How fragile are apistos?

[Joshaeus]

Hi everyone! I am planning on getting Apistogramma borellii next month. However, I was chatting with another aquariumist today, and he acknowledged that he could never get his apistos to last more than a month before dying. My question is...how fragile are apistos (and A. borellii in particular)? I was going to keep a pair in a 10 gallon tank and do twice weekly 20% water changes. Thanks

 

[Mike Wise]

I presently have some 4 - 5 year old A. sp. abacaxis females and an A. bitaeniata male of the same age. If given the right conditions - and you buy good quality fish - they should live 2 - 3 years at least.

 

[Joshaeus]

Thank you

 

[Norman Fenske]

another key in keeping apisto's is water quality has to be on the soft side ( found that out the hard way )

 

[Bart Hazes]

Apistogramma come from a wide range of habitats and although some are sensitive many are much more tolerant. A. borellii for example comes from far South in South America where water temperature can range from tropical to well below room temp. Water conditions, salts and pH, are also variable in their natural habitat making them more tolerant than for instance some of the upper Rio Negro or Orinoco species that come for very soft acidic and often black water. Apistogramma trifasciata is found in the same waters as A. borelli, as is the less commonly available A. commbrae, and all are rather tolerant species. Some of the Apistos from the Andean foothills have also been found in the wild in water with pH well over 7 and they may experience seasonal swing between wet & dry season, again making them more tolerant. Then there are the cultivated strains like cacatuoides that are supposed to be well-adapted to tank conditions, although I don't have personal experience with them.

Apistos are not guppies and if you have hard and basic tap water you may need to stay away from some species. But otherwise I don't consider apistos to be fragile.

 

[yukondog]

I don't find them fragile at all, but I have soft water and have not kept that many different ones, only Hongsloi, Borellii, Cacatuid, Agassizii and Bitaeniata and have not had any problems other than loosing one of my male [Rostrich] Hongsloi to lock jaw last week and my male Borellii jumping out.