# Show me your Apisto and I'll show you mine



## furnfins

So glad you posted these, they're all beautiful! Thinking of redoing my 40b after the holidays with Apisto's. Wasn't sure which ones yet. 
I have to do a bit more research. I did have Kribs a while back and they bred a few times.


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## Zapins

Any pics of the adult Apistogramma Cacatuoides Triple Red?

I like all your apistos. Very nice looking fish.

My old A. Eunotus male









A Eunotus female.


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## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> Any pics of the adult Apistogramma Cacatuoides Triple Red?
> 
> I like all your apistos. Very nice looking fish


Sadly no, the male came down with something and didn't last long after that. When that happend I moved the female to a friends tank that had a lonely male. Haven't really had the opportunity to get another pair but is really don't need to with the fry I have. I've been raising them for months but they just grow sooooo slow.

That's a stunning male you have there. Wish I could get some better photos but I'm not so hot with a camera.


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## Nlewis

Got a better pic of the Erythrura today.


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## Nlewis

Where are all the apisto lovers? I swear these fish are so underrated. 

Apistogramma Baenschi female


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## Joseph Wan

Allow me to share my Apistogramma baenschi (male)


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## Opare

I am a lover just do not own any unfortunately. Decided to go for a South East Asian stocking instead. :-(


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## ArchimedesTheDog

That Agassiz fire red is _gorgeous_.


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## lksdrinker

Heres an old shot of a triple red cacatauoides that I unfortunately lost a few months ago.


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## Nlewis

lksdrinker said:


> Heres an old shot of a triple red cacatauoides that I unfortunately lost a few months ago.


Love these guys, they maybe the best Apistos when it comes to character. I can't wait until these fry grow out so I can have a pair in my 40. Also feel the pain, my male Fire Red has dropsy and I don't think he's going to make it.


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## Nlewis

My triple red fry are really starting to gain their colors and patterns.


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## lksdrinker

Nlewis said:


> My triple red fry are really starting to gain their colors and patterns.


How old would you say that fish is? I bought what was supposed to be some triple reds a while back from someone who is reputable in the hobby. But what I got were essentially fry and not juveniles and now a few months later I'm really doubting they're triple reds.


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## Nlewis

lksdrinker said:


> How old would you say that fish is? I bought what was supposed to be some triple reds a while back from someone who is reputable in the hobby. But what I got were essentially fry and not juveniles and now a few months later I'm really doubting they're triple reds.


I'd say they're about 6 months old now. For whatever reason they grow really slow but I think it had to do with me not being able to transition them over to flake food. Within the past month their growth has exploded as I have them on freeze dried blood worms.


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## TropicalAquarist

Just found this thread! I love apistos as well! Am raising a spawn of the cacatuides triple red as well, and thought it was just me that they grow so slow. Mine are 5 months old and starting to get their color.
Also have 7 young borelli hoping to breed soon and a pair of fire reds that will not do anything for me.


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## Zapins

Nope, when I bred them they also grew very slowly. I think that is just how they are. Slow to mature.

Post some pics if you can!

I'd love to get a pair and breed them again. One of my favorite fish.


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## Nlewis

TropicalAquarist said:


> Just found this thread! I love apistos as well! Am raising a spawn of the cacatuides triple red as well, and thought it was just me that they grow so slow. Mine are 5 months old and starting to get their color.
> Also have 7 young borelli hoping to breed soon and a pair of fire reds that will not do anything for me.


My first pair of fire reds would do absolutely nothing and I had them for a year before the male took the leap of faith. I've heard that agies are finicky when it comes to pairing up. The fire red posted in the pics died on Christmas Eve from dropsy. This weekend I'm picking up 2 pair that will be going into the 40b biotope along with my remaining female. 

The biggest issue I have with these fry is getting them transitioned over to flake food. I did get them some Hikari blood worms and they crush them, since I've started with the blood worms they've been gaining size steadily.


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## bacon5

Here is an attempt of a macro pic of my Super Red Cacatuoides. Still need some practice with macro photography. Honestly, my all time favorite fish. Next would be German Blue Rams  Glad to see others enjoy Apistos just as much!


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## Kampo

one of my males cacatuides excuse the tannins its a breeding tank. so tons of leaves


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## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> Nope, when I bred them they also grew very slowly. I think that is just how they are. Slow to mature.
> 
> Post some pics if you can!
> 
> I'd love to get a pair and breed them again. One of my favorite fish.


Here you go, babies!!!!


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## Zapins

Aww they look great! Just starting to color up too. It looks like you have a good mix of males and females. When I breed kribs I tend to get skewed sex ratios. Way too many males. Probably some sort of a temperature or water parameter difference when the eggs are developing.


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## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> Aww they look great! Just starting to color up too. It looks like you have a good mix of males and females. When I breed kribs I tend to get skewed sex ratios. Way too many males. Probably some sort of a temperature or water parameter difference when the eggs are developing.


Yeah it's defiantly a temperature issue and looks like I lucked out a bit. I think it's still going to be heavy on the male side though.


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## Coralbandit

Most pistos throw 1:1 @ 26c.
At 29c the skew to5:1 in favor of males...Yea guess why I went to investigate ??
Other pistos are a effected by PH in the very same way....
BUT you have DAYS to move the eggs to the temp/ph that would give you the ratio you desire....
I was reading up on all this in Romers cichlid atlas part1...

Mr. hongslio 
Mrs.hongslio 
The Family 

Here is the irinidae...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAa6yZUjcG0

Enjoy fish heads!


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## D.Farci

Coralbandit said:


> Most pistos throw 1:1 @ 26c.
> At 29c the skew to5:1 in favor of males...Yea guess why I went to investigate ??
> Other pistos are a effected by PH in the very same way....
> BUT you have DAYS to move the eggs to the temp/ph that would give you the ratio you desire....
> I was reading up on all this in Romers cichlid atlas part1...
> 
> Mr. hongslio
> Mrs.hongslio
> The Family
> 
> Here is the irinidae...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAa6yZUjcG0
> 
> Enjoy fish heads!


Gorgeous fish! They don't look like that in the store, so I rarely see them purchased. Just a note: Not sure if a typo, but I've seen it three times at least in your posts - it's Apistogramma hongsloi, not A. hongslio.


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## longgonedaddy

Coralbandit said:


> Most pistos throw 1:1 @ 26c.
> At 29c the skew to5:1 in favor of males...Yea guess why I went to investigate ??
> Other pistos are a effected by PH in the very same way....
> BUT you have DAYS to move the eggs to the temp/ph that would give you the ratio you desire....
> I was reading up on all this in Romers cichlid atlas part1...
> 
> Mr. hongslio
> Mrs.hongslio
> The Family
> 
> Here is the irinidae...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAa6yZUjcG0
> 
> Enjoy fish heads!



Beautiful hongsloi! What is that grassy stuff behind Mrs. Hongsloi in the second pic?


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## chappy6107

Beautiful everyone. Here is my current triple red cacatuoides


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## GrampsGrunge

I don't have any Apistos now, but years ago I used to have a mated pair of Goldeneye Dwarf ciclids, (Nannacara anomala) and a mated pair of Checkerboard dwarf ciclids (Dicrossus filamentosus).

The Nannacara moms are incredibly psycho. It was fun watching her being hyper-vigilant in a 32 gal tank of Flame and Glowlite Tetras. You could tell where she and her little magic carpet of babies were by where all the Tetras weren't.


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## Coralbandit

longgonedaddy said:


> Beautiful hongsloi! What is that grassy stuff behind Mrs. Hongsloi in the second pic?



It is cocoa fiber that gets used to line hanging basket... They LOVE it..


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## bsantucci

Here is my male agassizii. He's got two lovely ladies in the mail for him coming today haha. 










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## Nlewis

bsantucci said:


> Here is my male agassizii. He's got two lovely ladies in the mail for him coming today haha.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk


Nice, he's a looker. Did you ever figure out what caused the die off your original females?


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## bsantucci

Nlewis said:


> Nice, he's a looker. Did you ever figure out what caused the die off your original females?


No idea. Really strange situation, but I haven't had any deaths since I took out the botanicals and switched back to tap water. I don't know if it was bad luck with bad fish (one female was confirmed to be an old female) or something in the tank.

Hopefully these new girls coming today work out and keep my man happy :laugh2:


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## longgonedaddy

Coralbandit said:


> It is cocoa fiber that gets used to line hanging basket... They LOVE it..


Thanks! Looks perfect for raising fry, and I think I can work it into my blackwater tank very nicely, as just some extra stuff on the bottom.


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## rabidelfman

I just found this forum, and this thread, what amazing apistos!

I'm relatively new to the hobby, and very new to apistos. I have two juveniles, one I'm sure is a male and the other, smaller one, I'm not so sure about yet. They're such personable fish, I never knew there was such a thing. Here are my two Apistogramma Cacatuoides:


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## Nlewis

rabidelfman said:


> I just found this forum, and this thread, what amazing apistos!
> 
> I'm relatively new to the hobby, and very new to apistos. I have two juveniles, one I'm sure is a male and the other, smaller one, I'm not so sure about yet. They're such personable fish, I never knew there was such a thing. Here are my two Apistogramma Cacatuoides:


Hard to say on the second photo it could go either way. I would lean more towards female though due to its rounded tail but only time will tell.


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## rabidelfman

Nlewis said:


> Hard to say on the second photo it could go either way. I would lean more towards female though due to its rounded tail but only time will tell.



I'm definitely hoping it's a female... that said, the other guy chases the little one around quite often... I'm hoping he's just acting like a juvenile and harassing a girl he likes :grin2:

I'm going to be adding sand areas this weekend for them and thinking about adding oak leaves from the yard, make 'em feel a little more at home.


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## Nlewis

rabidelfman said:


> I'm definitely hoping it's a female... that said, the other guy chases the little one around quite often... I'm hoping he's just acting like a juvenile and harassing a girl he likes :grin2:
> 
> I'm going to be adding sand areas this weekend for them and thinking about adding oak leaves from the yard, make 'em feel a little more at home.


Where did you buy them?


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## rabidelfman

I bought them from my LFS. They had gotten quite a few from a local breeder a couple weeks before I had come in. They were in a tank with many other juveniles and looked almost identical, except for one being slightly bigger than the other.

I understand I'm taking a chance, but if it turns out to be another male, or a female that my male doesn't take kindly to, I have another tank it could go in. I really would rather not take it back, I feel so bad when I do.


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## fracturedapple

Apistos are my favorite fish. Here is my male orange apistogramma cacatuoides and one of his ladies 




















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## [email protected]

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## Zeni123

My Hongsloi male

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## biohazardQC

here is my male cacatuoide!


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## rabidelfman

biohazardQC said:


> here is my male cacatuoide!


What kind of cave is that in the background? Coconut?

Such a pretty apisto!


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## biohazardQC

yep!
cut in half and made an opening with a dremel mini drill
i have 3 like thess in my 55g, for my rams, and my baenshis inka 50


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## Nlewis

biohazardQC said:


> yep!
> cut in half and made an opening with a dremel mini drill
> i have 3 like thess in my 55g, for my rams, and my baenshis inka 50


Where's the pics of the Baenschi?


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## chappy6107

Nlewis said:


> Where's the pics of the Baenschi?


Thats what I want to see!


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## Nlewis

One of my new ladies.


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## Cichlidwarf

Just found this fantastic thread,

Some beautiful Apistogrammas on here.
This is my first pair of Apistos. I love them, I can stare at them for hours! They are Agassiz double reds.


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## Zeni123

A. Agassizii male










A. Borellii

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## Nlewis

The new kid on the block


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## biohazardQC

here are my baenshis!

the female : 












and the male, being treated for a bit of mouth fungus :


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## [email protected]

All I thought this would be the best thread to get some advice. I have 1 male and 2 female Apisto. See pic below. 










Now one of the females has been hiding under a tree last few days. She comes out but circles the tree and warning off anything that comes clear. She takes on the SAE the tetra and even the other female. The only thing she is friendly with is the male. 

Also she keeps swimming under the tree so I think she may have laid eggs under there.. 



















Any guidance much appreciated. 

Also think she took a chunk out of one of the OTTo. 


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## Nlewis

[email protected] said:


> All I thought this would be the best thread to get some advice. I have 1 male and 2 female Apisto. See pic below.
> 
> Now one of the females has been hiding under a tree last few days. She comes out but circles the tree and warning off anything that comes clear. She takes on the SAE the tetra and even the other female. The only thing she is friendly with is the male.
> 
> Also she keeps swimming under the tree so I think she may have laid eggs under there..
> 
> Any guidance much appreciated.
> 
> Also think she took a chunk out of one of the OTTo.
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Chances are she has spawned. Female Apistos will become very aggressive during spawning and will protect their nesting area with a vengeance.


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## [email protected]

Nlewis said:


> Chances are she has spawned. Female Apistos will become very aggressive during spawning and will protect their nesting area with a vengeance.




Do I need to take the eggs out? Will they not get eaten? Or will she eat them? 


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## Nlewis

[email protected] said:


> Do I need to take the eggs out? Will they not get eaten? Or will she eat them?
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I just let them do their thing, they're typically really goods parents. She may eat them the first few times like a lot of cichlids but will eventually get it right.


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## chappy6107

where can a guy find a pair of Baenschi's these days. they are really hard to find over the past few years.


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## Nlewis

chappy6107 said:


> where can a guy find a pair of Baenschi's these days. they are really hard to find over the past few years.


Here is where I got mine a few months back. 

Apistogrammas for Sale - Dwarfcichlid.com


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## chappy6107

Nlewis said:


> Here is where I got mine a few months back.
> 
> Apistogrammas for Sale - Dwarfcichlid.com



thanks I forgot about this site. I usually check apistogramma.com. thank you!


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## bsantucci

Mine just spawned for the first time and I have free swimmers! All it cost me was the second female and one pencil fish who were murdered while mama was protecting. Lol. 



















Fat proud papa 









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## Nlewis

bsantucci said:


> Mine just spawned for the first time and I have free swimmers! All it cost me was the second female and one pencil fish who were murdered while mama was protecting. Lol.
> Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk


Yeah those females can get pretty nasty when spawning. Did the male kill the other female or was it a group effort?

Bump:


chappy6107 said:


> thanks I forgot about this site. I usually check apistogramma.com. thank you!


When you send him a message, be patient because I'm pretty sure this isn't his main gig. When I got mine it took him a few days to get back to me. His fish are healthy, look great and we're already on flake food.


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## bsantucci

Nlewis said:


> Yeah those females can get pretty nasty when spawning. Did the male kill the other female or was it a group effort?


All her. She's a murderer haha. The male could care less he's even a dad right now. She's a super young mom maybe only 6 months old but she's doing good. 

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## Zapins

Quick question. Would anyone like to trade me (or sell me) a cacatuodes triple red pair for a pair of kribensis super reds or $20 shipped? I haven't bred apistos in ages and I'd love to again. 

Preferably a young pair close to breeding age. 

Send me a PM if interested and I'll paypal you.


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## Nlewis

This guy is really coming into form and putting on some size. Not sure when his color will actually turn red though. I'm finally getting all these guys and girls weaned onto flake food which I've wanted to do for the longest time now. Sorry for the awesome iPhone 5s pic.


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## johnson18

I've been trying to decide on an Apisto sp. to put in my 20L, I'm leaning towards a pair of A. borellii 'blue'. Currently it has 4 Amano shrimp and 6 Sterbai Cories, planning on adding M. kubotai as dithers. I asked a question on Rachel O'Leary's YouTube about Apistos, mentioning the Cories, and she said that she recommends not keeping Apistos and Cory sp. together. Does anyone here keep the two together? If so, have you had any issues? I think she said that the issues are specifically during breeding. I'm guessing that since the Cories are bottom dwellers they're seen as a threat to the Apisto's breeding cave on the same level. My only other tank right now is my 55 gallon pfr shrimp tank & I really don't wanna move the cories into there. Thoughts?


