y'aright? fae Edinburgh

[baby chaos]

Hiya. Just posting in per admin request. Been reading this forum for months now so thought it about time I create my own profile. Thanks to everyone for their informative posts, they've been a fantastic help to me in understanding how to create an apisto-perfect environment. I must be doing something right, for each of my A. Cacatuoides have a small brood at the moment. I don't suppose they'll last too long in the community set up but daddy cac is doing a sterling job in assisting his harem keep the tetras at a distance. I realise there are different schools of thought on whether Corydoras make suitable tankmates, especially for breeding apistos; however since my aim is only to allow them a natural existence which includes mating, rather than to breed them, I took the chance of mixing these two. With a shoal of 12 corys, no one fish is singled out by protective parents. The corys may have no concept of territory but mine at least have learned to move before contact is made by a charging apisto. I've witnessed a little contact but it's only been a wee peck. If there was any sign of harm, I would remove them, so for those of you from the "don't mix" philosophy, please be assured that their welfare comes a long way before my selfish desires. The key here is space. The apistos occupy three zones within the aquarium and my corys naturally settle in the remaining neutral territories, which were theirs first in any case, so it seems the apistos have opted for the cory-free hideouts rather than the other way round. Thanks for the opportunity to share, forum folks. Cheers :-D

 

[Jay973]

Awesome!

 

[Josh]

Welcome to the forum! Would love to see a photo of your setup. Congrats on the cacatuoides! Sounds like you've got the right thing going on over there! Thanks for joining the community!

 

[baby chaos]

Thanks for the welcome and congrats, Josh. My avatar is in fact a poor attempt at capturing my set up in picture but due to my technical incompetence it's been squashed sideways, making it look taller than it is (it is indeed a tall, bow-fronted corner aquarium at 60cm in height, 120cm across the bow and 90cm from back corner to front - 300L, designed more for display than as a species tank, but it's done me proud for 10 years or so, with various refurbs)... Plus I used my phone camera in low light, so I realise the image is by far inferior to those offered by the talented photographers who post on the forum! I shall dig out the old camera and try to take images which do justice to both the tank and its inhabitants. I've aimed for an Amazonian stream/ox-bow pool type biotope, though not all flora and fauna strictly comply, namely the Amanos and the Java ferns...and perhaps one or two others I haven't sussed out yet! I've also tried to allow teaking of the water without it going too black; as I understand from forum readings, the cacatuoides originate from clearer waters than many other parts of the Amazon. I see your avatar is a cacatuoides - perhaps you could clarify that point from your own experience of keeping them. Most of my 30-odd year's intermittent experience is in keeping "westies", to use the forum term; the move to the SA dwarfs has been fairly recent, due to a sustained change in water supply (10 years ago it was pH 7.8 approx and now it's around 6.8; it's always been pretty soft and even more so now -yea!) which has made the move to SA possible (I'm from the "if you're given lemons, make lemonade" school of thinking and don't like to mess too much with whatever comes from the tap, conditioning aside, of course). It's so great being able to talk not only fish, but specifically apistos and their compadres... I don't know why it's taken me so long to start linking with discussion forums, and I can't thank you and the other moderators enough for making this possible. Trying not to gush with excitement so I'll stop there for now. Cheers, Emily

 

[baby chaos]

thanks for the like, MickeM, it gave me a wee flutter - so easily pleased!!

 

[uberape]

hey im from edinburgh too and strangely i have the same community tank aspirations (although I wish at times I had listened to the experts) but I have had success in the past and although broods are wittled down to 5-6, i find this a natural number and I dont have to dedicate months to giving them away. I also like how sophisticated the surviving fry are at maintaining territory and remaining hidden in the decor- even when they are grown. still, you cant recommended breeding communities they are difficult and unpredictable. good luck

 

[baby chaos]

Thanks for the reply and for sharing your experience. You are right that a community tank is not a breeding tank and I certainly wouldn't recommend a community set up for those with only breeding in mind. I'm encouraged to hear that a small handful of your fry have made it to the juvenile stage. I hope that a few will survive in my set up too. So far the dominant female has stolen the fry from the other two subordinates and is raising them as her own. They're quite big now, more than 1cm, at least, so significantly bigger than the wee squiggles I saw a few weeks ago. There's also been some boundary disputes which have resulted in the then 3rd ranking female having been ousted from her site by the top female, 2nd ranking female was then ousted by 3rd female and has been completely displaced, so that 2nd and 3rd ranks have exchanged. I've tried to reset the boundaries by the insertion of leaves and alternative caves, but both 1st and 2nd females appear to be defending their newly extended territories. I fear the only option now may be to return her to the shop which is a shame because things had been going so well until recently. I can't bear to see her been driven away by the other three though. Tank politics!!

 

[baby chaos]

spotted my first juvie - yea! must be first generation: about 2cm. just not quick enough with the camera for the peek-a-boos betwixt the leaves, dang it. still trying to hone my photography skills, but moving subjects in low lighting with a bow front is seriously stumping me! none of the various generations of fry, as yet but i'll continue to try. in the interim, i'll post a couple of meagre attempts at daddy cac and one of his ladies, but perhaps i should use a new thread for that...? transfer from camera to pc pending...