I did it….

[rasmusW]

No, no… i did not get a new tank, breeding fish nor my number 1 “wishlist fish”…
Nope… -i finished browsing through all of the 228 pages in the “apistogramma” subsection on this magnificent forum..
-talking about using your summer holliday in style…

I’m not sure why i felt the urge to tell you guys this, but i did.
There is a lot of great threads in that back catalogue. It was fun reading posts from back when A. baenschi, was the new kid on the block and the introduction of mr. Wise. Just to name a few.
I would have loved if all the image links still worked.

A few questions.. -if you don’t mind.
Was it easier to get apistos as bycatches in the stores say, 10 years ago? I don’t think i have ever seen that around here.. ofcause there could be many reasons for that.

It also feels like there where more species to choose from..? maybe there where a club auction culture.. again, not really sure how that works nowadays, set COVID-19 aside.

last but not least, if you are new to apistos (-like i still feel i am), i can certainly recommend browsing through some of the older threads. There is loads to learn…

-r

 

[rasmusW]

*disclaimer: i didn’t read through all threads but most. I skipped a few macmasteri/ viejta…

-r

 

[MacZ]

*disclaimer: i didn’t read through all threads but most. I skipped a few macmasteri/ viejta…

-r

And let me guess, also borrellii, agassizii and cacatuoides, eh?

But yes, I agree, so much good stuff to find and so many questions repeated again and again... Somebody please promote the search function more.

 

[rasmusW]

Mostly those with tank strains..

-r

 

[MacZ]

Thought so.

Mostly those with tank strains..

-r

 

[Mike Wise]

A few questions.. -if you don’t mind.
Was it easier to get apistos as bycatches in the stores say, 10 years ago? I don’t think i have ever seen that around here.. ofcause there could be many reasons for that.

Maybe not 10 years ago but 30 years ago it was definitely easier to find odd apisto contaminants in wild imports. That is where I got species like pink A. eunotus (Shahuayo), A. wapisana and A. sp. Schwanzzipfel. More wildcaught "mixed apistos" also were available especially from Brazil and Guiana. Apistos like A. hippolytae, A. rupununi, 2 color morphs of A. steindachneri, different populations of A. cf. pertensis, A. sp. Rotwangen, A. gephyra and other oddities were not uncommon. In the late 1980s/90s there was an exceptional Brazilian exporter who, with help from me and other 'specialists', would actually go to known collecting localities and bring really rare apistos back for export: A. pulchra, A. sp. Rio Preto, A. sp. Erdfresser, A. elizbethae from the Rio Iça with red face stripes, A. paucisquamis, A. mendezi, A. sp. Miuá, A. sp. Blauspiegel and many others. The owner became active in the Brazilian environmental movement, particularly protests against the Belo Monte dam. The Brazilian govenment basically shut him down by revoking his export license.

It also feels like there where more species to choose from..? maybe there where a club auction culture.. again, not really sure how that works nowadays, set COVID-19 aside.

In a way that is true. If you were looking at a list of apistos with names 30 years ago, there were fewer. But if you were willing to look through tanks of wild tetras and catfish an amazing number of apisto species could be discovered as ugly little fish hiding in the back. Now most apistos are carefully sorted at exporters and typically only the more commercially popular species are exported. So now we are left with commercially bred species and more commonly seen wild specimens. Even at club auctions you usually see the same more common species. Now if you are looking for something unusual or a specific rare species you need to really search or know some others, particularly those who specialize in importing apistos or who go out and collect their own.

I can remember when I commonly had 8 or 10 different dwarf cichlid species, mostly apistos. Now I only have 4 species: A. erythrura, A. wolli, A. cf. luelingi (Cristal), and A. sp. Wangenflecken. I breed these because they are rarely or never commercially available. Most commercially available species are regularly available.

 

[rasmusW]

Maybe not 10 years ago but 30 years ago it was definitely easier to find odd apisto contaminants in wild imports. That is where I got species like pink A. eunotus (Shahuayo), A. wapisana and A. sp. Schwanzzipfel. More wildcaught "mixed apistos" also were available especially from Brazil and Guiana. Apistos like A. hippolytae, A. rupununi, 2 color morphs of A. steindachneri, different populations of A. cf. pertensis, A. sp. Rotwangen, A. gephyra and other oddities were not uncommon. In the late 1980s/90s there was an exceptional Brazilian exporter who, with help from me and other 'specialists', would actually go to known collecting localities and bring really rare apistos back for export: A. pulchra, A. sp. Rio Preto, A. sp. Erdfresser, A. elizbethae from the Rio Iça with red face stripes, A. paucisquamis, A. mendezi, A. sp. Miuá, A. sp. Blauspiegel and many others. The owner became active in the Brazilian environmental movement, particularly protests against the Belo Monte dam. The Brazilian govenment basically shut him down by revoking his export license

Okay, yeah! That was also my inpression, reading through those old threads.

It’s scary, how easy it is to get rid of those “on the other team”.

Anyway, thanks again Mike for a thorough reply. All very fascinating.

-r

 

[PhilRobak]

Maybe not 10 years ago but 30 years ago it was definitely easier to find odd apisto contaminants in wild imports. That is where I got species like pink A. eunotus (Shahuayo), A. wapisana and A. sp. Schwanzzipfel. More wildcaught "mixed apistos" also were available especially from Brazil and Guiana. Apistos like A. hippolytae, A. rupununi, 2 color morphs of A. steindachneri, different populations of A. cf. pertensis, A. sp. Rotwangen, A. gephyra and other oddities were not uncommon. In the late 1980s/90s there was an exceptional Brazilian exporter who, with help from me and other 'specialists', would actually go to known collecting localities and bring really rare apistos back for export: A. pulchra, A. sp. Rio Preto, A. sp. Erdfresser, A. elizbethae from the Rio Iça with red face stripes, A. paucisquamis, A. mendezi, A. sp. Miuá, A. sp. Blauspiegel and many others. The owner became active in the Brazilian environmental movement, particularly protests against the Belo Monte dam. The Brazilian govenment basically shut him down by revoking his export license.

In a way that is true. If you were looking at a list of apistos with names 30 years ago, there were fewer. But if you were willing to look through tanks of wild tetras and catfish an amazing number of apisto species could be discovered as ugly little fish hiding in the back. Now most apistos are carefully sorted at exporters and typically only the more commercially popular species are exported. So now we are left with commercially bred species and more commonly seen wild specimens. Even at club auctions you usually see the same more common species. Now if you are looking for something unusual or a specific rare species you need to really search or know some others, particularly those who specialize in importing apistos or who go out and collect their own.

I can remember when I commonly had 8 or 10 different dwarf cichlid species, mostly apistos. Now I only have 4 species: A. erythrura, A. wolli, A. cf. luelingi (Cristal), and A. sp. Wangenflecken. I breed these because they are rarely or never commercially available. Most commercially available species are regularly available.

Totally agree, Mike. I worked at an aquarium store some 40 years ago. We would routinely have small cichlids show up in our shipments. This is how I first really came to love these guys! I am sure I had species that had not fully been described at the time. I built up a really lovely and peaceful little tank of Nannacara anomala from adopting these otherwise unsellable drab little one-offs.

 

[Ttw]

My experience was like Mike's. Lot's of fun looking through the "mixed Apistos" to find something that was not bitaeniata. Also there were more Mom and Pop stores that would get interesting stock. Hard to find those now.