Strawberry Apisto tank set up.

[nanotankfun]

Hello everyone,

I am new to the Apistogramma hobby.
I recently got one male and one female Apistogramma eremnopyge. I was trying to get one male and two females but the shop was only selling by the pair and would not make any exceptions. But with the research I've been getting some mixed results. I do want to breed them.

Tank:
10 gallon,
Fully planted,
Driftwood,
Leaf littler,
I make catappa tea once a week mimic a black water tank

Parameter:
PH is 6.4
GH ia125.3 ppm
Ammonia 0
Nitrates 0
Nitrites 0

Do you think the set up is good for breeding?
And I would like another female, any place that you could recommend to get just a female?

 

[MacZ]

10 gallon,

Make that at least a 80x30x30cm tank or get a second tank. The 10s are indeed used in breeding, when you have the option to remove the male at any time. Contrary to what you hear all the time most Apistogramma are not monogamous, hence a female is only tolerated in a male's territory when ready to spawn, otherwise they are chased away. And in such a small tank she can't escape so she'd be harrassed to death during the times she's not ready to spawn.
So unless you're prepared to move fish at any given time, get a bigger tank, structure it well with sight barriers and this should work out. I assume a growout tank (100+ liters) for potential spawn is at hand?
Also be aware, femals tend to burn out quickly in such a setting. I'd generally remove the male after spawning and give the female a bit of time to get back to form before the next round.

PH is 6.4
GH ia125.3 ppm
Ammonia 0
Nitrates 0
Nitrites 0

pH and the nitrogen compounds are more or less irrelevant at this point. KH and GH are important. Is the GH 125 or 25? And how do you get to a x.3 reading? Water provider's analysis? Because typical hobby test kit scales ignore the decimals usually.
In any case for such a decidedly softwater species to successfully breed you'd need water with KH/GH below detection with hobby grade test kits. pH would follow suit depending on the source and amounts of humic substances.

 

[MacZ]

Fully planted,

Not necessary and rather in the way in a breeding tank. Focus on floaters and easy to remove plants like a bunch of Ceratophyllum or Hydrocotyle floating.
If that is to imply you're planning on using soil, toss the thought and use fine sand.

 

[nanotankfun]

Make that at least a 80x30x30cm tank or get a second tank. The 10s are indeed used in breeding, when you have the option to remove the male at any time. Contrary to what you hear all the time most Apistogramma are not monogamous, hence a female is only tolerated in a male's territory when ready to spawn, otherwise they are chased away. And in such a small tank she can't escape so she'd be harrassed to death during the times she's not ready to spawn.
So unless you're prepared to move fish at any given time, get a bigger tank, structure it well with sight barriers and this should work out. I assume a growout tank (100+ liters) for potential spawn is at hand?
Also be aware, femals tend to burn out quickly in such a setting. I'd generally remove the male after spawning and give the female a bit of time to get back to form before the next round.


pH and the nitrogen compounds are more or less irrelevant at this point. KH and GH are important. Is the GH 125 or 25? And how do you get to a x.3 reading? Water provider's analysis? Because typical hobby test kit scales ignore the decimals usually.
In any case for such a decidedly softwater species to successfully breed you'd need water with KH/GH below detection with hobby grade test kits. pH would follow suit depending on the source and amounts of humic substances.

It was the test kit that I purchased, it has decimal points within its range. So I put it down to be as accurate as I can be. It took 7 drops. Test kit is Fritz.

I have a multitude of tanks within my home, I do the same maintenance and set ups so I keep their parameters relatively the same to make it easier on myself. I am wanting to set up a 20 gal long, just moving some things around the apartment.

 

[MacZ]

Ah, so the kit converts degree into mg/l. So it's 7° = 125.
That will not suffice for breeding. Such softwater species require really low conductivity. You'd have to set up the tanks for this species with RO/rainwater and stick to that source water. And don't remineralize. Not necessary.

I have a multitude of tanks within my home, I do the same maintenance and set ups so I keep their parameters relatively the same to make it easier on myself.

Works for undemanding species that don't require special conditions and parameters for breeding. Once you go true softwater or even blackwater, this doesn't work out anymore.

 

[nanotankfun]

Not necessary and rather in the way in a breeding tank. Focus on floaters and easy to remove plants like a bunch of Ceratophyllum or Hydrocotyle floating.
If that is to imply you're planning on using soil, toss the thought and use fine sand.

Thank you for the support by the way

Ah, so the kit converts degree into mg/l. So it's 7° = 125.
That will not suffice for breeding. Such softwater species require really low conductivity. You'd have to set up the tanks for this species with RO/rainwater and stick to that source water. And don't remineralize. Not necessary.


Works for undemanding species that don't require special conditions and parameters for breeding. Once you go true softwater or even blackwater, this doesn't work out anymore.

Got it, I already use RODI water for all my maintenance, water changes and so on. Currently using catappa leaves to brew a tea for the aquarium every water change. It mimics blackwater but I know that's not technically blackwater conditions. I have also added catappa leaf litter and I continuously add more once a week or two. I have been re mineralizing the tank though, was advice given to me from another hobbyist. But, after the first round I noticed that there was calcium damage to my plants and I cut the dose in half. I mainly use this for my plants and my snails. I added ramshorn for algae control and uneaten food. They need calcium for their shells. I'll see what happens when I cut out the supplement (maybe I'll just add a feed source for the snails that have calcium in it).