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## TropicalAquarist

If you provide enough open spaces and caves (the more the better, I'd do 5 at least), I think the cories should have enough space to avoid the apistos...

But TBH, in a 55 they should have enough space so, I don't think they'd significantly affect the shrimp population. I keep cories in my shrimp tanks without a problem...


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## Nlewis

johnson18 said:


> I've been trying to decide on an Apisto sp. to put in my 20L, I'm leaning towards a pair of A. borellii 'blue'. Currently it has 4 Amano shrimp and 6 Sterbai Cories, planning on adding M. kubotai as dithers. I asked a question on Rachel O'Leary's YouTube about Apistos, mentioning the Cories, and she said that she recommends not keeping Apistos and Cory sp. together. Does anyone here keep the two together? If so, have you had any issues? I think she said that the issues are specifically during breeding. I'm guessing that since the Cories are bottom dwellers they're seen as a threat to the Apisto's breeding cave on the same level. My only other tank right now is my 55 gallon pfr shrimp tank & I really don't wanna move the cories into there. Thoughts?


All my Apistos are housed with cories and there has never been any issues.


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## johnson18

TropicalAquarist said:


> If you provide enough open spaces and caves (the more the better, I'd do 5 at least), I think the cories should have enough space to avoid the apistos...
> 
> But TBH, in a 55 they should have enough space so, I don't think they'd significantly affect the shrimp population. I keep cories in my shrimp tanks without a problem...


That's a lot of caves for the 20 long, I may have to add more drift wood or see about hiding those little cave/hut things within the stems. My current layout has a line of small swords at an angle across the tank front to back like this / that should work to form a full break in the line of sight.

Moving the cories into the 55 is kind of a last option.





Nlewis said:


> All my Apistos are housed with cories and there has never been any issues.


I was a little confused by her comment. Having been looking for a while, I've seen that a bunch of the different Apisto tanks on here have Cories & many places that list fish info such as Seriously Fish all list Cory sp. as suitable tank mates. The big exception seems to be with a few of the super rare wild specimens at which point the recommendation is often a species only tank or dithers only.


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## Nlewis

The only time there is ever any friction between the 2 are when the Apistos are breeding. At this point the cories just go wherever they want and will stray into the females nesting area, this is when she gets a little testy. She'll beat them up a bit but will never really do them any harm, they are armored catfish after all.


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## Nlewis

Getting so big and I finally got them transitioned over to flake food.


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## bsantucci

Snapped a really cool shot last night, did some editing and think it came out pretty awesome!


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## Nlewis

Yeah that's a pretty awesome shot.


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## Nlewis

A few pics of the subadult Caca's. I didn't get to many shots of the big boy as he was to busy trying to mate with his sisters.


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## steveo

Here's one of my Apisto Cacatuoides (Cockatoo Cichlid). These guys have lots of personality!


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## biohazardQC

here are my macmasteri!


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## Nlewis

I miss my macmasteri, mine were wild caught though and didn't have a lot of red in them.


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## mbkemp

I think I want to get into the mac's. What kind of water do they like best?


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## Nlewis

mbkemp said:


> I think I want to get into the mac's. What kind of water do they like best?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Soft acidic water but most of what you will find are non wild caught fish which should do fine in most water conditions.


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## mbkemp

Nlewis said:


> Soft acidic water but most of what you will find are non wild caught fish which should do fine in most water conditions.




Sweet!! I really am digging their look. I appreciate your input!!


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## Nlewis

mbkemp said:


> Sweet!! I really am digging their look. I appreciate your input!!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


They're really cool fish. Dot know exactly what your looking for, but keep in mind they are one of the larger species and are typically more aggressive then most.


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## mbkemp

Nlewis said:


> They're really cool fish. Dot know exactly what your looking for, but keep in mind they are one of the larger species and are typically more aggressive then most.




I have read about their attitude. I love the little guys!! I have Bolivians and borelli. Mac's seem like a good next adventure. It's either them or a pelvicachromis that is a little rare 


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## Nlewis

mbkemp said:


> I have read about their attitude. I love the little guys!! I have Bolivians and borelli. Mac's seem like a good next adventure. It's either them or a pelvicachromis that is a little rare
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Lmao, kribs take aggression to another level. They breed readily, and when they do they tend to kill other fish. Macs are good fish, just get a pair to start, they generally like most apisto aren't aggressive to non cichlids.


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## biohazardQC

here is my beautiful Macmasteri!


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## BettaBettas

pretty


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## johnson18

I'm headed to an event this weekend with an auction with hopes of picking up a pair of Apistos. Here's the current list & it has been growing rapidly.










There's also a big list(like 4x the cichlids) of killifish that I know nothing about. Lol. 

I'm not quite sure what I'm interested in on that list but I wouldn't mind some guidance or suggestions!

Bump: I have found a few of these on aquabid in my attempt to get a better grasp on what may be a reasonable price. If anyone has more knowledge of some of less common sp., I would welcome PMs! 

Also, I know this is a photo thread. I apologize for the hijack, just seemed like a place where I could reach a bunch of Apisto fanatics all at once! Not to mention getting fish results in more photos for the thread!!


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## johnson18

bobriley2345 said:


> Hi guys! I recently aqcuired some wc Apistogramma sp. Sunsets and Apistogramma sp. Abacaxis!!!


Pics or it didn't happen! :smile2:


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## Nlewis

johnson18 said:


> Pics or it didn't happen! :smile2:


Exactly!!! I really want to get my hands on some Abacaxis, you dont them to often.


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## Nlewis

bobriley2345 said:


> Give me a day or two. I will get some pics up.. they are elusive little guys. As soon as I recieved them thru USPS priorit two day and started acclimating, male displayed super aggressive behaviors. They are beautiful bruisers for sure--- and all in such a little package.
> 
> The one of the best and most reliable sources for Abacaxis are PureFishWorks.com as this fish is so rare, consider buying from the first importer of the species! Call Shawn and talk to him, he taught me a bunch about the species and helped me get started!
> 
> My quarantine is a 10g that is 12 inches wide... can't see to the back simply because of the quantity of leaf litter and tannins lol.
> 
> I will be buying Uapesi soon too...
> 
> Bump: You don't see apistogramma linkei that often.... MAKE SURE YOU CAN IDENTIFY THE FISH BEFORE YOU PURCHASE! Do not lose money on the fish that you think are Abacaxis, but really are Pertensis.


I check on that site from time to time and never see them Abacaxis listed. Did you get them from PureFishWorks?

Oh and it should be easily identified as the Abacaxis and the Pertensis look nothing a like.


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## johnson18

bobriley2345 said:


> Give me a day or two. I will get some pics up.. they are elusive little guys. As soon as I recieved them thru USPS priorit two day and started acclimating, male displayed super aggressive behaviors. They are beautiful bruisers for sure--- and all in such a little package.
> 
> The one of the best and most reliable sources for Abacaxis are PureFishWorks.com as this fish is so rare, consider buying from the first importer of the species! Call Shawn and talk to him, he taught me a bunch about the species and helped me get started!
> 
> My quarantine is a 10g that is 12 inches wide... can't see to the back simply because of the quantity of leaf litter and tannins lol.
> 
> I will be buying Uapesi soon too...
> 
> Bump: You don't see apistogramma linkei that often.... MAKE SURE YOU CAN IDENTIFY THE FISH BEFORE YOU PURCHASE! Do not lose money on the fish that you think are Abacaxis, but really are Pertensis.





Nlewis said:


> Oh and it should be easily identified as the Abacaxis and the Pertensis look nothing a like.



I'm guessing that last part was more directed at me as A. linkei is part of the list above. Just a guess, but I'm thinking that last Abacaxis was meant to be linkei. 

Though I will try my best to make positive ID's on anything I'm interested in, one of the main presentations is by a guy who's apparently been doing this whole Apisto thing for like 40 years, including lots of collection trips. It's my guess that he is the source for most of these fish, although I will double check.


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## EmeraldAlkaline

Hi, pardon the non-picture post but I have a newb question. Apparently Apistos are small enough to go in a 20 gallon? they look like a very attractive option for the 20 I am setting up! would they be okay with German Blue Rams, platys, and tetras?

Also whats is a good species to get and wheres a good place to order them? My petco is very lacking in the 'unusual fish' department!


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## TropicalAquarist

They will do great in a 20, however Rams occupy the same territory as apistos so it's not recommended to have both unless there is enough space for both to have a territory (a 20 is a bit tight for 2 types)...


----------



## EmeraldAlkaline

TropicalAquarist said:


> They will do great in a 20, however Rams occupy the same territory as apistos so it's not recommended to have both unless there is enough space for both to have a territory (a 20 is a bit tight for 2 types)...


Ah gotcha, so they are territorial as well? Ah well, I think ill do the rams as they are readily available to me and my favorite fish, hahah


----------



## BettaBettas

https://aquaticarts.com/collections/catfish-plecos


----------



## Nlewis

TropicalAquarist said:


> They will do great in a 20, however Rams occupy the same territory as apistos so it's not recommended to have both unless there is enough space for both to have a territory (a 20 is a bit tight for 2 types)...


This is true. A pair or maybe a trio is the most I'd put into a standard 20, if its a 20L you could get away with 2 pair.


----------



## Nlewis

EmeraldAlkaline said:


> Ah gotcha, so they are territorial as well? Ah well, I think ill do the rams as they are readily available to me and my favorite fish, hahah


All cichlids are generally territorial even the rams your planning on getting. As mentioned above a pair or trio is a good fit even for the rams. Rams IMO are actually a little more aggressive than most of the Apistos I've kept. Don't sell yourself short by just picking up rams because they're readily available near you. Look through this thread and google Apistogramma species and see what you like. Let me know if you want some and i may be able to point you in a direction for purchasing them.


----------



## EmeraldAlkaline

Nlewis said:


> All cichlids are generally territorial even the rams your planning on getting. As mentioned above a pair or trio is a good fit even for the rams. Rams IMO are actually a little more aggressive than most of the Apistos I've kept. Don't sell yourself short by just picking up rams because they're readily available near you. Look through this thread and google Apistogramma species and see what you like. Let me know if you want some and i may be able to point you in a direction for purchasing them.


Oh of course. Ive seen some Apistos, but a ram is not a compromise for me anyways! they are some of my favorite fish! I plan on getting a pair of them along with a pair of clown plecos to add with my current school of tetras and 2 platys


----------



## johnson18

Nlewis said:


> . Don't sell yourself short by just picking up rams because they're readily available near you. Look through this thread and google Apistogramma species and see what you like. Let me know if you want some and i may be able to point you in a direction for purchasing them.



This is so true! Since I've started looking at Apistogramma sp. more in depth I'm amazed by the huge variety available in the hobby. I'm going to have to finally just pick one or I'll never decide! 




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## DMullin

*New fish*

I have these for a week or two.


----------



## TropicalAquarist

You are too kind @bobriley2345

I try my best


----------



## DMullin

Yes they are Agassizi


----------



## [email protected]

All figured this is best place to get some advice. My apis has given birth it's a communal tank 240litres I have a planted injected CO2 tank. 

The mother keeps her fry close and if they stray to far she will pick them up and put them back under the tree. However some of the fish are managing to eat the fry I have witnessed one being eaten. 

What should I do.... Leave them to her and see if she can raise them... Or catch them and put them in a hatchery? 

Let me know what you all think is best... 

See video below https://youtu.be/zRIV7LM64ss


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## johnson18

I picked up a pair of Apistogramma erythrura that are F1 from a collection trip to Bolivia by Drs. Tom Wilkinson & Ron Harlan in August of last year! I'm sure those names probably don't mean much to y'all, they certainly don't to me. Tom's a long term Apisto collector & Ron seems to be all about the Killifish. 

These are fairly young but easily sexed and already showing great colors( & that's inside a breather bag being looked at by everyone!)

Pics to come in a few days! 

Two F1 pairs of A. abacaxis from the same trip went for $20 & $12. 


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## Nlewis

johnson18 said:


> Pics or it didn't happen! :smile2:


This applies to you now.


----------



## Zapins

Do you all find that A. agazzizi fish are not usually as healthy as other varieties? I just got a trio of the red agazzizzi's and one female died and the other isn't looking at ease. Nothing visibly wrong with any of them, and they seemed well fed to begin with although they did behave a bit weirdly in the shop.

I switched them into nearly pure RO DI water and they are looking a bit better today. I wonder if they get pH shocked or stressed out by hard water?


----------



## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> Do you all find that A. agazzizi fish are not usually as healthy as other varieties? I just got a trio of the red agazzizzi's and one female died and the other isn't looking at ease. Nothing visibly wrong with any of them, and they seemed well fed to begin with although they did behave a bit weirdly in the shop.
> 
> I switched them into nearly pure RO DI water and they are looking a bit better today. I wonder if they get pH shocked or stressed out by hard water?


I think it mainly depends on the source. Ive had them die within a week from the LFS, but the ones i get from breeders or well known sources always do very well. I'm not so sure about the hard water aspect as I have pretty good well water. It has a ph of 6.8 and a gh/kh of 6/8.


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## johnson18

Nlewis said:


> This applies to you now.




That requires seeing more than a brief glimpse of them at a time! I'll be home a little more this next week. I'll see what I can do. Posted a couple in the bag shots over in my tank journal. 


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## Nlewis

bobriley2345 said:


> Hey!
> 
> Just PM me if you want me to grab a pair for you and ship them out
> 
> Good luck!


I'm going to remember this for future purchases. I once tried to order from them and they never returned my emails.


----------



## [email protected]

Baby Aspisto 3 weeks old









I had 20 baby fry and I think about 12 have survived considering I have ICH I think this is not bad. 










Although dead plants due to temp in tank increase at 33C to kill off parasite. 

Mother and Farther... 











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## Nlewis

What are they eating? Mine grew super slow but they were also in a 20g.


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## [email protected]

Nlewis said:


> What are they eating? Mine grew super slow but they were also in a 20g.




They are eating veggie tablets and Baby Shrimp which they love. They are quite big for 3 weeks. I had one in captivity but was half the size so released her back to her mum so she soon grew big with the rest. Found 9 in the tank tonight and more eggs laid. Just need to get the temp down once the ICH has gone . 


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## [email protected]

Feeding this but gone through 3 bottles a £10 per jar. It's about a jar a week.









all the fish love this though... 


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## johnson18

[email protected] said:


> Feeding this but gone through 3 bottles a £10 per jar. It's about a jar a week.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> all the fish love this though...
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk




Ive been feeding this to my Apistos, Dwarf Pencilfish & young Killifish, everyone seems to love it! 

Also congrats on the baby fish! They're growing well! 

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## Nlewis

Mine would only eat live food


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## [email protected]

Nlewis said:


> Mine would only eat live food




I used live food at first but I think the baby Brime simulates this the best. 

How old are your Apis now? You got any pics? 


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## [email protected]

johnson18 said:


> Ive been feeding this to my Apistos, Dwarf Pencilfish & young Killifish, everyone seems to love it!
> 
> Also congrats on the baby fish! They're growing well!
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk




Yeah it seems that way. Do you turn off the filter when you feed them? I do as j don't want to waste it all. Have one jar left lot bought anymore since hoping the fish grow big enough to eat other things in the tank. 


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## Nlewis

[email protected] said:


> I used live food at first but I think the baby Brime simulates this the best.
> 
> How old are your Apis now? You got any pics?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


IDK, I haven't seen them in over a month. This is what one looked like before I left.


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## [email protected]

Nlewis said:


> IDK, I haven't seen them in over a month. This is what one looked like before I left.




That's pretty cool guess you travel away a lot. Anyway looks smart it always feels good to raise your own than buy them from the pet store... 


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## [email protected]

Seems about 12 have survived here is one of them







almost 4 weeks old. 


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## [email protected]

Another two but plants are dying due to heat in the tank as I am fighting ICH 


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## sharambil

Abacaxis pair in first pic, abacaxis male in second pic. WC from Rio Abacaxis, Lago Glemende, Brazil. Very rare... very glad I got them. Brazil is becoming increasingly difficult to export ornamental fish out of....


