Importing fish... I need some tips!!

[Shane Puthuparambil]

Hey guys!

I have been keeping Apistogramma for some time now. I just started having breeding success with my A. sp. Abacaxis and A. Iniridae, both wild caught.

I am getting an import order in soon. Its a single box, going in on an order with another individual who runs a wholesale business.

Here are the species I requested:

Apistogramma Bitaeniata "Rio Tigre"
Apistogramma Megastoma (sp. Kelleri)
Apistogramma Barlowi

Some other stuff I am getting:
P. Scalare Spotted
Aphyolebias Peruensis

Tips on acclimation and initial care?

Each species is going into a respective 20 long with a speckling of sand, large chunks of wood, a little bit of leaf litter, and plenty of dense floating plant growth.

Daily water changes, my pH here in Portland is 6 and tap tds is 150ppm. Comes straight from the mountains.

Also, how do you tell apart Megastoma and Barlowi 100%?

 

[Mike Wise]

My guess is, if they are coming through a jobber/transshipper, that they will have had water changes at the exporter and the importer. If the importer is different than the transhipper the fish might even get a 3rd water change. Your water should be fine right out of the tap, once it's dechlorinated and aged a few days in the holding tanks. How you acclimate them depends on how they arrive. If really stressed and gasping for air, then immediately drain each bag through a net and dump only the fish in the tank. Otherwise you can treat them like you would fish from a local retailer. Dump water into a bucket containing the fish and shipping water, add an airline, drip tank water into the bucket, net fish into tank and dump bucket water down the drain. Doing this will probably make you feel more comfortable - or you can do what we did with most fish when I worked in a wholesaler's operation. Net out the fish and dump them in a tank. This worked 90% of the time for fish coming in, in good condition.

I would expect your fish to be marked with an identification somehow. Gone are the days of 'heavy' bags of mixed apistos, thankfully. IDing A. barlowi from A. megastoma should be relatively easy:

A. barlowi: Male - no red markings on face; female - round caudal; both sexes - no rows of abdominal spots.

A. megastoma: Male - red/blue stripes on face; female (if mature) - squared-off caudal with short tips top and bottom; both sexes - 3-4 rows of abdominal spots.

 

[Shane Puthuparambil]

Are abdominal spots the speckling of spots found on these fish? What are abdominal spots?

My guess is, if they are coming through a jobber/transshipper, that they will have had water changes at the exporter and the importer. If the importer is different than the transhipper the fish might even get a 3rd water change. Your water should be fine right out of the tap, once it's dechlorinated and aged a few days in the holding tanks. How you acclimate them depends on how they arrive. If really stressed and gasping for air, then immediately drain each bag through a net and dump only the fish in the tank. Otherwise you can treat them like you would fish from a local retailer. Dump water into a bucket containing the fish and shipping water, add an airline, drip tank water into the bucket, net fish into tank and dump bucket water down the drain. Doing this will probably make you feel more comfortable - or you can do what we did with most fish when I worked in a wholesaler's operation. Net out the fish and dump them in a tank. This worked 90% of the time for fish coming in, in good condition.

I would expect your fish to be marked with an identification somehow. Gone are the days of 'heavy' bags of mixed apistos, thankfully. IDing A. barlowi from A. megastoma should be relatively easy:

A. barlowi: Male - no red markings on face; female - round caudal; both sexes - no rows of abdominal spots.

A. megastoma: Male - red/blue stripes on face; female (if mature) - squared-off caudal with short tips top and bottom; both sexes - 3-4 rows of abdominal spots.

 

[Mike Wise]

They are just that, rows of spots that run across the abdominal area of the body. They aren't always visible on A. megastoma, but are visible on stressed/aggressive fish. Facial colors on the male and the double-tipped caudal fin on mature females are easier to see.

 

[Shane Puthuparambil]

Thanks mike!

They are just that, rows of spots that run across the abdominal area of the body. They aren't always visible on A. megastoma, but are visible on stressed/aggressive fish. Facial colors on the male and the double-tipped caudal fin on mature females are easier to see.

 

[Shane]

New Apistogramma Hongsloi. His tank will be made over to resemble a Venezuelan biotope.