Looking for any pair (any dwarf cichlid)

[Ben Bergman]

It has been a dream of mine to breed a dwarf cichlid (specifically an apistogramma, but I'm not picky anymore) so I am looking for a pair (ideally adult) of any species that would work in a 20gallon long, soft or hard water, as I have RO.

THANKS!

 

[anewbie]

apistogramma is a genus; as a genus it is not different then 100's of other dwarf cichild genus - is there a specific species that interest you ?

 

[Ben Bergman]

Not to picky but I like the pistogramma-sp.-"Winkelfleck,

Apistogramma-macmasteri-Group, And the Borelli.​

But as I said not picky I would like a natural occurring species/color variant if at all possible.

 

[anewbie]

There is a fellow in florida who is selling f1 winkelfleck.

wetspot (https://www.wetspottropicalfish.com/?s=apistogramma) has a. borelli for sale.

This presumes you live in usa but of course you did not specify your country so if you live in europe you will need to try elsewhere.

Shipping is rather expensive so if you know of a local store that can obtain them that would save you a few bucks.

Wet spot has wc panduro which are of course natural colouring but they are much less forgiving of 'new keeper' errors.

 

[Ben Bergman]

There is a fellow in florida who is selling f1 winkelfleck.

wetspot (https://www.wetspottropicalfish.com/?s=apistogramma) has a. borelli for sale.

This presumes you live in usa but of course you did not specify your country so if you live in europe you will need to try elsewhere.

Shipping is rather expensive so if you know of a local store that can obtain them that would save you a few bucks.

Wet spot has wc panduro which are of course natural colouring but they are much less forgiving of 'new keeper' errors.

Yes I'm win the us, sorry.
The only local store are Petco and Petsmart, sigh.

 

[anewbie]

Yes I'm win the us, sorry.
The only local store are Petco and Petsmart, sigh.

The fellow in florida doesn't ship. the best options for stores are wetspot and aquaticclarity if you are set on an apistogramma species - imperical also sometimes have some imports they had indria earlier this year but nothing recent and aquaimports have some wc a. bitaeniata but they are not sold in pairs though they are more docile species.

Still if this is your first time i would play with a domestic bred fish - it might be more forgiving and easier to replace if it dies.

 

[Ben Bergman]

The fellow in florida doesn't ship. the best options for stores are wetspot and aquaticclarity if you are set on an apistogramma species - imperical also sometimes have some imports they had indria earlier this year but nothing recent and aquaimports have some wc a. bitaeniata but they are not sold in pairs though they are more docile species.

Still if this is your first time i would play with a domestic bred fish - it might be more forgiving and easier to replace if it dies.

Thanks! Does domestic bred fish mean captive bred? Or non-wildoccuring variant? This would be my first time breeding but not keeping an apistogramma.

 

[MacZ]

Does domestic bred fish mean captive bred? Or non-wildoccuring variant?

On this forum "domestic" means an artificial breed produced through selective breeding in captivity. Most here expect any fish named A. cacatuoides, A. macmasteri, A. hongsloi, A. agassizii and A. borellii to be this, because these are the species that are almost always only available as domestiv breeds.

Otherwise if a species name is used without the addition of a locality or the name of a breed expect captive bred but wild type. Wild caught fish are pretty much always labeled as such.

 

[anewbie]

On this forum "domestic" means an artificial breed produced through selective breeding in captivity. Most here expect any fish named A. cacatuoides, A. macmasteri, A. hongsloi, A. agassizii and A. borellii to be this, because these are the species that are almost always only available as domestiv breeds.

Otherwise if a species name is used without the addition of a locality or the name of a breed expect captive bred but wild type. Wild caught fish are pretty much always labeled as such.

For me domestic just means mass bred; though as @MacZ the species he listed will never been in natural form when domestic - well my understanding is borelli is pretty close to natural form as i've seen wild opals and non opal that look pretty close to what is sold. Also some of the less red hogsloi (is that form 1 or form 2?) are pretty close to natural. trifs, panduro, nijjensi and similar are all going to be pretty close to natural form but trifs are likely far to violent for your setup. Given the dimensions of your aqaurium i would go with one of the smaller species - borelli, pucallpaensis or one of the pair forming species of which there are three commonly for sale. I've seen inka pretty cheap by some hobbists but you have to look to find them.

As a general rule hobby bred fishes are going to be a better bet over mass produced but the channels for advertising them has become some what stale over the years.

A lot of people dislike pucallpaensis but i think it is a wonderful fish though the purist will argue it is not an apistogramma.

ALso if you bite today wetspot has a very unusual wc species not seen often Mikrogeophagus maculicauda it is a little like a bolivian ram with a lyre tail (both of just male?).

Unfortunately it is being sold as unsex so you would need 6 to get a pair.

 

[MacZ]

As a general rule hobby bred fishes are going to be a better bet over mass produced but the channels for advertising them has become some what stale over the years.

Only exception is if some hobby breeder started out with fish from a domestic breed from mass production. In that case it's only further dilution of the gene pool.

 

[Ben Bergman]

Thanks you guys! I'd prefer to source from a hobbyist breeder, so was mostly checking to see if anyone on this forum has extras.

pair forming species of which there are three commonly for sale.

Sorry for my ignorance but if you don't mind me asking what three are those?

I've seen inka pretty cheap by some hobbists but you have to look to find them.

I'm trying.

 

[anewbie]

Thanks you guys! I'd prefer to source from a hobbyist breeder, so was mostly checking to see if anyone on this forum has extras.

Sorry for my ignorance but if you don't mind me asking what three are those?


I'm trying.

nijjensi, panduro and inka - there are others but those are the most common. Btw wetspot has a. pucallpaensis - you would have to buy 6 but they are cheap and very forgiving of water hardness. Nice little fish - almost a bit more tame than some of the other species.