----------



## [email protected]

More fry 



















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## [email protected]

Here is another










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## Nlewis

Texted my buddy yesterday and told him it's time for him to go get some of the triple reds.


----------



## johnson18

Nlewis said:


> This applies to you now.




I'm still struggling to get great pictures of my pair of Apistogramma erythrura. Here are a few decent ones that I've managed to get. I don't have any other camera beside my iPhone. 






































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## mbkemp

Nice!!


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## Nlewis

johnson18 said:


> I'm still struggling to get great pictures of my pair of Apistogramma erythrura. Here are a few decent ones that I've managed to get. I don't have any other camera beside my iPhone.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


It's about time.


----------



## Zapins

Just wanted to share this video of my 3 week old Apisto cacatuodes double red fry. The mom told them to wait in the house then came back and kissed two of the babies and then went off to flirt with dad fish.


----------



## TropicalAquarist

Zapins said:


> Just wanted to share this video of my 3 week old Apisto cacatuodes double red fry. The mom told them to wait in the house then came back and kissed two of the babies and then went off to flirt with dad fish.
> 
> https://youtu.be/8Rc-aqD8BmI




That male looks phenomenal!!


----------



## mbkemp

He is a stunner


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## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> Just wanted to share this video of my 3 week old Apisto cacatuodes double red fry. The mom told them to wait in the house then came back and kissed two of the babies and then went off to flirt with dad fish.
> 
> https://youtu.be/8Rc-aqD8BmI


I'd trade some fish with you, but I've never shipped fish before. Mine are about 10 months old now.


----------



## johnson18

Nlewis said:


> I'd trade some fish with you, but I've never shipped fish before. Mine are about 10 months old now.




I might be willing to get fish from both of you for my upcoming blackwater tank! I'm planning on at least two pairs of Apistos in the 40, maybe even three.

Actually, I'm super undecided on fish. I'd like to add some fish that look more like the wild types rather than some of the obviously manmade line bred fish. This obviously doesn't mean triple red anything, but you never know. I'm definitely doing Apistos though!! I've been thinking about A. borellii or talking to Tom Wilkinson about some of the F1 fish from his is collections during his 2016 trip to Bolivia. 


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## Nlewis

johnson18 said:


> I might be willing to get fish from both of you for my upcoming blackwater tank! I'm planning on at least two pairs of Apistos in the 40, maybe even three.
> 
> Actually, I'm super undecided on fish. I'd like to add some fish that look more like the wild types rather than some of the obviously manmade line bred fish. This obviously doesn't mean triple red anything, but you never know. I'm definitely doing Apistos though!! I've been thinking about A. borellii or talking to Tom Wilkinson about some of the F1 fish from his is collections during his 2016 trip to Bolivia.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I'm just so scared to ship them. I've never shipped fish or plants. I've put so much time into raising the guys, it would kill me to see them die during shipping. Also, I only know of 1 male in the group of 20+ I have, but I think I have about 5 sneaker males. If someone could walk me through shipping I'd consider it.


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## Zapins

I'd do shipping when they are older. They are still eating baby brine shrimp now so they aren't ready for a new home.

N Lewis - I know what you mean. I've raised a lot of fish over the years and it's best to trade locally whenever possible but at the same time shipping can work. Yes you might lose some but you can reduce those risks by shipping with ammonia absorbing resins, breather bags, fasting the fish before shipping, waiting for a good time of year when it's not too cold to ship or just fedex ing them.

On top of that I figure that even though some might die during shipping you can't keep them all and you are doing much better than the average hobbyist if you manage to breed your fish and spread them to other hobbyists. In the wild out of 200 fry you might get 1 or 2 survivors. So if only a few of your fish make it safely to others you'd be doing better than nature.


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## Nlewis

Look, this guy grew up.


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## biohazardQC

Here is my Male Macmasteri!


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## The Dude1

No females yet


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## Nlewis

Who cares, that male is baller.


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## Nlewis

New arrivals, meet Mr. Panduro. Cousins to the Baenschi, I feel these are some underrated apistos. Tannined stained water does them no justice hiding that nice blue hue of their body.


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## TropicalAquarist

Nlewis said:


> New arrivals, meet Mr. Panduro. Cousins to the Baenschi, I feel these are some underrated apistos. Tannined stained water does them no justice hiding that nice blue hue of their body.




They look awesome, they settled in nicely!


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## Zapins

If I could only find panduros or Baenschi....

What did you end up paying for them? Any more where they came from?


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## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> If I could only find panduros or Baenschi....
> 
> What did you end up paying for them? Any more where they came from?


Can't remember his name, but contact this guy. He runs the site and breeds Baenschi, he's who I sourced mine from. 

Apistogrammas for Sale - Dwarfcichlid.com

Local guy up in Maryland has Panduro's and I believe he ships. Talked to him the other day about getting some females and he said he was only about 80% on sexing them. 

http://www.batfishaquatics.com/


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## Zapins

Sounds good thanks. I'll contact him soon. Need to let my tanks settle in. I just did some 10g with soil for the apistos so it will need about a month to get the ammonia down and be habitable.

I bought some agazizzi reds and another species. The name escapes me at the moment. Will take pics of the hem soon.

Here are the cacatuodes again in breeding colors.







Sold to me as Apistogramma cacatuodes double red. But possibly are super red variety.


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## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> Sounds good thanks. I'll contact him soon. Need to let my tanks settle in. I just did some 10g with soil for the apistos so it will need about a month to get the ammonia down and be habitable.
> 
> I bought some agazizzi reds and another species. The name escapes me at the moment. Will take pics of the hem soon.
> 
> Here are the cacatuodes again in breeding colors.


Picture isn't showing up for me. I too came home to wigglers yesterday.

Oh, be patient with the Baenschi breeder. When I first contacted him, it took almost a week for him to get back to me.


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## Zapins

Just saw something interesting. The Apistogramma cacatuoides just hatched out a batch of fry that became free swimming about 4 days ago and then laid another batch of eggs last night! The female is now taking care of the new eggs and the first batch of babies at the same time. 

I've only ever see them raise one batch at a time until they get to about 1/3" long then they kick the first group out and lay again.

My other apistos have colored up and are in breeding mode. Unfortunately I can't give them their own tank just yet since the new 10g tanks are still settling down after adding soil to them. Maybe in a week or two I'll put all the apisto pairs into their own tank and give them a proper go at breeding.


----------



## The Dude1

Nlewis said:


> Can't remember his name, but contact this guy. He runs the site and breeds Baenschi, he's who I sourced mine from.
> 
> Apistogrammas for Sale - Dwarfcichlid.com
> 
> Local guy up in Maryland has Panduro's and I believe he ships. Talked to him the other day about getting some females and he said he was only about 80% on sexing them.
> 
> Batfish Aquatics | Home Page


First guy isn't shipping. Second guy has some nice fish and great prices!! This is a tough decision. I wish I had the other tank open in case of issues. Baenschi is hard to find though and they are really nice. I really like the extended dorsal spines... and I think a strong blue would really stand out. Is there a possibility of interbreeding?? That would suck


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## Nlewis

The Dude1 said:


> First guy isn't shipping. Second guy has some nice fish and great prices!! This is a tough decision. I wish I had the other tank open in case of issues. Baenschi is hard to find though and they are really nice. I really like the extended dorsal spines... and I think a strong blue would really stand out. Is there a possibility of interbreeding?? That would suck


Message the first guy. He stopped shipping due to the hot weather and it's gotten much cooler lately.

Bump:


Zapins said:


> Just saw something interesting. The Apistogramma cacatuoides just hatched out a batch of fry that became free swimming about 4 days ago and then laid another batch of eggs last night! The female is now taking care of the new eggs and the first batch of babies at the same time.
> 
> I've only ever see them raise one batch at a time until they get to about 1/3" long then they kick the first group out and lay again.
> 
> My other apistos have colored up and are in breeding mode. Unfortunately I can't give them their own tank just yet since the new 10g tanks are still settling down after adding soil to them. Maybe in a week or two I'll put all the apisto pairs into their own tank and give them a proper go at breeding.


That's pretty cool. Mine would breed about a week after their fry were free swimming. Then they would eat them in order to care for the new batch. 

Let's get some pics.


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## johnson18

I picked up a young pair of Apistogramma urteagai at our club auction today. They are currently acclimating into a heavily planted 10g that has a trio of small Aphyosemion killies & a colony of cherry shrimp. The killies don't even look twice at the shrimp. The pair are both less than an inch. They might end up in a different tank but this is where they're going to start. They tank is so heavily planted that you can't see all the way through the tank at any point. 











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## Zapins

Will try get photos soon of the other fish. My german blue rams spawned last night. I'll probably take the babies just to ensure they hatch. Especially since they are in a tank with a lot of other young apistos, so I doubt the parents can protect the fry.


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## Nlewis

@The Dude1 here's some of that blue hue I was referring to in the Panduro.


----------



## Zapins

Nlewis - those are nice looking fish! Are they in breeding colors now or just warming up?

Anyone interested in trading your pair of A. Baenschi (or offspring) for a pair or two of my A. cacatuoides? Mine are about 1 to 1.5 " now and are pairing up/ready to breed.


----------



## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> Nlewis - those are nice looking fish! Are they in breeding colors now or just warming up?
> 
> Anyone interested in trading your pair of A. Baenschi (or offspring) for a pair or two of my A. cacatuoides? Mine are about 1 to 1.5 " now and are pairing up/ready to breed.


Not really, there's only one female to the 3 males. I contacted someone about sourcing 2 additional females but I haven't pulled the trigger on them yet. One source is tanked raised and the other are wild caught. I'm moving in a couple days so I've been stalling. 

I'm down to 1 Baenschi male at the moment and to my knowledge none of them have ever breed. They're in a community tank and there's something going on in there now, I believe it's columnaris. I lost 2 male Baenschi last month. 

After I get settled in I'd definitely be interested in purchasing a pair of fish though.


----------



## johnson18

I may have a problem. I've now got a pair of Apistos, each of a different species, in all of my tanks except the 5.5 that just has Gertrude's Rainbowfish. 

Picked up a pair of Apistogramma baenschi yesterday for my 55. I'll try to grab some pics later today once the lights turn on. 



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## Zapins

Where are you getting your A. baenschi pairs from? I'm having a hard time sourcing them from aquabid/ebay/forums. A lot of wild caught ones, but I'm not interested in those. 

How much did you pay?

Any chance of some photos?


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## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> Where are you getting your A. baenschi pairs from? I'm having a hard time sourcing them from aquabid/ebay/forums. A lot of wild caught ones, but I'm not interested in those.
> 
> How much did you pay?
> 
> Any chance of some photos?


I got mine from this guy. 
Apistogrammas for Sale - Dwarfcichlid.com

Pics of mine are on the first post I believe. 

How much for a pair of your Caca's?


----------



## johnson18

These were bred locally from some that were collected by Dr.'s Ron Harlan & Tom Wilkinson in Bolivia last year. I paid $25, but I found out later that I know who bred them for the LFS & I will go directly to him for another pair for the 55. 

In the fish community between Tucson and Phoenix you can find a huge number of Apisto varieties. Although, from local hobbyists it's probably easier to find A. Abacaxis than a triple red or orange anything. There are a lot of us that got the F1 fish from the two guys that did the collecting. 

My LFS, Arizona Nature Aquatics, had nine or ten different types of Apistos on Friday, either from local trade or their own sources: baenschi, bitaeniata, hongsloi, borellii 'blue' & 'opal', a couple different agassizii, maybe one cacatuoides, & another I can't remember right now.


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## johnson18

Zapins said:


> Where are you getting your A. baenschi pairs from? I'm having a hard time sourcing them from aquabid/ebay/forums. A lot of wild caught ones, but I'm not interested in those.
> 
> How much did you pay?
> 
> Any chance of some photos?




The Wet Spot has them too


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## The Dude1

I've got a pair of triple Reds coming. I've got the 2 males in the 75 now. What do you guys suggest? Adding the new pair to the others will likely end up in the males killing the new male... now I'm wishing I would've purchased 2 pairs and move both of the golds...


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## The Dude1

New pair from ApistoDave. The plan was to introduce them and in the commotion I would scoop out one of the golds. It didn't work. I haven't really seen any chasing yet, but I'm going to move 1 of the Golds as soon as I can. I'll then add him to the lower 75 and add another pair of Apisto's.. I might buy another pair of Caucatoides to get a second female to put in the top tank.


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## Pluke

The Dude1 said:


> New pair from ApistoDave. The plan was to introduce them and in the commotion I would scoop out one of the golds. It didn't work. I haven't really seen any chasing yet, but I'm going to move 1 of the Golds as soon as I can. I'll then add him to the lower 75 and add another pair of Apisto's.. I might buy another pair of Caucatoides to get a second female to put in the top tank.


What water parameters do you keep these guys in? Are they easy to care for? The few care sheets I've read, after seeing this thread, seem to suggest that pH isn't a huge problem. They even tolerate a nice range of temperatures. Every time I look at this thread my urge to start yet another tank grows..


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## Nlewis

Pluke said:


> What water parameters do you keep these guys in? Are they easy to care for? The few care sheets I've read, after seeing this thread, seem to suggest that pH isn't a huge problem. They even tolerate a nice range of temperatures. Every time I look at this thread my urge to start yet another tank grows..


They're are all pretty hardy fish and will do well in most water conditions. The only time I worry is when they're wild caught. This is mainly due to the fact that a lot of apistos come from water where the ph can dip down into the 3's.


----------



## Rogozhin75

Nlewis said:


> They're are all pretty hardy fish and will do well in most water conditions. The only time I worry is when they're wild caught. This is mainly due to the fact that a lot of apistos come from water where the ph can dip down into the 3's.


I have four on order, two are wild bred, should I cancel those? I have a Ph between 7.4 and 7.8


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## The Dude1

Rogozhin75 said:


> I have four on order, two are wild bred, should I cancel those? I have a Ph between 7.4 and 7.8


I can't speak to wild caught, but these are tank bred and come from a relatively hard pH very similar to mine at least pre-C02. Most Caucatoides are tank raised now as the double red, triple reds, and orange flash are all line bred varieties.


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## Nlewis

Rogozhin75 said:


> I have four on order, two are wild bred, should I cancel those? I have a Ph between 7.4 and 7.8


Message the seller to see how long they've had them and what parameters they've been kept in.


----------



## Rogozhin75

Nlewis said:


> Message the seller to see how long they've had them and what parameters they've been kept in.



I just did!


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## johnson18

I picked up a second pair of A. urteagai today for half of what I spent on the first pair. $13. I have a good connection for A. baenschi too, with F1 parents. It sounds like he has a ton of juveniles that are tiny but no room to raise them all so I may end up with a bunch since I've got the tank space.


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## The Dude1

johnson18 said:


> I picked up a second pair of A. urteagai today for half of what I spent on the first pair. $13. I have a good connection for A. baenschi too, with F1 parents. It sounds like he has a ton of juveniles that are tiny but no room to raise them all so I may end up with a bunch since I've got the tank space.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Does he ship? Can you PM me?? I'm picking up some Apisto's when the power comes back on and if really like Baenschi


----------



## Zapins

Any pics of the offspring or parents he got?


----------



## johnson18

The Dude1 said:


> Does he ship? Can you PM me?? I'm picking up some Apisto's when the power comes back on and if really like Baenschi




It's the wrong time of year to be shipping anything in or out of Southern Arizona! We were 107F yesterday... these fish are maybe 0.5in right now at most. 


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## Rogozhin75

Hey Guys, I just put in my apistos (two SP Oregons, and two double red agas). They're still small, but I'm wondering what their sex is and how big they'll get in my 30 gallon bowfront SeaClear tank. They're hiding right now so I'm not able to get pictures of the other two. 

They're very neat fish though, tons of character compared to the Danio target fish.


