new to apistos (hongsloi & borelli)

[KurtG]

Been reading here-

Hoping I didn't jump too far off the deep end going to Apistos from Rams . The apistos arrive next week from TFG.

I need to get some frozen food and add some caves. Any other newby things I am forgetting with Apistos?

I've bred rams and other cichlids in the past before but not tried keeping apistos. We currently have a 75g planted tank and another 20 that is idle.

My MIL killed off the pair of rams (and a few others) while we were overseas for an extended period she was sitting the house. It has taken me a few weeks to get the planted tank back on track (green water & algae free). I've always wanted apistos so let the boys (4 & 6) choose amongst the apistos for their replacement fish. They chose the hongsloi and I added the yellow borelli to justify shipping costs :biggrin: .

The 75g needs a trim/thin, but thought the jungle might be good for initially introducing the apistos. I have soft water and lower pH (driftwood and pressurized CO2 injection). Filtration is XP3 canister. I have a UV which is run, but seldom. Lately, I have kept the temp ~79, and I normally do 40-50% water changes once a week and dose very low levels of fertilizers. We have the usual planted tank dither fish (e.g. neons & ottos).

 

[Bev N]

Welcome to the world of apistos...they are kinda like tater chips..you can't just have one!

I think you've picked some of the easier two to breed and keep. The hongsloi has proven to be far easier for me than the cacs that everyone says are a snap to spawn. I have one hongsloi super rostrich male and two females. The male is a bit of a bother so he gets moved between the two tanks. I had fry in both tanks and had them spawn again so I needed to move some babies to a grow out tank. I decided to do a head count and between the two tanks I have 191 fry! That is in addition to the 80 or so that are in a 75 grow out tank and the 80 or so newly hatched babies that mom is tending to. I have them in low ph soft water. I feed all my apistos bbs every day along with some frozen and dry foods for those that will eat it. The rostrich fry seem to be very easy to get to accept flake.

The borellii are another that is fairly easy to keep except mine do not accept the dry food as readily. The fry I've raised do seem to be accepting it better than the pair I purchased with the exception of a pair of borellii opal I got from Chris...they eat everything just fine. These too get bbs daily.

The apistos are one of the most facinating fish to watch. The brooding behavior of the females is truly a joy to watch.

Good luck with your new apistos.

Bev

 

[Rey82]

Welcome Kurt, I know the feeling of jumping from the type of fish you raise to something different. I went from raising livebearers which are easy to apistos. Currently have a large quantity which I am raising to include raising other cichlids such as angels and discus. I have had the luck to breed cf. eunotus, honglosi, and steichdaneri. Currently trying to breed viejita and papagayo nanay. Currently purchased macmasteri and trisfisciata to add to my collection. My setups consist of caves, java moss, java ferns, and driftwood. When I do water changes I do them once a week but only about 20% change. This has worked out personally for me because I have Nine tanks in three rooms so kind of hard to do alot of maintenance. Hope you enjoy raising apistos....its fun to see how these small cichlids. Also I only feed my cichlids frozen and live food.