have used for various other fish that I was considering temporally moving them to, but haven't seen any apisto keepers use this method.

 

[Ade205]

Hi again! Currently I only have double Red Cacs. I've tried a little experiment... 3ft community, a few corys, shoal of Harlequins, shoal of dwarf rainbows, and two Cacatuoides... other than spot feeding bbs when theres fry I've not intervened in any way... there is now a colony of about 30 apistos in the tank! It's great to watch, no issues at all. Most fish as far as I can tell are 6 months old and about 4 months old with a few in between. Dispite the offspring now breeding also the numbers seem to have stabilised. I'll take a vid and post when I get chance...

Ade.

 

[Ade205]

Re caves, I've found females can be a bit picky about entrance size of the cave. Do you have a sand substrate? They need a substrate they can excavate easily. I find if I almost virtually bury the entrance in the sand the female will dig out or build up the entrance to a size of her liking. Think they feel more secure then. I had one female build a entrance up to the point where whenever she entered of exited her cave she had to wiggle completely on her side to do so as the gap was so narrow!

Ade.

 

[Hooky]

Well actually the fish haven't bothered with the cave since they have been in the tank, until this morning and now I think they might have spawned. The female has gone a more intense yellow and seems to be more aggressive and is chasing other fish away apart from the male. I am not hopeful of rearing any fry as its a busy tank with other fish.

 

[Ade205]

Sounds like you may hv eggs is the female spending most of her time in the cave now?

You may be surprised at how good they can be caring for and rearing their young! As said I've some cacs that have no trouble rearing 20 plus fry in a busy community. One thing I found out though was that mum needed a little light at night time to look after her fry so as Mike on here advised me, mite be worth popping a little night light close to the tank when tank lights go out.

Ade.

 

[Hooky]

Sounds like you may hv eggs is the female spending most of her time in the cave now?

You may be surprised at how good they can be caring for and rearing their young! As said I've some cacs that have no trouble rearing 20 plus fry in a busy community. One thing I found out though was that mum needed a little light at night time to look after her fry so as Mike on here advised me, mite be worth popping a little night light close to the tank when tank lights go out.

Ade.

Yes she is constantly in the cave, rarely ventures out unless there is food. She has been like this for 3 days now, but no sign of fry from what I can see although it is difficult to fully see inside her cave. If they have spawned and has eggs when should I expect to see free swimming fry?

Also am I able to raise the fry on target feeding microworm?