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## The Dude1

johnson18 said:


> It's the wrong time of year to be shipping anything in or out of Southern Arizona! We were 107F yesterday... these fish are maybe 0.5in right now at most.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I'm doing my very best to be patient, but I got bit hard by the Apisto bug. I need some Borelli or Baenschi and some Abacaxis. Going to swing by the local cichlid specialty store and see what he will give me for my peacocks and Haps. That 150 would be awesome with a couple breeding groups of Apisto's and 3 - 4 Discus... I could set up the bottom 75 as a fry growout only..


----------



## johnson18

I was just contacted by a member of a local club who heard I was interested in Apistos at one of the club meetings over the weekend. She has about 60 young A. linkei, bred from wild caught parents. The parents are not from the same source/importer as the parents of my F1 fish. I can put you in contact if you want.


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## Nlewis

Finally got my unicorn of apistos today. Meet Mr. Abacaxis. It's hard to get a good pic of them right now and this is the best I could do. They're young, about 1.5" and gaining their colors. I've been looking for these for 2 years and finally got them.


----------



## The Dude1

I can't wait to see these colored up. I'm hoping to make room for some tomorrow.


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## Nlewis

The Dude1 said:


> I can't wait to see these colored up. I'm hoping to make room for some tomorrow.


Did u order them?


----------



## BeastMaster

Aloha, the Apisto bug has reemerged in couple of my tanks. Pics of both pairs as they acclimate to their new digs.








pair of trifasciata in the 60P








pair of borelli in the 60F



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## johnson18

These A. urteagai are difficult to get pics of, especially to get them with any colors! Probably doesn't help that the tank is packed wth plants and super dim.
















































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## Zapins

I just saw today that my pair of Apistogramma erythrura are actually both males. One was a sneaker male the whole time! They have been acting like a pair for months with no eggs laid. I recently got green water in the new breeding tank I have them in and it's been about two weeks now. That has blocked the dominant male from view and the sneaker male has matured and developed male finnage.

So not happy about this! Where/how am I going to get a female for them to breed? Nobody sells just 1. Plus not many people sell erythrura to begin with. What a pity!


----------



## tariqkieran

Apistogramma agassizii Fire Red male


----------



## The Dude1

Nlewis said:


> Did u order them?


Haven't made space yet unfortunately. I either want them in the 150 or the 75 by themselves. My wife would kill me if I spent that kind of money on 2 fish and they were killed. I'm going to call again today and see if I can at least rehome the Africans and put them in the lower 75. Didn't get power back until Sat evening so I think he is still recovering.
I want them badly... I don't want to put them into the 75 with the 2 male Gold Triple Reds.

Bump:


Zapins said:


> I just saw today that my pair of Apistogramma erythrura are actually both males. One was a sneaker male the whole time! They have been acting like a pair for months with no eggs laid. I recently got green water in the new breeding tank I have them in and it's been about two weeks now. That has blocked the dominant male from view and the sneaker male has matured and developed male finnage.
> 
> So not happy about this! Where/how am I going to get a female for them to breed? Nobody sells just 1. Plus not many people sell erythrura to begin with. What a pity!


That's what happened with the Gold Caucatoides I bought... but instead of researching I took their word that it was a pair. It was obvious from the start that they were not. I haven't been able to find anyone willing to sell a female Caucatoides so I can only imagine you 2ill have a much more difficult time.


----------



## johnson18

Zapins said:


> I just saw today that my pair of Apistogramma erythrura are actually both males. One was a sneaker male the whole time! They have been acting like a pair for months with no eggs laid. I recently got green water in the new breeding tank I have them in and it's been about two weeks now. That has blocked the dominant male from view and the sneaker male has matured and developed male finnage.
> 
> So not happy about this! Where/how am I going to get a female for them to breed? Nobody sells just 1. Plus not many people sell erythrura to begin with. What a pity!




That's no fun at all. There are several of us locally that have F1 A. erythrura, while I've been unsuccessful at spawning them, I'm a total noob compared to some of these guys. Let me see if anyone has been successful & if so, what sort of sex ratios they've had. It'll take a few days, at least, to get in touch with people but I'll let you know.


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## Nlewis

I had a lonely male I gave away a week ago.


----------



## Zapins

Thedude1 - I have double red cacatuodes females if you need one. Breeding size. I spawned them about 6 months back and could ship one out to you if you want?

Johnson, I'd appreciate that! Any pics of them would help too.

The funny thing is the sneaker male fooled the normal male too. I saw the male displaying and shimmying as if it was a female. It looks totally different now that it's grown.


----------



## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> Thedude1 - I have double red cacatuodes females if you need one. Breeding size. I spawned them about 6 months back and could ship one out to you if you want?
> 
> Johnson, I'd appreciate that! Any pics of them would help too.
> 
> The funny thing is the sneaker male fooled the normal male too. I saw the male displaying and shimmying as if it was a female. It looks totally different now that it's grown.


What was your trick to get them grown up so fast? Mine took almost a year to get to breeding size.


----------



## Zapins

I kept feeding them freshly hatched baby brine shrimp until they are about 1 inch.

Also feeding beef heart now and frozen foods. But mainly freshly hatched baby brine. Seems they do really well on it.


----------



## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> I kept feeding them freshly hatched baby brine shrimp until they are about 1 inch.
> 
> Also feeding beef heart now and frozen foods. But mainly freshly hatched baby brine. Seems they do really well on it.


Yeah the brine shrimp just seemed like entirely way to much work. I think mine stalled because I kept them on micro worms to long. I was hesitant to switch them over flake because I was afraid they'd starve. 

On I side note, I came home today to a bright yellow and sunken belly Abacaxis female. You apisto freaks know what that means. THEYRE BREEDING ALREADY!!!!!!


----------



## Zapins

Brine shrimp aren't too hard to hatch out or too time consuming.

It takes me roughly 2 minutes to reset the culture at night, which I do after I brush my teeth (it just takes rinsing out and rubbing the inside of the glass jar with my fingers to get rid of bacteria, 2 table spoons sea salt, a drop a of dechlor and 1/3 table spoon eggs). Feeding takes about 3 minutes to strain the shrimp through a coffee filter and feed them via a baby syringe to the various tanks I have, so 5 minutes a day max.

This is my shrimp hatchery, easy and cheap to make. You can hatch out shrimp every 12-18 hours depending on the temperature in the jar. 
Brine Shrimp Hatchery Guide - the easy way - DIY Aquarium Projects - Aquatic Plant Central

Congrats on the eggs, now we will see if she knows not to eat them yet!


----------



## The Dude1

Zapins said:


> Thedude1 - I have double red cacatuodes females if you need one. Breeding size. I spawned them about 6 months back and could ship one out to you if you want?
> 
> Johnson, I'd appreciate that! Any pics of them would help too.
> 
> The funny thing is the sneaker male fooled the normal male too. I saw the male displaying and shimmying as if it was a female. It looks totally different now that it's grown.


AWESOME!! Let me get these Africans at least into the other tank and I'll Paypal you some cash!! Thanks man! I really want these guys to raise some spawns even if I cant sell them. I wonder what the fry would look like? Gold triple reds with regular double reds... that would be so interesting!


----------



## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> Brine shrimp aren't too hard to hatch out or too time consuming.
> 
> It takes me roughly 2 minutes to reset the culture at night, which I do after I brush my teeth (it just takes rinsing out and rubbing the inside of the glass jar with my fingers to get rid of bacteria, 2 table spoons sea salt, a drop a of dechlor and 1/3 table spoon eggs). Feeding takes about 3 minutes to strain the shrimp through a coffee filter and feed them via a baby syringe to the various tanks I have, so 5 minutes a day max.
> 
> This is my shrimp hatchery, easy and cheap to make. You can hatch out shrimp every 12-18 hours depending on the temperature in the jar.
> Brine Shrimp Hatchery Guide - the easy way - DIY Aquarium Projects - Aquatic Plant Central
> 
> Congrats on the eggs, now we will see if she knows not to eat them yet!


We'll see, she's not so yellow today but she is badgering the hell out of the male. Love is in the air though, the neighboring tank has my Fire Reds. I couldn't find the female last night so I knew something was up. Today I found her guarding a bunch of eggs.


----------



## BeastMaster

BeastMaster said:


> Aloha, the Apisto bug has reemerged in couple of my tanks. Pics of both pairs as they acclimate to their new digs.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> pair of trifasciata in the 60P
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> pair of borelli in the 60F
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk












pair of nijsseni in my 12L



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## The Dude1

Those nijsseni are AWESOME! I need to decide what I'm going to stock. One setback after another.


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## Nlewis

My buddy, Purple Lips.


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## The Dude1

Nlewis said:


> My buddy, Purple Lips.


That is amazing... that's it... I need those. I'll email today and see if he still has the other pair.


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## johnson18

Nlewis said:


> My buddy, Purple Lips.




He is incredible! I definitely need a pair of those!! I guess I'll be putting together a tank for them soon! Man, I really need to break down my emersed 55 to clear up some space!


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## Zapins

Wow great looking fish, what species is the purple lip one?


----------



## Nlewis

The Dude1 said:


> That is amazing... that's it... I need those. I'll email today and see if he still has the other pair.


Ha, I finally got a better pic.

Bump:


Zapins said:


> Wow great looking fish, what species is the purple lip one?


Abacaxis


----------



## johnson18

This little lady is starting to get nice and yellow. I didn't see the male much tonight, but every time I did he was showing off for her. Unfortunately, I didn't get any good pics of him. 

A. baenschi female




















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## Rogozhin75

Wow, these pictures are great (as are the tanks).  

Here's my female oregon SP:


----------



## Zapins

Johnson - I'd love to have a pair of A. baenschi like those. The trouble is finding someone who sells them! Looking forwards to seeing a pic of the male.

In other news my rams spawned last night and I happened to catch a video of it.

https://youtu.be/NtGs-e1FO00?t=1m49s

Probably better to watch from 1 min 49 seconds into the video. I didn't edit out the beginning.


----------



## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> Johnson - I'd love to have a pair of A. baenschi like those. The trouble is finding someone who sells them! Looking forwards to seeing a pic of the male.
> 
> In other news my rams spawned last night and I happened to catch a video of it.
> 
> https://youtu.be/NtGs-e1FO00?t=1m49s
> 
> Probably better to watch from 1 min 49 seconds into the video. I didn't edit out the beginning.
> 
> www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtGs-e1FO00


Send the email, he has them. 
Apistogrammas for Sale - Dwarfcichlid.com


----------



## Zapins

He doesn't have a lot of good pictures of them on his site. The photos he has show fish that are kind of drab looking. Not sure if that is because the fish is not in breeding condition or if the strain he has just isn't super colorful. 

See what I mean?










Compared with this apisto baenschi inka 50


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## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> He doesn't have a lot of good pictures of them on his site. The photos he has show fish that are kind of drab looking. Not sure if that is because the fish is not in breeding condition or if the strain he has just isn't super colorful.
> 
> See what I mean?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Compared with this apisto baenschi inka 50


The pictures of mine on the first post were purchased from him. I think that’s a generic photo he uses on his site.


----------



## bsantucci

My new WC Panduro
















Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


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## Nlewis

bsantucci said:


> My new WC Panduro
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


Awesome, did they come from Jeff?


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## bsantucci

Nlewis said:


> Awesome, did they come from Jeff?


Nope. Shawn Flynn from Pure Fish Works. 

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


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## vvDO

bsantucci said:


> My new WC Panduro
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk




Nice big eyes!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Rogozhin75

Took a little video after fixing my light.

https://youtu.be/_pBZCxH2_3U


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## johnson18

Just a couple shot of my Apistogramma urteagai! I can stick my face right up next to this tank & they don't care, but as soon as the phone comes out they bolt! 
























































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## Rogozhin75

Cool shots (and nice fish)!


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## johnson18

Rogozhin75 said:


> Cool shots (and nice fish)!




Thanks! Those two Apistos have been facing off quite a bit lately. Last night was over a cave in the wood, the full series is in my rack thread. 










I need to get my blackwater tank set up. Both pairs will be going into that tank, probably with a third pair of the same species. In the last two weeks they've gotten large enough that the shrimp population in the tank has begun decreasing. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Nlewis

johnson18 said:


> Thanks! Those two Apistos have been facing off quite a bit lately. Last night was over a cave in the wood, the full series is in my rack thread.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I need to get my blackwater tank set up. Both pairs will be going into that tank, probably with a third pair of the same species. In the last two weeks they've gotten large enough that the shrimp population in the tank has begun decreasing.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


If it was me I’d roll with 2 pair. I think 3 in my 40b is to much, just a little to much hostility for my liking. 

On a side note, here’s a pic of one of the WC Panduro females.


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## johnson18

Nlewis said:


> If it was me I’d roll with 2 pair. I think 3 in my 40b is to much, just a little to much hostility for my liking.
> 
> On a side note, here’s a pic of one of the WC Panduro females.


That female is gorgeous! I look forward to seeing more pics of her with the rest in the tank. 


Thanks for the suggestion. I've been struggling with that decision lately, you may have just made it a bit easier for me. I think I've narrowed the stock list for the 40b down to what I think will be the final stocking plan.
2 pairs of Apistogramma urteagai
~25 Nannostomus trifasciatus - Three-lined Pencilfish
~15 Carnegiella strigata - Marbled Hatchetfish 
2-3 L066 Hypancistrus sp. - King Tiger or Scribbled pleco


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## Nlewis

johnson18 said:


> That female is gorgeous! I look forward to seeing more pics of her with the rest in the tank.
> 
> 
> Thanks for the suggestion. I've been struggling with that decision lately, you may have just made it a bit easier for me. I think I've narrowed the stock list for the 40b down to what I think will be the final stocking plan.
> 2 pairs of Apistogramma urteagai
> ~25 Nannostomus trifasciatus - Three-lined Pencilfish
> ~15 Carnegiella strigata - Marbled Hatchetfish
> 2-3 L066 Hypancistrus sp. - King Tiger or Scribbled pleco


Is your plan for them to breed? If so, go a lot lower with your other fish numbers. I wish I had less fish in the 40 but they just won’t die and I have now where to put them.


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## johnson18

Nlewis said:


> Is your plan for them to breed? If so, go a lot lower with your other fish numbers. I wish I had less fish in the 40 but they just won’t die and I have now where to put them.


That means the hatchets are out, without increasing the pencil school size. I really want those L066 though, may have to set up a specific tank for them. If the plecos are out too, it means I'll just put a medium school of otos in instead. I guess I could go with a single L066. 

I would like them to breed, but it isn't a necessity. I'm setting up a 3-5 20g tanks that will be black water tanks for apisto breeding. There's more on that in my rack thread. I'm not trying to become an apisto breeder besides as a hobbyist, I just want to keep more species and have the room to raise young if needed.


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## Nlewis

johnson18 said:


> That means the hatchets are out, without increasing the pencil school size. I really want those L066 though, may have to set up a specific tank for them. If the plecos are out too, it means I'll just put a medium school of otos in instead. I guess I could go with a single L066.
> 
> I would like them to breed, but it isn't a necessity. I'm setting up a 3-5 20g tanks that will be black water tanks for apisto breeding. There's more on that in my rack thread. I'm not trying to become an apisto breeder besides as a hobbyist, I just want to keep more species and have the room to raise young if needed.


IME they just don't breed real well in high traffic community tanks, that's all. I like watching them breed and have fry. I really enjoy seeing all the different actions with them when fry are in play. Plecos should be fine.


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## johnson18

Nlewis said:


> IME they just don't breed real well in high traffic community tanks, that's all. I like watching them breed and have fry. I really enjoy seeing all the different actions with them when fry are in play. Plecos should be fine.


I agree, watching all of the different stages of breeding and rearing fry is awesome. I fully understand about the high traffic tanks. I think that is why the A. erythrura haven't shown any signs of spawning, they are super timid. I'm also doubtful the A. baenschi will spawn in my 55. I need to get the remaining few killies and the damn gourami out of the 55, so it is just the pencils and otos. This is why I want to set up apisto specific tanks. I would like to just load them up with wood, leaves and seed pods, along with a small school of dithers(probably all types of pencils) so the apistos can really do their own thing.