 

[MacZ]

Neither are the snails necessary nor will you have lots of algae problems in that tinted water. Leaf litter beds (as will be building up in your tank) can handle the waste without snails and will provide first food for fry in the form of infusoria and biofilms) Adding a calcium rich food source will still raise your GH and thus condictivity. This is ok in a display but counters your breeding goals.

 

[Hanzle]

Ik heb onlangs 6 eremnopyge en ben al meer dan 40 jaar een apisto-liefhebber, vooral de biteaniata-varianten/groep. Een apisto zo mooi als de eremnopyge zul je niet vinden. Het lichaam en de rugvin/antennes van trifasciata, de lichaamsvorm van bitaniata en het rood op de kop van viejita. Staartvin is ook gevorkd n gekleurd als een rode biteaniata-vorm. De lippen zijn mettalic blauw n d kop is, op het rode na, olijfgroen als wilhelmi/trifasciata. Heb 2 mannen en 4 vrouwen. Als u in Nederland of Duitsland woont, ken ik iemand die u aan extra vrouwen kan helpen.
Trouwens: Duitsers noemen ze Erdbeer apisto and the English call them strawberry apisto....I, in Holland, call them the most beautifall apistoos ever

 

[Hanzle]

Ps: ik houd ze bij een ph van 7 n een kh van 6.
Co2 injectie aanwezig
Ze maken al aardig gedragingen richting broeden

 

[MacZ]

Ik schrijf op engels: Keeping at a pH and KH as your's is not a problem, but what about breeding? The OP wants to breed, I doubt it will work at the current readings
En ik denk jullie zeggen ook Aardbei Apisto, of niet?

 

[Hanzle]

Inderdation.....maar dat leek me een stap te ver. Erdbeer of strawberry covers te meeste leden

 

[Hanzle]

Inderdation.....maar dat leek me een stap te ver. "Erdbeer" of "strawberry" dekt het meeste leden.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

10 gallon,
Fully planted

Can we have a picture? It just makes it easier for us to judge if it is a suitable tank set-up.

Make that at least a 80x30x30cm tank or get a second tank.

A bigger tank would make life a lot easier.

cheers Darrel

 

[Mike Wise]

Nannotankfan, this species shouldn't be hard to keep in your tank, but successful reproduction is unlikely based on the water values listed. I suggest a quick look at TomC's site re: this species (https://www.tomc.no/fish.aspx?fishIndexID=2422&gruppeID=1). Tom collected and reproduced this species. Good luck.

 

[nanotankfun]

Ik heb onlangs 6 eremnopyge en ben al meer dan 40 jaar een apisto-liefhebber, vooral de biteaniata-varianten/groep. Een apisto zo mooi als de eremnopyge zul je niet vinden. Het lichaam en de rugvin/antennes van trifasciata, de lichaamsvorm van bitaniata en het rood op de kop van viejita. Staartvin is ook gevorkd n gekleurd als een rode biteaniata-vorm. De lippen zijn mettalic blauw n d kop is, op het rode na, olijfgroen als wilhelmi/trifasciata. Heb 2 mannen en 4 vrouwen. Als u in Nederland of Duitsland woont, ken ik iemand die u aan extra vrouwen kan helpen.
Trouwens: Duitsers noemen ze Erdbeer apisto and the English call them strawberry apisto....I, in Holland, call them the most beautifall apistoos ever

I appreciate it! I love how they look and it took me a while to find a spot to get them. But, I live in the United States.

 

[nanotankfun]

Nannotankfan, this species shouldn't be hard to keep in your tank, but successful reproduction is unlikely based on the water values listed. I suggest a quick look at TomC's site re: this species (https://www.tomc.no/fish.aspx?fishIndexID=2422&gruppeID=1). Tom collected and reproduced this species. Good luck.

Thank you!

 

[Hanzle]

Dat kan ik waarderen! Ik vind ze er geweldig uitzien en het kostte me een tijdje om een plekje te vinden om ze te krijgen. Maar ik woon in de Verenigde Staten.

Jammer....ik heb ze bij een Duitse kweker vandaan n die heeft r nog. Voor mij was het een 400 km ritje maar zeker de moeite waard. Geniet van je aardbeien

 

[nanotankfun]

Hi all,

Can we have a picture? It just makes it easier for us to judge if it is a suitable tank set-up.

A bigger tank would make life a lot easier.

cheers Darrel

 

[nanotankfun]

The pair

 

[MacZ]

Nice looking.

But...
- The Corydoras are really quite big, that is not going to work out for breeding the Apistogramma. Are the catfish still in the tank?
- The substrate is really coarse. This kind of gravel in combination with the mulm from the botanicals might develop fouling areas.
- The hardscape is not working as sight barriers. If I can see through under the rootwood the fish definitely can.

And as stated before the water parameters will definitely not allow for successful breeding.