what is the Best Apistogramma

[wass29]

I just got two of these steel blue apistos and love em think they are awesome and I want to set up more tanks for more fishes but I don't know what type to get. I will either get them from my LFS ( I have a friend who works there and can order special fish for me) or off of the internet. With all of the wisdom in the community of fish people at this GREAT WEBSITE what is your opinion(s) of the best Apistogramma. You can rate them on which is easiest to breed, or best looking, or even which is least readily available and thus the most sought after. I am just looking for some knowledge and thought that this would drum up some of that from some of you.

Thanks
Wass

 

[depthc]

I, nor can anyone really declare which apisto is the best. We all have our personal favorites but one cant claim the 'best'. Look around the net and find a apealing apisto you like and from there do a bit of research. Make sure you will be able to care for it and the rest is history.

Andrew

 

[wass29]

I guess I was just looking for opinoins of best or favorite apisto. I should of reworded that and said what is your favorite apisto. So I can find what is hot right now because maybe that is easier to find since it's popular and common at the time.

Thanks
Wass

 

[_BaDgUy_]

I think the best for you would be to look around on some sites that has pictures, and find one you like best. After that, you could ask opinions on that species

Apistogrammas can behave differently in different setups...
Some might find it impossible to breed a certain species, while someone else will have trouble stopping them from breeding!!
Same thing for individual behavior... Take an example on A. nijsenni. Some people say they are the most aggressive species, and they will kill anything moving in a tank, including it's mate. In my case, my nijsenni are really tame, no aggressive behavior, no killing sprees, both male and female usually swim together...

This is just my personnal opinion on the way you should choose your next Apistogrammas

 

[wass29]

ok as per _BaDgUy_ how are Apisto trifasciata or Apisto cacatuoides. I think they are both very awesome looking fish. I am not new at fish keeping just Apisto keeping so I was only trying to get some opinoins on diff fish. like if you asked me which species of reainbowfish I prefer I would tell you I prefer the Irian Jaya Rainbow's because of their color tempermant and color change in the early morning.

Thanks
Wass

 

[scott]

both of those as well as all species of apistogramma are very interesting and beautiful fish. currently i have 6 tanks dedicated specifically to breeding a. cacatuoides. i find them to be very easy to breed and care for. the will spawn in water that is very soft and acidic all the way to moderately hard and alkaline. so if having soft water is a problem in your area i would recommend cacatuoides, borelli or even macmasteri. if you have access to r/o water or otherwise soft acidic water then you could successfully keep and spawn almost any species of apisto.

 

[farm41]

How about you post your water parameters, and what fish are available to you locally?

Then we can go from there, if you do indeed want more apistos.

 

[wass29]

I live in the Midwest and currently I am running mostly tap water which tends to run soft and acidic. My two tanks that I am going to use right now are mostly RO water refilled with tap to replace evaporation. Water changes are not a problem I usually do 25-50% once a week. Flake and Pelleted foods are easy to do but frozen is a problem as we do not have a freezer available at work.
My LFS's don't tend to stock the Apistos because they always recieve juvenile's which don't tend to have much color and thus don't sell well for them. So I have to ask them to special order the fish I desire if and whenever they are available. That isn't a problem for them to do and I usually don't have to pay before I get them. Also if I am unhappy with how the fish's looks ie health color fins, whatever then I don't have to take it if I don't want to. I think the last time I saw the list there were Steel Blue's, A. cacatuoides, A. agassizii and maybe A. borellii's but that is about it. Probally no fancy color variations or anything. Which is good but sometimes the more colorful ones are more fun for a Apisto newbie like me.

Thanks
Wass

 

[ervis]

My favorite

My choice is clear:
http://www.geocities.com/erviservy/Borellii_Breeding.html

The fry are almost 2 months old now. I'll have some new pics up later today.

steve

 

[wass29]

ervis That is pretty kewl man. You got them to breed that quickly and easily that's awesome. I am hoping for some success in the same manor, if and when I ever manage to get a pair of them myself. Still waiting for the LFS to have more available I guess this time of year they have some troubles finding some of these fishes that I want. I think I would like to get some of the cacatuoides or the borelli's but there aren't any around here right now so I have to be patient (which is not one of my strong suits)

Later
Wass

 

[Mike Wise]

Some of my favorite apistos were those that I kept in the 1970's (what? did I date myself???). They aren't available now. All were tough, easy breeders, & with nice colors. They include:

'A. wickleri', a beautiful blue domestic form of A. steindachneri. Males would grow to over 4"/10cm, were mellow even when breeding (I accidentally spawned a pair in a 5 gallon tank containing over a dozen Platies - no damages or losses to fry (> 75) or Platies), & had an incredable blue color with almost no white or yellow on the abdomin. They were so easy to breed & raised large spawn, often over 100 fry. This was probably its downfall. It was so common in the hobby that the few apisto keepers around at the time stopped breeding it in favor of other more exotic species. I haven't seen this form in decades.

The original 'A. eunotus' in the hobby, A. cf. eunotus Shahuaya, was a deep bodied form - more like the holotype of the species than the Orange-tail form we have now. Males had bright orange fins and a pale salmon pink body color. I used to sell it as the 'Pink Apisto'. Too bad no one collects around Pucallpa, Peru, where the Rio Shahuaya is located. It would be nice to see this fish again.

The original 'A. caetei' in the hobby, A. cf. caetei Red-cheeks/Rotwangen, apparently is still occassionally collected but I haven't seen it since the late 80s, only pictures. Males had nice blue flanks and lots of red markings on the face & opercula. This was another easy breeder.

I guess it's true, "absence does make the heart grow fonder".

 

[wass29]

Kewl thanks Mike for the trip down Memory Lane. Those fish sound pretty awesome like you said it's to bad no one offers them anymore

 

[mr_apisto]

I'd have to say that my fav. Apisto would be A. steindachneri. Not the most "showy" Apisto, but the first I bred, and really lovely colours (which don't photograph at all well.)
They are, unfortunately, not very common. I suspect that this is because they look very dowdy in shop tanks and they only really show to their best when they're above a dark substrate. This is very common among Apistos and is, IMHO. the biggest reason for it being so difficult to find the more "unusual" species.
Good luck with whatever you end up going for.

 

[wass29]

mr_apisto, What kind of Apisto's are you keeping now? I have two of the steel blues that I have to plit into other tanks before I get something new.