Which Apisto Species?

[Katie13]

I'm debating between 2 species of Apistos. I'm stuck between wild Apistogramma Agassizi blue and Apistogramma Ortegai. Which would you get? If I get the wild Apistos, I will adjust the parameters (specifically gH; mine is 90) adding at least 50 percent rainwater. Any tips?

 

[A Timbers Fan]

I've never been drawn to the body shape of A. agassizi, so I voted A. ortegai. I have A. sp. Totaya which look kind of similar, so that might help my choice Most are okay in most water chemistry, but if you can get the pH down with tannins, wood, etc. it would be beneficial. Once they settle in, they will probably be just fine.

 

[Katie13]

I've never been drawn to the body shape of A. agassizi, so I voted A. ortegai. I have A. sp. Totaya which look kind of similar, so that might help my choice Most are okay in most water chemistry, but if you can get the pH down with tannins, wood, etc. it would be beneficial. Once they settle in, they will probably be just fine.

My pH is 6.3-6.8. I need to get a digital tester though.

 

[chris1805]

I've kept both, i just think ortegai is more colourfull and prettier.

 

[Katie13]

Apistogramma Ortegai are really nice. I'm going to look at Rio Negro Apistos tomorrow before making a final decision.

 

[TCMontium]

Wild fish have a risk of dying quite early due to internal parasites and other problems. They might be harder to breed too. I prefer captive bred specimens mostly (except if captive breds are really bad looking or sick). Health put aside, some people like the slender body form of agassizii-like apistos and dislike the body of macmasteri-like apistos (like ortegai). Also some people find the colorations of ortegai and cf. ortegai "Pebas" species uninteresting, they prefer agassizii patterns and colors (maybe because of more "symmetric" or "organized" patterns/coloration on agassizii? I don't know and my english is not good enough to describe the difference ). I like them both and would just prefer ortegai because it's not wild (if the agassizii aren't amazing looking )

 

[Katie13]

Macmasteri have always been one of my favorites. Apistos will be new to me, so I was leaning away from wild caughts as gorgeous as they are. I’ve had almost every other type of dwarf cichlids, but Apistogramma have been on my list for a while along with Dicrossus Filamentous and Nannacara Anomala. I’ve got a breeding pair of high dollar imported German Blue Rams right now.