Orange Flash

[Krinedawg]

I have an Orange Flash, he's currently living in my guppy tank. (if you look at my profile you should be able to see my tank and aquatic critters). He's currently the only male of this species in my tank, but I have 2 females on the way. I was expecting to loose some of the smaller fry from my most recent batch of guppies, but to my surprise he's not eating them. What I have noticed is that he likes to shoal with my five albino catfish. I really enjoy watching him and he seems to be thriving well.

Now for my question. When the females arrive, will he be more aggressive once they are here and start picking on the guppies, or will he be too (eh hum) busy.

I am assuming there won't be any trouble breeding for them, ( I know the assume rule) but I think if the guppies can do it, so can they.

I am going to start another aquarium designed just for them. But for now, I can only hope they can all cohabit.

Any suggestions or information is appreciated and Thank You in advance.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Fish and tanks looks good. The only suggestion I'd make would be to add some more plants,caves and/or wood. I'm using a lot of coconut shell caves (you can plant java moss/java fern on these), but clay pots/saucers or bits of pipe etc. will do.

If you haven't had a look have a look at ApistoBob's web site, he is a member here and his pages offer a lot of good advice about cover etc..
<http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/>

Apistogramma cacatuoides is a pretty hopeless fry hunter, as long as the baby Guppies stay near the top he won't eat them. If you are trying to condition them for breeding they really like any "worms", any of glassworms, bloodworms, grindal worms, small earthworms, blackworms or whiteworms. I also give mine Asellus, Cyclops, Daphnia, Ostracods and Mosquito larvae, all eaten with relish. The only other time I've seen them go really wild for any other food was when I tipped my Cherry Shrimp colony in (because I temporarily didn't have a tank for them), about 20 minutes later I didn't have a Cherry Shrimp colony to worry about.

I find that they totally ignore all the other fish, other than when the female has a spawn, when she will go for all the other fish, however big they are.

cheers Darrel

 

[Krinedawg]

Thanks Darrel,
I put in some mosquito larvae today and by the time he realized they were in there I think he only got about 4 of them, seems the guppies like them too. I am working on worm cultures as well, and was thinking about getting a smaller tank and raising shrimp for them. I do have one coconut hut for them and I'm in the process of cleaning another. I figured I would put one at each end of the tank for each female. My wife is gonna love me for this, but I really enjoy it. She did admit that she was watching the albino catfish and the way they seem to play tag made her smile. I see an addict coming soon. Again thanks for the input.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
I know the feeling, my wife hates the tank at home, and has a go at me if she ever sees me even looking at the fish.

Sounds good, yes Guppies love mosquito larvae, live bloodworm or black worms may be better because they spend more/all time near the bottom.
I keep Grindal, Micro and Red worm cultures, all very easy to keep and low maintenance.

A coconut at either end is a good idea, if you put them close together 1 female will appropriate both of them.

I's still definitely go for something to break up line of sight in the centre of the tank, in fact the weedier and more complex the tanks are the more the fish like them, also the tank water stays more stable etc..

Lots of Java moss is very good if you can get it, as it is a favourite for the fry to graze on, in fact a "large gnarly lump" of it is (member) Electriceels secret for raising Ram fry.

cheers Darrel

 

[Krinedawg]

Well Darrel,
It's to the point now my wife just asks, how much do you need now? (I had to marry an accountant huh) It's funny you mention the moss, because that's one of the next plants on my list to acquire. After looking at Bob's site, very well informed and appreciated by the way, (Kudos Bob) Oh and I've seen, Mike is very informed as well. I realize I have some changes to make. Here's my plan of attack.

I want to get a 20 gallon long, use the dark sand I have, I make my own drift wood pieces, so I'll craft them into a more suitable nook and cranny fashion. + the coco-huts. I'll take the pieces of plants I have in my now established tank, and add the moss when I acquire it.

Here's another question, If I take 10 gallons from my established tank and add it in the 20 gallon tank, then add 10 gallons of fresh water, will it speed up the acclimation time, or should I say will it become "instantly acclimated" or will the process still take a few weeks to set up? The sand, the plants and half the water would come from my now established tank.

As for the food, I have 3 cultures of worms milling at the moment, I'm using baby food cereal and bakers yeast to grow them, once they start crawling up the sides of the dishes, I harvest them and feed them to the fish. (this way I know they are fresh and sanitary and the fish seem to enjoy them) I am also using flake food and thanks to your advice Mosquito larvae, that I have an abundance of in fresh water rain buckets.

 

[Krinedawg]

Update!
I set up my 20 long today, I still need to get some moss, and add the second coco-hut which I left at bmac's house today.

I need to give him a big THANK YOU! He's not only helped me get set up, but is showing me just how fun it is to raise fish. He also got me started in here, which I have found to be a wonderful, informative community, Thank you all for making me feel welcome.

Now I don't know how long a new guy is new, but I'm still pretty green at raising fish. Take a look at the pictures on my profile, and please feel free to make suggestions and/or comments. I have open ears.

Again thanks to all who have commented or left messages with advice I do appreciate it.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Pleased we, and particularly bmac, have been helpful, my first port of call for anybody who wants to keep Apisto's (or in fact tropical fish generally) would be Bob's web site, no gimmicks, no wonder products, just good advice.

Mike (Wise), as well as many of the other posters on this forum, is one of the greats of Dwarf Cichlid keeping, he also translated a lot of the knowledge coming out of Germany for an English speaking audience.

What I like about this forum is that lots of the posters have exhaustive practical knowledge of both Apisto's in their natural habitat and in the aquarium, and I'd always follow their advice.

With regards to the tank personally I'd leave the tank for a while, have a look at the recent "cycling" post, <http://www.forum.apistogramma.com/showthread.php?t=8952>, it should cover this area fairly well. I'm probably over cautious with allowing tanks to stabilise, but I'm sure it saves future time, trouble and heartache.

cheers Darrel

 

[Krinedawg]

Thanks again Darrel,

I added the sand, plants, and used 10 gallons of my already cycled water, ( I squeezed some of my filter water into it as well. I am letting it sit and cycle for a bit until the bacteria stabilizes. I did add a few snails that happened to come off my filter. I posted a picture, I will add a few more plants most likely today.

I have some moss coming as well, and I will place the second coco-hut.

I will apologize now for the pictures as my wife had the camera and I resorted to using my cell phone for the pictures. I will add better one's once I get my camera back.

I appreciate all of your advice.

Thanks for taking the time to help me out!