New to Apistos

[Pio Linhares]

Hi Everyone
This is my first attempt at keeping Apistos
Heres what I have
Can someone identify them ?
As of now I think I have 2 females and 4 males
The 2 females are displaying yellow breeding colours and flirting with the males
A male that looked like a female was a mistake of the seller but the tail said it all
Thanks
Pio

 

[Ben Rhau]

I don't think the fish in the first picture is the same species as the others. How big is this tank? Or is it multiple tanks?

 

[Frank Hättich]

I don't think the fish in the first picture is the same species as the others.

Yes the first one is an agassizii-subcomplex species (likely A. agassizii "Double red") the others are a domestic strain of A. cacatuoides.

 

[MacZ]

The first one is some kind of A. agassizii, the rest are A. cacatuoides.

Edit: Frank was faster.

 

[Pio Linhares]

I don't think the fish in the first picture is the same species as the others. How big is this tank? Or is it multiple tanks?

Thanks Ben. Yes they are different. 17 Gallon Tank

 

[Pio Linhares]

Yes the first one is an agassizii-subcomplex species (likely A. agassizii "Double red") the others are a domestic strain of A. cacatuoides.

Thanks Frank

 

[Pio Linhares]

The first one is some kind of A. agassizii, the rest are A. cacatuoides.

Edit: Frank was faster.

Thanks MacZ

 

[Ben Rhau]

Thanks Ben. Yes they are different. 17 Gallon Tank

Assuming the footprint is 24 x 12 inches, that tank is large enough to safely accommodate a pair of the cacatouides, or one male each of the cacatuoides and agassizii, or one apisto total.

If you keep all the fish in the tank, there will be conflict, and this will be especially bad when one of the pairs starts breeding.

If you decide to keep a pair, you should be prepared that it will breed, and that will likely create a need for additional tank space.

Cheers

 

[Pio Linhares]

Thanks Ben. Yes will keep that in mind. Once a pair is set. Ill move the others to another tank. Ive read of the female aggression once she breeds.

 

[Ben Rhau]

Something to keep in mind is that cacatuoides are polygamous, so you don’t have to wait for a pair to be “set.” A male will breed with any female.

Cheers

 

[Pio Linhares]

Oh Thanks. Glad to learn this here.

So any male Cacatuoides can breed with any female apisto of the same species. Can they breed with other species also ? What about females, same traits ? So is the Agassizii the loner there ?

 

[Ben Rhau]

So any male Cacatuoides can breed with any female apisto of the same species. Can they breed with other species also ? What about females, same traits ?

Generally speaking, you can expect a male to breed with every female in a properly decorated tank of sufficient size. If there are multiple males, then the dominant one will breed with multiple femaies. That said, your animals aren't safe in their current configuration, so I advise you to select a pair and move the other fish to tanks that can safely accommodate them.

Do species interbreed? Sometimes. It's highly discouraged in the hobby, because you can't predict their health or well being. Also, you don't want to spread hybrids in the hobby, since this can compromise the maintenance of the true lines.

So is the Agassizii the loner there ?

Not sure what you mean by "loner," other that that it is the one of its own species. Fish do not get "lonely," so it can live perfectly well on its own or in a tank that does not include another pair of cichlids. Since you're new to apistos, I do not recommend that you pair it off immediately, since you already have multiple potential pairs on your hands. Better to learn first. Highly polygamous species like these are prone to extreme aggression when breeding can't be accommodated. So you should see this behavior first and understand how to deal with it, and also what happens when they do breed.

Lots of great basic information on apistos here: http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/index.php

Cheers

 

[Pio Linhares]

Thanks for all the advice Ben. One pair got set. I lost one female and I seperated the Agassi to another tank. Its a bit slow. Has an injured eye. On 5th Dec one pair set them selves up and gave a breed of 7 frys which I moved later to another fry grow out tank. Today they are 1 cm. One month later in Jan there were more frys but some days later they all disappeared, assuming they got eaten. Im feeding the frys beer worms, grindals, frozen blood worms and frozen artemia. Crushed Tetrabits they spit it out. I'd like to know how and when to wean them off live food and get used to fish food. This is tough as they are finicky eaters

 

[Ben Rhau]

I'd like to know how and when to wean them off live food and get used to fish food.

The "when" is really your call. My fish all get live food, whether they're juveniles or adults. But they can definitely take prepared food at that size.

The "how" is mostly persistence. Try mixing frozen foods with live foods. And/or crushed dry foods with live foods. My apistos only really took a couple dried foods with any consistency: bug bites and hikari micro pellets. Other people have been able to convince them to eat flake.

 

[Pio Linhares]

I made a video and posted it on youtube
My Apistogramma Experience

Thankyou Guys

 

[Yvonne G]

Nice! Thanx for posting that.

 

[Pio Linhares]

Heres an update. Raised these now. Is the single one a female ? I know I have only one female for sure there. A local breeder got 9 Females and 1 Male so we are doing a trade to avoid interbeeding. I have separate tanks if any pair up. Thanks for your guidance guys. Much appreciated.

 

[kopal1]

thank you.....