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## Nlewis

@johnson18 not the best but what I could get.


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## johnson18

That may not be the best pic but those fish are absolutely beautiful!! I look forward to seeing more of this pair. 


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## The Dude1

Those are just incredibly stunning. I'm at the same point. I'm thinking that I'm going to stick with heavy stocking and the Apisto's I want and accepting that breeding probably isn't likely. I really want a highly active tank.


----------



## vijay_06

I have 4 Apistos in my 75 gallon - 2 Male Agassizii Double Red and 2 Female Panduro, based on what I know about identifying their sex. I have posted pictures of one from each kind and the other ones look very similar. If anyone feels that I have misidentified their sex, please let me know.




















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## Rogozhin75

Great looking fish! 

I finally got a decent shot of my Trifasciata:


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## The Dude1

Are those Panduro female??? They are amazing! Are you concerned of any hybridization especially given the lack of partners? I would absolutely love a pair of Panduro in one of my 75s. One has a pair of Caucatoides the other has 2 male Gold Caucatoides. Could you post an FTS of your 75?? Gorgeous fish.


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## Nlewis

Yeah that’s a Panduro female. You should have been at my auction yesterday where they had several Panduro, Trifaciata and Borelli up for bid.


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## johnson18

Nlewis said:


> Yeah that’s a Panduro female. You should have been at my auction yesterday where they had several Panduro, Trifaciata and Borelli up for bid.




Dang! All species I would love to have! 


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## Nlewis

This guy


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## johnson18

Nlewis said:


> This guy




Wow! Seriously, that is one stunningly beautiful fish! All those colors! Damn! I want one now! Lemme go flush all these others and order some abacaxis! 


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## Jjonesls1

Nothing special species wise, but I am enjoying my first foray in to adding apistos to my discus tank.























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## The Dude1

My female Caucatoides has a bulging eye

















Any advice? Just did my weekly water change on Saturday. No other fish have any issues. Did she maybe scratch it? She is acting normal otherwise.


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## Nlewis

The Dude1 said:


> My female Caucatoides has a bulging eye
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Any advice? Just did my weekly water change on Saturday. No other fish have any issues. Did she maybe scratch it? She is acting normal otherwise.


Is it bulging or is there a white spot on it?


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## Moleen

*Ballon Rams*

LOVE Apistos! Your pics are gorgeous! I recently aquired a "Balloon" German Blue. I love the balloons! What is everyone's opinions of them? I wantnto get more....they remind me of tiny "Parrot Fish"?


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## The Dude1

Nlewis said:


> Is it bulging or is there a white spot on it?


It is bulging some and there appears to be a white spot on top.


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## Nlewis

Moleen said:


> LOVE Apistos! Your pics are gorgeous! I recently aquired a "Balloon" German Blue. I love the balloons! What is everyone's opinions of them? I wantnto get more....they remind me of tiny "Parrot Fish"?


I never really liked the ballon GBR’s. I did however keep the standard ones for a few years. 

Side note, the Fire Reds are killin it.

Bump:


The Dude1 said:


> It is bulging some and there appears to be a white spot on top.


I’d try an epsom salt dip and remove here from the tank if you have a small spare tank. My male Baenschi developed the white spot on the eye and eventually died. I never was able to figure out what it was.


----------



## The Dude1

Is that a Baenschi?! You've got some incredible fish.. that doesn't even look real. 
The only tank I could put her in is the shrimp tank. Or a breeder net.


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## Nlewis

The Dude1 said:


> Is that a Baenschi?! You've got some incredible fish.. that doesn't even look real.
> The only tank I could put her in is the shrimp tank. Or a breeder net.


Nope, Fire red. Monitor her for a couple days and see gow things go. 

Here’s some Panduro action for you.


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## The Dude1

You don't by chance have any fry you would like to part with? I have been trying to get some female Caucatoides, but I'd also like another species.
What is Fire Red? Is that Agassizi?? They're gorgeous. I'm going to do another water change tomorrow I guess and give her the dip.


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## Nlewis

The Dude1 said:


> You don't by chance have any fry you would like to part with? I have been trying to get some female Caucatoides, but I'd also like another species.
> What is Fire Red? Is that Agassizi?? They're gorgeous. I'm going to do another water change tomorrow I guess and give her the dip.


Yes it’s and Agi and no I have no fry. They breed all the time but she’s a bad mom and always eats the eggs.


----------



## The Dude1

I love those Panduro. I'm going to get 2 pair for the top tank and then 2 pair of maybe Baenschi or Abacaxis for the bottom tank. They've grown in quite a bit and I'm getting there is enough real estate. Are you guys using tap?


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## Nlewis

The Dude1 said:


> I love those Panduro. I'm going to get 2 pair for the top tank and then 2 pair of maybe Baenschi or Abacaxis for the bottom tank. They've grown in quite a bit and I'm getting there is enough real estate. Are you guys using tap?


I use tap water for all fish. Don’t get Baenschi and Panduro’s because they are cousins and look way to similar. Good luck finding Abacaxis, it’s taken me over 2 years.


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## Zapins

There were some Abacaxis on aquabid last I checked, but they are pricey.

We need to get some apisto trades going at some point.

We could easily ship 5-6 fry (1/2" fish) back and forth in the mail without having them die on us. That way we can all get to enjoy these fish.


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## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> There were some Abacaxis on aquabid last I checked, but they are pricey.
> 
> We need to get some apisto trades going at some point.
> 
> We could easily ship 5-6 fry (1/2" fish) back and forth in the mail without having them die on us. That way we can all get to enjoy these fish.


Mine would have to stop eating their eggs. Female fire red is guarding a clutch now but I’m sure they won’t be there long.


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## Rogozhin75

Oregon SP, male.


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## Zapins

Yesss, I found a source for Apisto "peru - inka" which I believe are the same as apisto baenschi inka. Also going to buy some A. erythrura and a female fire red. Just need 2 weeks for them to arrive at the pet store, then they'll recover a bit and get shipped to me.

He is also bringing in apistogramma algodon, apistogramma apache painted face (paulmuelleri), apisto norberti, checkerboard cichlids. I might buy some of those too. He's going to certainly earn a few hundred bucks off me lol...


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## The Dude1

Zapins said:


> Yesss, I found a source for Apisto "peru - inka" which I believe are the same as apisto baenschi inka. Also going to buy some A. erythrura and a female fire red. Just need 2 weeks for them to arrive at the pet store, then they'll recover a bit and get shipped to me.
> 
> He is also bringing in apistogramma algodon, apistogramma apache painted face (paulmuelleri), apisto norberti, checkerboard cichlids. I might buy some of those too. He's going to certainly earn a few hundred bucks off me lol...


I would feel obligated to buy them if they brought them in. That's how I ended up with the 2 Gold males. Seems like most of the success I've read about is pairs and trios in 20 longs by themselves.


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## Rogozhin75

Zapins said:


> Yesss, I found a source for Apisto "peru - inka" which I believe are the same as apisto baenschi inka. Also going to buy some A. erythrura and a female fire red. Just need 2 weeks for them to arrive at the pet store, then they'll recover a bit and get shipped to me.
> 
> He is also bringing in apistogramma algodon, apistogramma apache painted face (paulmuelleri), apisto norberti, checkerboard cichlids. I might buy some of those too. He's going to certainly earn a few hundred bucks off me lol...


Damn, TN is a long way from WA (even with next day air), do you think he would ship any that far?


----------



## Zapins

He's up in CT. He might be willing to ship. Not sure. I think I'll have my mom pick some up and keep them in the tank at home until I have a chance to go back in a few months. 

Some of the fish are wild caught. I don't remember which ones though. I'll let you know when I get my fish sorted out in 2 weeks or so.


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## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> Yesss, I found a source for Apisto "peru - inka" which I believe are the same as apisto baenschi inka. Also going to buy some A. erythrura and a female fire red. Just need 2 weeks for them to arrive at the pet store, then they'll recover a bit and get shipped to me.
> 
> He is also bringing in apistogramma algodon, apistogramma apache painted face (paulmuelleri), apisto norberti, checkerboard cichlids. I might buy some of those too. He's going to certainly earn a few hundred bucks off me lol...


Becoming a breeder? It’s cool I’ll by some from you&#55357;&#56841;. What’s your source?


----------



## Zapins

World wide pets in CT. A small pet shop that often orders rare stuff. He seems to have an extremely good set of connections in other countries who can ship him almost any species. 

I'll definitely breed them if possible and share with you guys. As I said, we should try ship each other young apistos to help spread them around.


----------



## johnson18

Went to our local club's meeting & picked up a second trio of A. urteagai & a bunch of A. baenschi juveniles. He has more juveniles that I will probably pick up soon as I've got the tank space to raise them & he doesn't. Bought a bunch of other non Apisto species, a small school of Pygmy corydoras being the one I'm most excited about. 


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## johnson18

Zapins said:


> I'll definitely breed them if possible and share with you guys. As I said, we should try ship each other young apistos to help spread them around.



I fully agree with this! I'm planning to attempt to breed a few species of Apistos. I'm willing to give shipping fish a try too. My focus will be more on the less common varieties, some wild & F1 fish. 



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## Nlewis

Both the Fire Reds and Abacaxis are spawning regularly to no avail. I’m starting to wonder if my ph is to high since moving to a new place and that’s why mine have been unsuccessful in hatching their spawns. My old water was in the high 6’s to 7. The new place is in the high 7’s. I do have peat moss on hand and can add some to try and get the ph down. Do you all know if peat causes ammonia?


----------



## Zapins

Shouldn't cause ammonia.


----------



## Zapins

Here is the website for world wide pets: https://www.worldwidefishandpets.com/?v=7516fd43adaa Phone: (203) 745-5222

I don't see most of their apisto stock on their website so it looks like it isn't totally up to date. They had quite a few different species when I called earlier today so if you're interested in something rare or unusual they are 100% the guys to be able to order it for you. When I spoke with them just now they said they are getting their orders ready to submit for a shipment next week, so I think if there was enough forum interest in a particular rare species he would probably be able to order it.


----------



## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> Here is the website for world wide pets: https://www.worldwidefishandpets.com/?v=7516fd43adaa Phone: (203) 745-5222
> 
> I don't see most of their apisto stock on their website so it looks like it isn't totally up to date. They had quite a few different species when I called earlier today so if you're interested in something rare or unusual they are 100% the guys to be able to order it for you. When I spoke with them just now they said they are getting their orders ready to submit for a shipment next week, so I think if there was enough forum interest in a particular rare species he would probably be able to order it.


Awesome I’ll check it out. Came home and added a bag of peat to my filter. Ph per the pen measured at 7.4, we’ll see how far down it goes.


----------



## Zapins

Yeah let me know how your peat does, I am at 8.2 in some tanks, trying to get it down to 6 ish. The soil I used keeps buffering it up again. I think I'll end up removing the soil and just doing a non-soil substrate.


----------



## Rogozhin75

lksdrinker said:


> Heres an old shot of a triple red cacatauoides that I unfortunately lost a few months ago.


Great shots, and fish.


----------



## Zapins

Very nice looking fish. I have some exactly like that (adults now), which state do you live in?


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## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> Yeah let me know how your peat does, I am at 8.2 in some tanks, trying to get it down to 6 ish. The soil I used keeps buffering it up again. I think I'll end up removing the soil and just doing a non-soil substrate.


I put a small bag in the filter an another floating in the tank. It drop by about .3 but today what I checked it creeped back up to 7.4. I ordered some peat granules and will see how that does.


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## Zapins

I got some granules too. I'll see how much they drop it by. I've heard they are potent so don't overdo it.

Bump: I got some granules too. I'll see how much they drop it by. I've heard they are potent so don't overdo it.


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## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> I got some granules too. I'll see how much they drop it by. I've heard they are potent so don't overdo it.
> 
> Bump: I got some granules too. I'll see how much they drop it by. I've heard they are potent so don't overdo it.


Mine should be here today? I purchased the Sera brand, which did you get? Other options I’ve read about is filtering you water through peat moss and adding sphagnum moss. Short of buying an RO system, these are the tactics I’m going to try. 

I almost feel obligated to breed these Abacaxis. They’re such cool fish and they’re not seen that often.


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## Zapins

I got fluval brand.

Hey if you don't get them breeding I'd be more than happy to drive by and buy them off you on my way up to CT for xmas  I've got RO up in CT.

Too bad I don't have RO down here in TN. The water here is terrible for apistos. 8.2 and hard.


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## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> I got fluval brand.
> 
> Hey if you don't get them breeding I'd be more than happy to drive by and buy them off you on my way up to CT for xmas  I've got RO up in CT.
> 
> Too bad I don't have RO down here in TN. The water here is terrible for apistos. 8.2 and hard.


No way, this fish will be staying put. It took me 2 years to find them. They’re breeding now just no success. At least once a week I’ll come home and the female is epically yellow. So I don’t know if the water is the issue or they’re young and just not getting it right. I also need to bump my temp up as I was reading last night that 79 degrees was the sweet spot for even sexing of spawns. 

If this doesn’t work I may look into an RO system. Also need to pull the canister filter of and run a sponge. If they do end up being successful then I think the canister would be bad.


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## johnson18

I just picked up an ro unit, the water here sucks too & I got tired of buy 10g at a time down at the Walgreens. Although $1/5g wasn't that bad but the 2mile round trip 4 or 5 times in a row (at least!) was the real pain. I'm still going to need to see what I can do to drop the pH some. That is part of the reason I am considering putting dirt in certain areas of the 90p. 


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## Zapins

Usually first time pairs spawn 3-7x before getting it right and realizing the babies aren't snacks.

What are your pH/hardness like?


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## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> Usually first time pairs spawn 3-7x before getting it right and realizing the babies aren't snacks.
> 
> What are your pH/hardness like?


Ph is 7.4 and Kh/3 Gh/3


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## Zapins

Should be fine IMO. Just gonna take time for parents to realize they aren't snacks.

You could confiscate the eggs at 2-3 days and raise them separately. That sometimes kicks the parents into super protective mode on their next batch. And that way you'll get a viable batch of fry.


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## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> Should be fine IMO. Just gonna take time for parents to realize they aren't snacks.
> 
> You could confiscate the eggs at 2-3 days and raise them separately. That sometimes kicks the parents into super protective mode on their next batch. And that way you'll get a viable batch of fry.


I can never find the eggs. I’m sure she laying them under the driftwood in the tank. I do have 10g at my parents house I need to grab and set up.


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## Zapins

Just put a flower pot in the tank with a chipped out side so she can get inside. They love pots to spawn in. Also super easy to remove them.


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## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> Just put a flower pot in the tank with a chipped out side so she can get inside. They love pots to spawn in. Also super easy to remove them.


Yeah I’ve got some but could never stand to see them in the tank. I do have some pods I could move over from the 40. Her current breeding ground is pictured below.


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## Zapins

What about buying one of the rounded cichlid homes. Looks like half a coconut with a small hole half way up. They don't look bad like a pot but work very nicely.


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## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> What about buying one of the rounded cichlid homes. Looks like half a coconut with a small hole half way up. They don't look bad like a pot but work very nicely.


I’ll look at some. For now I’ll use the pods I have, they’re similar to a coconut shell.

Oh and I’m testing these peat granules in a glass of water. Stuff floats, I hope it will eventually sink.

Edit: @Zapins from what I can tell, take it slow with the peat granules. I put some in a small cup with water from the tank. Tank water tested at 7.2 and within a couple hours the water in the cup is at whopping 4.3.


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## The Dude1

Zapins said:


> What about buying one of the rounded cichlid homes. Looks like half a coconut with a small hole half way up. They don't look bad like a pot but work very nicely.


I've got some of those. Glued some moss to them and now that they are growing out they look awesome... but wouldn't anything covered in lush moss look awesome? I like those pods.

