Miss ATV
Member
- Messages
- 58
Hi all,
I am very new to keeping Apistogramma. I have 2 (1 male and 1 female Cacatuoides) in a 15gal tank together with 6 Penguin tetras.
The current male I just got from an excellent online shop. Originally I had purchased a male&female from a local pet store and the male was much smaller and died after 4 weeks. Turns out there was an ammonia increase in the tank 1ppm(I measured it when I found him on the bottom of the tank displaying sings of nitrate poisoning - curled body, gasping) and I think that's what got him. My fault completely I was late 1 day with the water change and I found a spot with tons of poo which I obviously missed when cleaning the gravel the previous weeks. Lesson learned, in hindsight I think he was also stunted since he wasnt growing at all and was very small compared to the female.
I have a few questions please if you can advise me:
1. The new male I got is a lot bigger than my female, at the moment he flares up occasionally to her but doesnt insist when she is not interested. Could this be a problem if he becomes more brave? Is there any risk of him attacking/killing her since she is so small?
He is about 6cm she is about 2-2.5cm
2.How often do you recommend feeding? Currently I feed the tetras every other day and the apisto directly from a pipette daily a few hikari micro pellets. Once a week I feel brine shrimp and blood worms. Is it too much/enough?
3. How much water changes to do weekly? I do now about 20-30% once a week
Any other advice is welcomed please, I have attached some photos of the fish.
Thanks!
Male
Female
I am very new to keeping Apistogramma. I have 2 (1 male and 1 female Cacatuoides) in a 15gal tank together with 6 Penguin tetras.
The current male I just got from an excellent online shop. Originally I had purchased a male&female from a local pet store and the male was much smaller and died after 4 weeks. Turns out there was an ammonia increase in the tank 1ppm(I measured it when I found him on the bottom of the tank displaying sings of nitrate poisoning - curled body, gasping) and I think that's what got him. My fault completely I was late 1 day with the water change and I found a spot with tons of poo which I obviously missed when cleaning the gravel the previous weeks. Lesson learned, in hindsight I think he was also stunted since he wasnt growing at all and was very small compared to the female.
I have a few questions please if you can advise me:
1. The new male I got is a lot bigger than my female, at the moment he flares up occasionally to her but doesnt insist when she is not interested. Could this be a problem if he becomes more brave? Is there any risk of him attacking/killing her since she is so small?
He is about 6cm she is about 2-2.5cm
2.How often do you recommend feeding? Currently I feed the tetras every other day and the apisto directly from a pipette daily a few hikari micro pellets. Once a week I feel brine shrimp and blood worms. Is it too much/enough?
3. How much water changes to do weekly? I do now about 20-30% once a week
Any other advice is welcomed please, I have attached some photos of the fish.
Thanks!
Male
Female