Bump:








This is one of the 3 females Zapins sent me. All 3 are doing awesome and have taken up residence in the biggest Caucatoides side of the tank. All 3 are this yellow now.
Thanks again Zapins!!


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## Zapins

No problem. Hope they spawn soon.


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## Nlewis

Wow


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## mrjbacon

Nlewis said:


> Wow


That's a great looking fish. Abacaxis is one of the few I've narrowed my search down to for my next tank. Are they harem breeders or do they pair off?


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## Nlewis

mrjbacon said:


> That's a great looking fish. Abacaxis is one of the few I've narrowed my search down to for my next tank. Are they harem breeders or do they pair off?


I’m not 100% sure but imagine they breed in harems. Most Apisto males will breed with multiple females.


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## johnson18

mrjbacon said:


> That's a great looking fish. Abacaxis is one of the few I've narrowed my search down to for my next tank. Are they harem breeders or do they pair off?




Apistogramma sp. abacaxis (A-227/228) is in the A. agassizii-Group, pulchra-Complex. Like all fish in the A. agassizii group they are polygamous. 


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## The Dude1

Nlewis said:


> Wow


Is that yours? My first thoughts were it was an enhanced photo from the internet. That's a spectacular specimen


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## johnson18

Not sure if y'all saw this but Tom & Martin's site has been updated with the most recent list from Mike Wise of Apistos and their groupings. I use this site often to figure out what fish are related to each other, as well as the second link which tells you about groups/complexes/lineages. These both come in quite handy when asking yourself questions like, "Are these fish polygamous?"

http://apisto.sites.no/page.aspx?PageId=124

http://apisto.sites.no/page.aspx?pageid=116


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## Nlewis

The Dude1 said:


> Is that yours? My first thoughts were it was an enhanced photo from the internet. That's a spectacular specimen


Yep, that’s mine. They need to get this breeding thing down.


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## mrjbacon

johnson18 said:


> Apistogramma sp. abacaxis (A-227/228) is in the A. agassizii-Group, pulchra-Complex. Like all fish in the A. agassizii group they are polygamous. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Really? I thought abacaxis had been identified as it's own distinct species already. That makes sense though with the breeding tendencies. Thanks for the info!


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## Zapins

I keep hearing about these polygamous breeding groups, but have never seen any apisto do that. The males scare off other males, and the females become intolerant of other females and chase them off too, leaving just a pair that breeds on their own. I've never seen a male get lucky enough to have multiple females at the same time. Maybe I just bought the wimpy males??


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## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> I keep hearing about these polygamous breeding groups, but have never seen any apisto do that. The males scare off other males, and the females become intolerant of other females and chase them off too, leaving just a pair that breeds on their own. I've never seen a male get lucky enough to have multiple females at the same time. Maybe I just bought the wimpy males??


When I breed the triple reds I had a trio spawn at the same time. The females didn’t get along and I eventually rehomed one of them because I thought the other would kill her. Here’s the cool thing. The female that was left in the tank took over the other females fry and raised them.


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## johnson18

mrjbacon said:


> Really? I thought abacaxis had been identified as it's own distinct species already. That makes sense though with the breeding tendencies. Thanks for the info!




Just because abacaxis is a species, doesn't mean it isn't able to be grouped in a particular grouping of similar species. Check out the links I posted, I've learned so much by spending some time reading that site.


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## mrjbacon

johnson18 said:


> Just because abacaxis is a species, doesn't mean it isn't able to be grouped in a particular grouping of similar species. Check out the links I posted, I've learned so much by spending some time reading that site. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I think you misunderstand my comment; what I meant by distinct described species is that it's been taxonomically classified as _Apistogramma abacaxis_ in the traditional Latin nomenclature. You had originally stated it was _Apistogramma sp. abacaxis (A-227/228), _as if it had not been formally classified as it's own distinct species, not that it didn't belong to some other similar species group. Maybe I'm still a bit unclear about how they classify some species of apistos? Sorry for the confusion.

Edit: I had looked at your links you posted as well, but before I had specifically looked for abacaxis in the lineage charts, and it appears that it is also listed there as _A. sp. abacaxis_, and not _A. abacaxis_. The link to the page with the type locality pattern markings is very cool I might add.


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## johnson18

mrjbacon said:


> I think you misunderstand my comment; what I meant by distinct described species is that it's been taxonomically classified as _Apistogramma abacaxis_ in the traditional Latin nomenclature. You had originally stated it was _Apistogramma sp. abacaxis (A-227/228), _as if it had not been formally classified as it's own distinct species, not that it didn't belong to some other similar species group. Maybe I'm still a bit unclear about how they classify some species of apistos? Sorry for the confusion.
> 
> Edit: I had looked at your links you posted as well, but before I had specifically looked for abacaxis in the lineage charts, and it appears that it is also listed there as _A. sp. abacaxis_, and not _A. abacaxis_. The link to the page with the type locality pattern markings is very cool I might add.




Yeah, that's definitely my mistake in the understanding of your comment. You're correct in your edit, at least in the most recent info I can find as well. The fish is still A. sp. abacaxis which is A-227, while A-228 is A. cf. sp. abacaxis. 


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## Nlewis

This girl is all dressed up and full of eggs.


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## Nlewis

Go figure, a girl coming between brothers. 

https://youtu.be/b6FKpdvIdK4


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## Nlewis

Need some tips on hatching brine shrimp if you all have any. Eggs will be here today and I plan on starting my first attempt tomorrow.


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## mbkemp

What are you going to put the eggs in? Keep them in a warm spot with aeration. You need a fine net or sieve 

After a day or so they will start to hatch. Turn off the air and shine a light. They will swim to the light


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## Nlewis

I have a hatchery I picked up at auction for $2.


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## Zapins

This is the way I hatch my brine shrimp: Brine Shrimp Hatchery Guide - the easy way - DIY Aquarium Projects - Aquatic Plant Central

I like to add a 50 watt aquarium heater in the top where the light is shining through the hole in the lid. I just shine the light on the side. Hatches them out in about 12 hours with a heater or 18 hours without a heater at room temp.

Then I use a coffee strainer sieve and coffee filter paper to strain the entire jar at once, and then rinse the entire eggs + shrimp into another container with about 15-20 mL water in it. Then use a syringe to suck up the shrimp only from the bottom of the container. The egg cases will float if you leave it to settle for about 30-60 seconds.


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## mrjbacon

Zapins said:


> This is the way I hatch my brine shrimp: Brine Shrimp Hatchery Guide - the easy way - DIY Aquarium Projects - Aquatic Plant Central
> 
> I like to add a 50 watt aquarium heater in the top where the light is shining through the hole in the lid. I just shine the light on the side. Hatches them out in about 12 hours with a heater or 18 hours without a heater at room temp.
> 
> Then I use a coffee strainer sieve and coffee filter paper to strain the entire jar at once, and then rinse the entire eggs + shrimp into another container with about 15-20 mL water in it. Then use a syringe to suck up the shrimp only from the bottom of the container. The egg cases will float if you leave it to settle for about 30-60 seconds.


DIY FishKeeper did a really nice YouTube video on how to make a staggered brine shrimp hatchery when he was still breeding discus that negates the filtering/rinsing of the newly hatched nauplii.

*



*


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## mbkemp

Good video!


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## Nlewis

I officially have tons of baby brine. Also the female Abacaxis has been bright yellow for a few days now and super aggressive. Fingers crossed she’s successful.


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## Nlewis

Zapins said:


> This is the way I hatch my brine shrimp: Brine Shrimp Hatchery Guide - the easy way - DIY Aquarium Projects - Aquatic Plant Central
> 
> I like to add a 50 watt aquarium heater in the top where the light is shining through the hole in the lid. I just shine the light on the side. Hatches them out in about 12 hours with a heater or 18 hours without a heater at room temp.
> 
> Then I use a coffee strainer sieve and coffee filter paper to strain the entire jar at once, and then rinse the entire eggs + shrimp into another container with about 15-20 mL water in it. Then use a syringe to suck up the shrimp only from the bottom of the container. The egg cases will float if you leave it to settle for about 30-60 seconds.


How do you store them for the following day? Seems like half of what I had yesterday is dead today.


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## johnson18

Nlewis said:


> How do you store them for the following day? Seems like half of what I had yesterday is dead today.




You don’t. The nutritional value of brine shrimp is in the “yolk sac” which the shrimp consume within the first 8 hours of their life. You want to feed brine shrimp once they’re hatched and then start a new batch. This is why you see so many people with bbs hatching set ups that have multiple containers so they can’t rotate through them. 

I use a pint jar to start mine. I use ~1/2 teaspoon of eggs per day. Once I dump the shrimp into a coffee filter to rinse them, I give the jar a decent scrub & restart the whole thing. I get my best hatching at around 30hr, I think because I can’t keep my jar above 80*F. Due to this I alternate if I feed bbs in the morning or evening.

If you want to keep you bbs alive you can feed them a sprinkle of yeast.

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## Nlewis

I swear I read that they should be pretty nutritious into day 2.


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## Zapins

Nope, they go downhill pretty quick after hatching. I reset the culture (pickle jar) every day for fresh shrimp.

They will die by the end of the 2nd day. 

That's one reason I like keeping just 1 jar instead of an array. Easier to clean and reset 1 vs many.


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## johnson18

@Zapins your pickle jar bbs thread is why I’m using only a pint jar. I had the pint size jar, and a box of spare lids. It seemed way less complicated than some of the systems people use. 


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## Zapins

Haha, glad it was helpful. 

I've hatched brine shrimp out in my pickle jar for the past 2 years every day like that.


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## Nlewis

We have Abacaxis fry. Small batch, looks to be about 15 or so.


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## The Dude1

That is just AWESOME!! I should have my stocking set in both tanks by the time those are a good size. I will definately buy a group from you if you decide to sell them. I am nearly certain that the batch of Cardinals had something that killed my little female Caucatoides. Once I get my Apisto's this time I will not be adding anything that might introduce disease. Learned my lesson the hard way.


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## Zapins

Congrats!! Also, DIBS on some!!

Willing to buy or trade for 1-2 pairs. 

The parents will chase the babies away when they get to be about 1/3" long and try lay a new batch. That would be a good time to trade them


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## mrjbacon

Nlewis said:


> We have Abacaxis fry. Small batch, looks to be about 15 or so.


Are you going to try to yank the fry? I seem to remember someone mentioning in this or another thread that the parents are much more protective and "parental" during the subsequent spawns if you take the fry out the first time they succeed.


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## Nlewis

mrjbacon said:


> Are you going to try to yank the fry? I seem to remember someone mentioning in this or another thread that the parents are much more protective and "parental" during the subsequent spawns if you take the fry out the first time they succeed.


Nope, they’re staying put.


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## Slushbob

I bought these guys at the end of august, lost them very quickly. Pulled a rookie mistake and did not give them enough space. Fluval spec v (temporary while I was setting up my 60p)

The female killed the 3 tetras and I think killed the male within the first week...The male ran into the glass at one point and seemed like he got a concussion or something. Super lethargic after that...

Anyway, I'm going to to it right next time, QT and give them ample space and caves. 

I'm looking for a new set of orange flash!
Let me know if you have some or know someone with them. I would love to connect!












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## Nlewis

Slushbob said:


> I bought these guys at the end of august, lost them very quickly. Pulled a rookie mistake and did not give them enough space. Fluval spec v (temporary while I was setting up my 60p)
> 
> The female killed the 3 tetras and I think killed the male within the first week...The male ran into the glass at one point and seemed like he got a concussion or something. Super lethargic after that...
> 
> Anyway, I'm going to to it right next time, QT and give them ample space and caves.
> 
> I'm looking for a new set of orange flash!
> Let me know if you have some or know someone with them. I would love to connect!
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Chances are they spawned as Caca’s breed regularly. When they do the females can become super aggressive. With them being in such a small tank the other inhabitants are doomed. 

I’m pretty sure @Zapins has triple reds available. I see Orange Flash on aquabid all the time.

Bump: totally over did the brine shrimp tonight. I put way to much in the tank.


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## Nlewis

Update on the Abacaxis. 

Shortly after I found the fry they dropped from about 15 to 6. They were doing well all week as I had been feeding them freshly hatched brine shrimp. So lights came on today and I fed as usual and all was well. It’s time to feed again and it looks like the pair killed them in efforts to spawn again. They did and Mom is in the cave fanning the eggs. I’ll try this again and if it doesn’t pan out I’ll have to remove the male the next go round.


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## mbkemp

The good news is they are spawning! 


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## Nlewis

Looking at the tank today due to water changes, it’s seems there’s a lot of Hydra. I’ve never had them, at least to my knowledge. They may have played a part in missing fry. You guys have a good way to rid them from the tank? Sees No Planaria is my best option? I do have some dog dewormer on hand if that works.


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## Zapins

Bought 5 (2m/3f) Apisto norberti. They are insanely good looking fish. I can't wait to breed them.

Also bought 5 (2m/3f) Apisto "inka 50's" wild caught. They aren't fully mature I think, so they need some time to grow in before breeding. Pics later when they are settled in and not stressed out.


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## Nlewis

For those of you that have a Facebook account, check out Apistogramma International. I joined awhile back and see some awesome fish posted there.


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## StevieD

Nlewis said:


> Looking at the tank today due to water changes, it’s seems there’s a lot of Hydra. I’ve never had them, at least to my knowledge. They may have played a part in missing fry. You guys have a good way to rid them from the tank? Sees No Planaria is my best option? I do have some dog dewormer on hand if that works.



The old timers way of getting rid of Hydra is to get a couple of 3 Spot Gourami (or variations thereof). I would not recommend Dwarfs as they do tend to be a little less hardy.

I read a while back about getting a small battery and putting bare wires from the terminals into the water and it kills them in a short space of time. I am not saying this definitely works but I have been told it does. If memory serves me correctly a 9 volt battery was the one used.

Not sure if it would affect any fry though.

Wish I could give you a more definitive suggestion.

SD


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## Nlewis

StevieD said:


> The old timers way of getting rid of Hydra is to get a couple of 3 Spot Gourami (or variations thereof). I would not recommend Dwarfs as they do tend to be a little less hardy.
> 
> I read a while back about getting a small battery and putting bare wires from the terminals into the water and it kills them in a short space of time. I am not saying this definitely works but I have been told it does. If memory serves me correctly a 9 volt battery was the one used.
> 
> Not sure if it would affect any fry though.
> 
> Wish I could give you a more definitive suggestion.
> 
> SD


Oh I got rid of it already. I dosed the tank with some dog dewormer and it did the trick.


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## johnson18

Nlewis said:


> For those of you that have a Facebook account, check out Apistogramma International. I joined awhile back and see some awesome fish posted there.




One of my favorites as well. 


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## Maclyri

So these guys are still pretty young, could everyone help me confirm if it is a pair or not?








“Female”








“Male”








The “male” does color up quite a bit more but he won’t sit still to get decent pictures usually so these are the best I have.


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## Nlewis

Maclyri said:


> So these guys are still pretty young, could everyone help me confirm if it is a pair or not?
> 
> The “male” does color up quite a bit more but he won’t sit still to get decent pictures usually so these are the best I have.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Looks to be a pair.


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## Maclyri

Nlewis said:


> Looks to be a pair.




Awesome! Thank you!


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## requiem

I'm the new proud mama of these beauties triple red cacas (which btw means poop in french,always makes me chuckle)


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## Nlewis

Female Abacaxis down. God only knows where I’ll be able to source a replacement.


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## johnson18

Nlewis said:


> Female Abacaxis down. God only knows where I’ll be able to source a replacement.




Oh damn, Nlewis! Quite sorry to hear that! I know a guy who might be able to help. I’ll send you a PM with an email address later today. 


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## The Dude1

Nlewis said:


> Female Abacaxis down. God only knows where I’ll be able to source a replacement.


That really sucks.. we're you able to save any fry?


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## Nlewis

The Dude1 said:


> That really sucks.. we're you able to save any fry?


Nope they ate them and spawned right after. She was getting ready to spawn when she died and looks like she had issues with getting the eggs out. I’m having a real hard time sourcing a replacement female.


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## Genobreaker

My female Apisto (Agasszii Oragne Fire or Fire Red depending on where you are). Did have a male, but lost to unknown disease what ate away a good chunk of his back out almost like body rot).


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## Zapins

And I lost my male fire red and want to buy him a female!! Too bad you aren't closer or I could trade you a pair of cacatuodes for the female (Tennessee morristown).


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## D.Farci

Apistogramma sp. Totoya from Peru. Undescribed and one of the prettiest Apisto's I've kept.


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## johnson18

Absolutely spectacular @D.Farci!!

I just picked up a pair of wild caught Apistogramma atahualpa ‘sunset’ from Peru. They are also quite colorful. I haven’t seen too much of the male yet, but the female has been out and about feeding all over the tank. She is quite impressive in her own right. I’m looking forward to getting them into a blackwater species tank with only a small group of pencilfish as dithers.




















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EDIT: that’s the male.


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## Nlewis

D.Farci said:


> Apistogramma sp. Totoya from Peru. Undescribed and one of the prettiest Apisto's I've kept.


Where did you source these?

Bump:


Zapins said:


> And I lost my male fire red and want to buy him a female!! Too bad you aren't closer or I could trade you a pair of cacatuodes for the female (Tennessee morristown).


Wish I’d known that. I would have had you swing through Va on your way back to Tn and traded you my pair.


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## johnson18

I was amazed by some of the fish available from http://aquaticclarity.com ! He is importing some nice fish. 

Edit: I’ve not used these folks, but have seen some of the fish they’ve imported posted in a couple of the Apisto groups on FB. 


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## Nlewis

johnson18 said:


> I was amazed by some of the fish available from http://aquaticclarity.com ! He is importing some nice fish.
> 
> Edit: I’ve not used these folks, but have seen some of the fish they’ve imported posted in a couple of the Apisto groups on FB.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


That’s where my Abacaxis came from.


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## D.Farci

Nlewis said:


> Where did you source these?


The Wet Spot in Portland. They had them back in August I believe. My fry are about half an inch right now and once they reach maturity I will likely be shipping them, if you want some F1's. The Wet Spot currently has quite a selection of both wild and tank raised Apisto's including A. gephyra, elizabethae, and wild A. atahualpa.


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## Nlewis

D.Farci said:


> The Wet Spot in Portland. They had them back in August I believe. My fry are about half an inch right now and once they reach maturity I will likely be shipping them, if you want some F1's. The Wet Spot currently has quite a selection of both wild and tank raised Apisto's including A. gephyra, elizabethae, and wild A. atahualpa.


You just let me know when you have sexable fry.


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## johnson18

The Wet Spot is the source for my wild A. atahualpa. I seriously considered some of the tank raised A. elizabethae to go with them. 


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## Nlewis

johnson18 said:


> The Wet Spot is the source for my wild A. atahualpa. I seriously considered some of the tank raised A. elizabethae to go with them.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I was turned off by them. Contacted them twice with no response.


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## johnson18

Nlewis said:


> I was turned off by them. Contacted them twice with no response.




That is unfortunate. I’ve never dealt with them personally, but their wholesale side is one of the sources through my LFS. I’ve received a ton of amazing fish through them. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## D.Farci

Nlewis said:


> I was turned off by them. Contacted them twice with no response.


Are you sure you emailed the correct address? Their email is very responsive.


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## johnson18

Well, I was totally incorrect. That was the male I posted a couple days ago. They both look pretty young. Glad to see they are both settling down quickly. 













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## Genobreaker

Zapins said:


> And I lost my male fire red and want to buy him a female!! Too bad you aren't closer or I could trade you a pair of cacatuodes for the female (Tennessee morristown).


Yeah that's a bit far. I'm waiting for another fire red or double red male to come around though it'll likely won't happen for awhile.


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## Nlewis

She finally allowed the kids to come out and play.


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## Zapins

Congrats nlewis she is super yellow wow.

Looking forward to seeing them grow up.

By the way has anyone got tricks for getting shy apistos to come out more? I bought several a. Norberti and they hide all day long even in a fully planted tank with lots of hiding spots. They also don't seem to be sick when I do manage to spot them. They just seem like a very shy species?


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## Nlewis

https://youtu.be/OG08uKDN7yc

Just a short video of the Panduro with tiger fry. I have to say, out of all the apistos I’ve kept she is the best mom I’ve seen. She’s absolutely vicious when protecting her babies.

Bump:


Zapins said:


> Congrats nlewis she is super yellow wow.
> 
> Looking forward to seeing them grow up.
> 
> By the way has anyone got tricks for getting shy apistos to come out more? I bought several a. Norberti and they hide all day long even in a fully planted tank with lots of hiding spots. They also don't seem to be sick when I do manage to spot them. They just seem like a very shy species?


Just depends on the fish I think. I feel your pain, when I had Baenschi, the only time I saw them was at feeding time.


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## Nlewis

Proud mom still protecting her fry.


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## ThatFishThough

Question:

If you were to pick out a pair of Apistos for a beginner, which would you chose and why? Which species has the best color? Least shy?

How does one care for them? I really want to get into Apistos but have no clue where to start.


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## D.Farci

Zapins said:


> Congrats nlewis she is super yellow wow.
> 
> Looking forward to seeing them grow up.
> 
> By the way has anyone got tricks for getting shy apistos to come out more? I bought several a. Norberti and they hide all day long even in a fully planted tank with lots of hiding spots. They also don't seem to be sick when I do manage to spot them. They just seem like a very shy species?


I think it just takes time. Of course, low lighting and plenty of places to retreat to are helpful. I have 1m3f Apistogramma eremnopyge in a 55 gallon with more than enough dither fish to make them feel safe, but they are a shy species. When I first got them, I didn't see them at all for months. Since then, I have added leaf litter and made more breakages in the lines of sight and they are more active. Then, yesterday, I found my dominant female with a group of fry! I've heard this species is hard to raise so I was surprised, but I had witnessed her flirting with the male over a few months. 

Yesterday, the male was basically in the smack middle of the 55 gallon (equi-distant from each corner, really surprising!). The female with fry was hanging by her spawning area guarding them from Corys. The dithers (Peruvian Rummynose, Gold Tetra, and Nannostomus) were in the upper reaches of the tank. The Gold Tetras usually have at least 10 or so hiding in the back corner, so she undoubtedly scared them away. The other two females Apisto's were hard to find. 

Long story partly inspired by my excitement over fry, but you get the point. It's been 8 months since I got them, 4 months since I added leaf litter and let my floating plants *really* take over, and a few days since they spawned. The male is much more active now - still dodges me if I lean in for a better view, but I can trick him occasionally and stay motionless for long enough


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## Nlewis

ThatFishThough said:


> Question:
> 
> If you were to pick out a pair of Apistos for a beginner, which would you chose and why? Which species has the best color? Least shy?
> 
> How does one care for them? I really want to get into Apistos but have no clue where to start.


Lol, just get a pair they’re not hard to keep. For a beginner I’d say Cacatuodies is great choice. They have very colorful fins and generally have a lot of personality.


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## Tank Stand

Is it necessary to provide Apistos with a cave?


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## ThatFishThough

Cacatuoides is gorgeous! Are those the ones called double/triple reds?

Also, anyone have info/pictures of Apistogramma bitaeniata?


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## D.Farci

Tank Stand said:


> Is it necessary to provide Apistos with a cave?


A cave in the strict sense? No. But places to hide in, lay eggs in, protect from dithers or other cichlids, etc...yes. For example, I have a few upside down pots in my tank with several pieces of stacked driftwood. The pair I have in there ended up laying eggs in a crevice of the driftwood rather than the pots. The female would fit in the crevice but the male couldn't, which is partly what you want. Males can fertilize the eggs from outside of the opening.


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## Nlewis

ThatFishThough said:


> Cacatuoides is gorgeous! Are those the ones called double/triple reds?
> 
> Also, anyone have info/pictures of Apistogramma bitaeniata?


Double/Tripple reds, yes. There’s also Orange Flash and wild caught varieties. 

I can’t help with Bitaeniata as I’ve never had the pleasure of keeping them.


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## bshaw12

nice- how did you take those pictures?

Bump:


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## Nlewis

bshaw12 said:


> nice- how did you take those pictures?
> 
> Bump:


iPhone 7


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## Tank Stand

I got my Apistos today. They were labelled as cockatoo cichlid. Are they apoisotogramma cacatuoides? Did I also get a male and a female?






























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## mbkemp

Yes, and it looks like a pair to me


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## Nlewis

Yep, looks to be a pair. Good luck with those shrimp now.


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## Tank Stand

Nlewis said:


> Yep, looks to be a pair. Good luck with those shrimp now.


The shrimp haven't gone into hiding yet. They just swim around the apistos. The more colourful one is the female? Will the male colour up? Also other than live or dried shrimp. What's the best stapelry food for them?

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## Nlewis

Tank Stand said:


> The shrimp haven't gone into hiding yet. They just swim around the apistos. The more colourful one is the female? Will the male colour up? Also other than live or dried shrimp. What's the best stapelry food for them?
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk


Male is the larger of the two and will have a more drab colored body but bright fins. The male is in the second to last picture you posted. The female will get super yellow when she’s ready to spawn, you can’t miss it. Caca’s breed pretty readily in my experience, so have fun. The relationship between the sexes is awesome to watch. 

I feed all mine flake food. Every once in a while I’ll throw them some black worms.


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## Tank Stand

Day two with my Apoisotogramma. So far my shrimp are alive and haven't gone into hiding. The male ignores them although the female is 50/50. She has taken a bite out of two them. That's only when the shrimp decide to swim at the top making them vulnerable. Sometimes she just swims past them and leaves them alone. 

During feeding time the tetras ate all of the foods. As the apistos aren't used to going to the surface to eat. They did catch on at the end and managed to eat some of the left overs on the floor. They don't use the cave that I provided them 





































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## Nlewis

If and when they spawn, that cave will get plenty of use.


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## vvDO

Tank Stand said:


> Day two with my Apoisotogramma. So far my shrimp are alive and haven't gone into hiding. The male ignores them although the female is 50/50. She has taken a bite out of two them. That's only when the shrimp decide to swim at the top making them vulnerable. Sometimes she just swims past them and leaves them alone.
> 
> During feeding time the tetras ate all of the foods. As the apistos aren't used to going to the surface to eat. They did catch on at the end and managed to eat some of the left overs on the floor. They don't use the cave that I provided them
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They look very nice! 


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## Tank Stand

So I've had the apistos for four days now. The male seems to rest on the substrate a lot. Is this normal? At first I thought he was just shy or something but since there's been no change, is there something wrong with him? 

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## Nlewis

Few of these guys are still hanging around.

Bump:


Tank Stand said:


> So I've had the apistos for four days now. The male seems to rest on the substrate a lot. Is this normal? At first I thought he was just shy or something but since there's been no change, is there something wrong with him?
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk


How’s the fish, still laying around?


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## notabob

Have been planning on introducing Apistos for a while, but haven't gotten around to it. Last week, while stopping by one of my local LFS on my lunch break saw that they had some Steel Blues that came in. Apistos of any sort are not common around here, so I bit the bullet and got all six. With work, it's been hard to keep a good eye on them, but they've been staking out areas of the tank for themselves. Haven't seen any real fighting, beyond an occasional "stay away from this square inch - it's mine!". Between natural driftwood "caves" and a few pods from tannin aquatics (savu & a "jungle") - there should be plenty of hiding places for everyone to share, though I've only seen them using one of the caves on occasion, so far. 

Here are a couple of "zoomed in" shots with my phone. I'll try to get some better ones eventually.


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## Jjonesls1

Fairly new to apistos here. I've successfully kept a pair in my 90g discus community for a few months now. Breeding is not the goal, as my tank is too heavily planted to ever separate the fry. I've been thinking of adding more, as I'm really enjoying the pair I have. Are there any general stocking rules? M/f ratios that work best, or certain #s to keep? Thanks!

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## Tank Stand

The fish are fine, it was the male adjusting to the environment. He follows my hand around whenever I re Scape to set what he's doing. It's a bit difficult to feed him because he's quite slow to catch on that it's feeding time. By the time he realises the food has been eaten by the cardinals. The female eats. There is some aggression from the male to the female. Sometimes they get along very well and sometimes they do not.

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## Nlewis

Jjonesls1 said:


> Fairly new to apistos here. I've successfully kept a pair in my 90g discus community for a few months now. Breeding is not the goal, as my tank is too heavily planted to ever separate the fry. I've been thinking of adding more, as I'm really enjoying the pair I have. Are there any general stocking rules? M/f ratios that work best, or certain #s to keep? Thanks!
> 
> Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk


I like to stick to pairs myself. I find there’s less aggression especially if there is a spawn. You’d be fine with adding 2 pair to a 90 gallon.


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## notabob

Two of the six Steel Blues didn't make it after a week. The remaining four seem to be doing ok, although they are quite picky when it comes to food. Not the most aggressive eaters so far - hopefully they're getting enough. 

Here's another shot of one of them...


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## Nlewis

This is hilarious to me. These guys/girls are a little over a month old and are already tail whipping each other. 
https://youtu.be/CqD3OrW8auU


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## Tank Stand

notabob said:


> Two of the six Steel Blues didn't make it after a week. The remaining four seem to be doing ok, although they are quite picky when it comes to food. Not the most aggressive eaters so far - hopefully they're getting enough.
> 
> Here's another shot of one of them...


That's a good looking apisto. My male is finally starting to colour up a bit. It took a while for him to learn when it was feeding time. He follows my hand around when I move things around in the tank. Both the male and female have become more territorial with the other fish since I removed some of the plant's and made it more open.
















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## notabob

Tank Stand said:


> That's a good looking apisto. My male is finally starting to colour up a bit. It took a while for him to learn when it was feeding time. He follows my hand around when I move things around in the tank. Both the male and female have become more territorial with the other fish since I removed some of the plant's and made it more open.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk


Those look very nice!! I kept site lines in my tank to a minimum on purpose when I scaped it with my mind on adding Apistos down the line. Lots of crevices, caves, rocks, etc. to help keep territorial aggression down. Between that and plants - the tank has more nooks and crannies than an english muffin. Seems to have worked pretty well with the steel blues - they only rarely stray into each other's territories and there hasn't been any fighting that I've seen. The rainbow cichlids also don't really seem to give a rat's behind about the Apistos, which is good.


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## D.Farci

Check out my A. uaupesi! Finally got some good footage of him flaring around the tank. Simply stunning fish.


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## notabob

Apparently I provided too many hiding spots... Turns out I didn't lose two of the six Steel Blues - I only lost one. I guess it makes sense, as I only removed one body. Thought that the other was scavenged, but I guess it just took the poor one so long to shuffle off this mortal coil that I assumed one of his brethren had joined him. Nevertheless, five were in attendance this morning, and they're starting to become a bit more interested in food, although not nearly as voracious as the yoyo loaches (aka resident pigs) or the Rainbow cichlids.


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## Tank Stand

My Apistos have spawned. It was unexpected, although the aggression did go up, I thought that was due to me rescaping. I won't be giving the fry any special attention.
















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## Nlewis

Tank Stand said:


> My Apistos have spawned. It was unexpected, although the aggression did go up, I thought that was due to me rescaping. I won't be giving the fry any special attention.
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Enjoy watching them, IMO it’s the best part of keeping apistos. The relationship between the male and female is awesome. The female can/will get down right nasty when fry are around.


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## Nlewis

https://youtu.be/FUq5bbU2MHg

Her second successful spawn. Another female is guarding a batch of eggs on the other side of the tank. My man is getting busy in there.


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## notabob

Nlewis said:


> https://youtu.be/FUq5bbU2MHg
> 
> Her second successful spawn. Another female is guarding a batch of eggs on the other side of the tank. My man is getting busy in there.


Nice video! Those are some sharp-looking Apistos. Good luck with the fry! Are you going to separate them once they get a little bigger into a grow-out tank or let the nature take its course?


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## Nlewis

notabob said:


> Nice video! Those are some sharp-looking Apistos. Good luck with the fry! Are you going to separate them once they get a little bigger into a grow-out tank or let the nature take its course?


No special care for fry in this tank. There’s still 3 of the original spawn cruising around in there.


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## Nlewis

The newest mom


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## Nlewis

Dad putting in work keeping these females in check.


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## Nlewis

@The Dude1 I found him/her. Pics aren’t the best but here you go. One picture is of the newest fry.


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## gerbilshower

i think i just attached a pic of my new guy. sadly i ordered 2 pairs and got 4 males it seems...


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## Nlewis

gerbilshower said:


> i think i just attached a pic of my new guy. sadly i ordered 2 pairs and got 4 males it seems...


What subspecies is that? Did the seller not guarantee sexing?


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## gerbilshower

Welp...lol you opened up a can of worms you probably werent expecting.

They were sold as Ortegai Papagei. After I gave them a few days to calm down and color up it was clear that was NOT what there were. Seller did 'guarantee' as they are sold SPECIFICALLY in pairs of sexed 1m 1f.

The best guess is that they are something close to Palmuelleri.

I obviously contacted the seller and asked what the hell. He CLAIMS to be making it right by sending me 1m 4f agassizi fire red. I will believe it when I see it. Suffice it to say I will not work with him again.

I was really looking forward to trying to raise some fry so I am frustrated.


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## Nlewis

gerbilshower said:


> Welp...lol you opened up a can of worms you probably werent expecting.
> 
> They were sold as Ortegai Papagei. After I gave them a few days to calm down and color up it was clear that was NOT what there were. Seller did 'guarantee' as they are sold SPECIFICALLY in pairs of sexed 1m 1f.
> 
> The best guess is that they are something close to Palmuelleri.
> 
> I obviously contacted the seller and asked what the hell. He CLAIMS to be making it right by sending me 1m 4f agassizi fire red. I will believe it when I see it. Suffice it to say I will not work with him again.
> 
> I was really looking forward to trying to raise some fry so I am frustrated.


Well my goto for Apistogramma is definitely Jeff Michaels who owns Aquatic Clarity. Check out the site as he usually carries a broad range of apistos and other SA cichlids.


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## gerbilshower

Thanks for the info. I will check him out. Problem is i am out of tanks and the wife is being ... difficult ... about adding a 3rd tank. haha.


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## Quagulator

Need help sexing these two, I am by far not adequate to.... First 2 pics are same fish, last 2 pics are the other.

apisto agassizi 'fire gold'


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## Nlewis

IMO you’ve got 2 females. Picture below is of my male.


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## dbl_dbl17

Here’s my male “fire gold”. Not as nice as yourself but I like him.


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## Tank Stand

Found my female apisto today 
My water parameters were fine, the only thing I could notice was the loss of scales on the right hand side. Any ideas? My name is still alive and thriving. The fry are still alive and are nearly two months old. They have done well to survive in a community tank.

Should I leave the male by himself? I'd prefer not to buy another female apisto as she was the one that halved my shrimp population lol. The male is fine with the shrimp and leaves them alone.









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## Nlewis

Tank Stand said:


> Found my female apisto today
> My water parameters were fine, the only thing I could notice was the loss of scales on the right hand side. Any ideas? My name is still alive and thriving. The fry are still alive and are nearly two months old. They have done well to survive in a community tank.
> 
> Should I leave the male by himself? I'd prefer not to buy another female apisto as she was the one that halved my shrimp population lol. The male is fine with the shrimp and leaves them alone.
> 
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Surprisingly I too found a dead apisto today. I just fed my tanks and could not locate my Fire Red male. Seems he took the leap of faith and that didn’t work out so well for him. 

Not sure on the death. I’d imagine the missing scales are due to other tank inhabitants scavenging the body.


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## kushy04

Wow, love a clean looking tank. Those fish are also really nice looking, you can tell they are happy and well taken care of. They remind me of cichlids I used to keep. Are these cichlids?


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## Nlewis

kushy04 said:


> Wow, love a clean looking tank. Those fish are also really nice looking, you can tell they are happy and well taken care of. They remind me of cichlids I used to keep. Are these cichlids?


Yes, they’re dwarf cichlids from South America.


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## Algae.H8R

Here is my Apisto Caca with his two dames. I lost my Beautiful Super Red and decided to pick up this Orange Flash to rule the tank. Within days I had a female on eggs in a pod-He’s a stud!


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## The Dude1

@Nlewis.... wow on the fry!! That's awesome... you know I still have that one male Gold Caucatoides, but he looks really bad. I think the Moliwe's pick on him... his body looks very thin with an engorged belly as I feed him directly now... but he hasn't thickened out again. The Moliwe have been rehomed as have the Thomasi.... but the Thomasi are super passive. I'm almost embarrassed to post a pic of him. It looks like parasites, but no other fish have issues and he certainly was fine for months when I had him with the other male. By the end of the week he will share the 75 gallon with 6 EBR/GBR hybrids. Getting them from CoralBandit. He is trying to strengthen the EBR line. So I figure this is as close as I can get to a resilient EBR. They look pretty killer too. I am troubled by the state of the Caucatoides. I have no place to put him to try to get him recovered. Maybe once the 20 long is cycled and I have successfully implemented my heating and cooling solution...


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## Nlewis

The Dude1 said:


> @Nlewis.... wow on the fry!! That's awesome... you know I still have that one male Gold Caucatoides, but he looks really bad. I think the Moliwe's pick on him... his body looks very thin with an engorged belly as I feed him directly now... but he hasn't thickened out again. The Moliwe have been rehomed as have the Thomasi.... but the Thomasi are super passive. I'm almost embarrassed to post a pic of him. It looks like parasites, but no other fish have issues and he certainly was fine for months when I had him with the other male. By the end of the week he will share the 75 gallon with 6 EBR/GBR hybrids. Getting them from CoralBandit. He is trying to strengthen the EBR line. So I figure this is as close as I can get to a resilient EBR. They look pretty killer too. I am troubled by the state of the Caucatoides. I have no place to put him to try to get him recovered. Maybe once the 20 long is cycled and I have successfully implemented my heating and cooling solution...


It may just be old age? Caca’s have a life expectancy of 2 years. You should try Panduro’s.


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## Nlewis

Little guy/girl gaining some size.


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## Grobbins48

One of my three Steel Blues. Nice looking fish. Personality-- the jury is still out on that one! Ha!


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## Nlewis

The largest of the Panduro fry.










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## pandjpudge

Apistogramma viejita Female by Matt, on Flickr
Apistogramma viejita Male by Matt, on Flickr


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## Jaybo

Any idea what type of apisto this is? Its a rescue from a neighbor. Still small, he said it should get red/orange fins depending on the sex. Its been 3 weeks and still no color









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## brankor

Jaybo said:


> Any idea what type of apisto this is? Its a rescue from a neighbor. Still small, he said it should get red/orange fins depending on the sex. Its been 3 weeks and still no color
> 
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Apistogramma cacatoides orange female 

Послато са F3311 уз помоћ Тапатока


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## Jaybo

brankor said:


> Apistogramma cacatoides orange female
> 
> Послато са F3311 уз помоћ Тапатока


When do they start to show color?

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## Nlewis

Jaybo said:


> When do they start to show color?
> 
> Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk




The females may show little to no color. Generally they will have a yellow hue but when breeding will become a bright yellow. 


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## mrjbacon

First apistos... A. rositae from Wet Spot:





































Sorry for the blurriness in the photo of both, but my camera was being difficult, and I thought it was still a great color representation for the male. I have another pair but I'm not sure of the sex of them, and they never come out where I can snap a decent picture.

I would embed but don't know how, but here's a video of the pair:
https://youtu.be/bGVFfqXB-a8


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## Nlewis

mrjbacon said:


> First apistos... A. rositae from Wet Spot:
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> Sorry for the blurriness in the photo of both, but my camera was being difficult, and I thought it was still a great color representation for the male. I have another pair but I'm not sure of the sex of them, and they never come out where I can snap a decent picture.
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> I would embed but don't know how, but here's a video of the pair:
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> https://youtu.be/bGVFfqXB-a8




Nice. I’ve been wanting some of them for awhile now. 


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## Grobbins48

My new apistogramma agassizii fire red in my new blackwater 29 gallon. Best picture I could get so far.


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## Nlewis

Grobbins48 said:


> My new apistogramma agassizii fire red in my new blackwater 29 gallon. Best picture I could get so far.




You have a full tank shot?


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## Grobbins48

Nlewis said:


> You have a full tank shot?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Still in progress less than a week old. Thinking of adding java moss and have some Amazon Frogbit coming for it too.


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## Nlewis

Grobbins48 said:


> Still in progress less than a week old. Thinking of adding java moss and have some Amazon Frogbit coming for it too.




Love the Pencils


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## Grobbins48

Thanks, they are great fish- 14 of them in there, with two dominate males co distantly showing off and sparing. Always active and spawning in my tank. I have a pair of the apistos so keeping my fingers crossed.

This is my first ever black water tank and I am quite excited about it.

The mopani wood is leaching a lot of tannins, but I also added some min catapa leaves today. Also considering an order from tanninaquatics.com, but have not yet pulled the trigger.

The twigs are oak from my backyard.


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## Nlewis

Grobbins48 said:


> Thanks, they are great fish- 14 of them in there, with two dominate males co distantly showing off and sparing. Always active and spawning in my tank. I have a pair of the apistos so keeping my fingers crossed.
> 
> This is my first ever black water tank and I am quite excited about it.
> 
> The mopani wood is leaching a lot of tannins, but I also added some min catapa leaves today. Also considering an order from tanninaquatics.com, but have not yet pulled the trigger.
> 
> The twigs are oak from my backyard.




Tannin Aquatics is great, I’ve ordered from them twice. I generally don’t buy leaves though as oak leaves work great and they’re free. 


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## Grobbins48

Nlewis said:


> Tannin Aquatics is great, I’ve ordered from them twice. I generally don’t buy leaves though as oak leaves work great and they’re free.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


That is good to know- anything specific you recommend from them?

And as for oak leaves, I have a tree in the backyard so I am just waiting for then to reach that brown state to use in my tank. I tried plucking some a few weeks back when they were still green, and they just stayed green. 

Do you have any advice on collecting them?


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## Nlewis

Grobbins48 said:


> That is good to know- anything specific you recommend from them?
> 
> And as for oak leaves, I have a tree in the backyard so I am just waiting for then to reach that brown state to use in my tank. I tried plucking some a few weeks back when they were still green, and they just stayed green.
> 
> Do you have any advice on collecting them?




Not really, I just buy whatever I feel looks the best like the pods. As for collecting leaves, I just walk through the yard and grab them. Really any leaves work but the oaks tend to last for a real long time. 


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## Grobbins48

Nlewis said:


> Not really, I just buy whatever I feel looks the best like the pods. As for collecting leaves, I just walk through the yard and grab them. Really any leaves work but the oaks tend to last for a real long time.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Good to know- I have oak that take forever to fall, but red maple as well. Thanks for the advice!


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## moonwasaloon




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## Nlewis

Well I was at the local auction a couple weeks ago and got some new Apistogramma. They were labeled as wild caught Cacatuoides and looking at them through the bag it seemed legit. Once I got them home and out of the bag it was quickly revealed that they were not Caca’s. Turns out I got some wild caught Norberti. The female had a sunken belly and looked horrible, so I’ve been treating the tank for intestinal parasites from day one. She’s seems to be on the mend and I have my fingers crossed. Pictures are from the day I brought them home.






















There new home










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## Nlewis

Panduro father and son

















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## Nlewis

The Norberti have finally settled in. I was ready to give up on this pair due to the male was always violently harassing the female. Last week that all changed when I looked in the tank and saw them playing nice together and they seem bonded now. The female is now feeding voraciously, is healthy and colored up. 













































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## zachshap

I have had this pair of trifasciata for about a month or so. For the first two weeks the male was being very territorial towards the female, chasing her every chance he had, and her colors were quite grey. I started to wonder if I had a sneaker. Then one day she turned yellow, the territorial behavior stopped and a few weeks later there was a small spawn. I'm not sure where they egg laying happened or when but one evening saw her with 3-4 swimmers. Next day they were gone and the male was back to being aggressive.


Photos are from Sunday with th fry. Maybe you can see one above the root there to the right. And a FTS from around the time the fish were added. 

My goal is not to have a breeding tank but would like them to have the opportunity to be successful raising their spawn. 

I have 3 otos, 6 amano, 6 CRS, 5 rasbora, 2 apisto, 1 SAE, plans to get 3 more rasbora and 12 pygmy cory, and maybe another female apisto.


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## Nlewis

zachshap said:


> I have had this pair of trifasciata for about a month or so. For the first two weeks the male was being very territorial towards the female, chasing her every chance he had, and her colors were quite grey. I started to wonder if I had a sneaker. Then one day she turned yellow, the territorial behavior stopped and a few weeks later there was a small spawn. I'm not sure where they egg laying happened or when but one evening saw her with 3-4 swimmers. Next day they were gone and the male was back to being aggressive.
> 
> 
> Photos are from Sunday with th fry. Maybe you can see one above the root there to the right. And a FTS from around the time the fish were added.
> 
> My goal is not to have a breeding tank but would like them to have the opportunity to be successful raising their spawn.
> 
> I have 3 otos, 6 amano, 6 CRS, 5 rasbora, 2 apisto, 1 SAE, plans to get 3 more rasbora and 12 pygmy cory, and maybe another female apisto.




I can’t see but the last image you posted. 


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## zachshap

How's this?


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## mrjbacon

zachshap said:


> I have had this pair of trifasciata for about a month or so. For the first two weeks the male was being very territorial towards the female, chasing her every chance he had, and her colors were quite grey. I started to wonder if I had a sneaker. Then one day she turned yellow, the territorial behavior stopped and a few weeks later there was a small spawn. I'm not sure where they egg laying happened or when but one evening saw her with 3-4 swimmers. Next day they were gone and the male was back to being aggressive.
> 
> 
> Photos are from Sunday with th fry. Maybe you can see one above the root there to the right. And a FTS from around the time the fish were added.
> 
> My goal is not to have a breeding tank but would like them to have the opportunity to be successful raising their spawn.
> 
> I have 3 otos, 6 amano, 6 CRS, 5 rasbora, 2 apisto, 1 SAE, plans to get 3 more rasbora and 12 pygmy cory, and maybe another female apisto.


The next time you suspect a spawn, try some supplemental feeding, for both the fry and the adults. Might placate the male. They are notorious for eating fry in order to spawn again. Or, depending on the size of the tank you could add two more females. Otherwise the male will almost always eat the fry.


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## bascardi

Update


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## vvDO

Panduro

First 2 are same fish, I think is a male, last 2 of the female? Still juveniles I think.

Female was picking on the male so I had to separate them. His color has improved, had a very stressed look to him and fins are healed up. When he gets larger I may reintroduce them.






































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## Mr. Limpet

My Apistogramma paulmuelleri became very frisky after a water change, dancing & displaying for hours.


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## karen.rodger

Hi, new to the forum, and to fishkeeping. I have. A trio of Macmasters apistos in my community tank - this is Tim.









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## Streetwise

Beautiful fish! I'm also a big fan of orange in my fish.


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## mboley

Heres my two Apistos, just hours after the Hongsloi went into the tank. My LFS had a lot of Apistos yesterday, I'm thinking about going back and getting a pair of Super Reds. Excuse the upside down pic.
View attachment 893475


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## Mr. Limpet

Finally got a pair of Apistogramma ortegai after a long search. I've only had them for a week and a half; the male has yet to reach his full potential.


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## Mr. Limpet

2 weeks later, turning into a beast, plus his mate.


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## Mr. Limpet

Debut of their new fry.


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