# A. Macmasteri



## Kyle Lambert (24 Dec 2013)

Hi guys, bought a pair of Apistogramma Macmasteri yesterday from rats, cats and elephants and i was pretty sure i managed to pick out a male and a female from the group they had. However, now ive had them in the tank for 24 hours the fish i thought to be female has developed really bright yellow colours and is displaying to the male (who seems to have no interest) which has led me to believe i may have possibly 2 males...

By displaying i mean 'she' is showing her flanks and bending her body into an 'S' shape.

					A.Macmasteri - Imgur


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## Kyle Lambert (24 Dec 2013)

Anyone able to confirm the sex for me?


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## Michael W (24 Dec 2013)

Seems to be a right ID unless the bottom is a submissive male that is showing less colours. Usually with apistos and other cichlids its best to buy 6 or so juvenile and let a pair form. It can be hard pairing adult fish as they either show no interest or kill each other. If they're fine together then I don't see why you need to worry. If you want to breed them just give them some more time and see how things go. Adding more female can be fine, as it is possible to establish breeding group with one male to several females.


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## Kyle Lambert (24 Dec 2013)

if they breed then great, but its not the goal. I only wanted a pair as i was hoping for more natural behaviours and colours from the fish! Hopefully in time the male will become a bit more vibrant. Hes definitely the more friendly of the 2 and is interested in the goings on outside of the tank.


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## Michael W (26 Dec 2013)

I know what you mean, breeding cichlid can be very rewarding as well as keeping them. I really love Angelfish and have always had one in my 50 gallon aquarium. Over the past 3 years I've decided to try and breed them and have noticed some very nice behaviours from them. I have only bred them twice during these years due to space requirements for them to growout so I kept a few to grow up and this has halted now. 

Since breeding them I have noticed that they really do love to socialise. They are not as aggressive as some say, since previously I've only kept them in pairs or trios I've never got the chance to observe a group behaviour as much as when I started to breed them. In order for me to breed them I had to buy 6 to let a pair form. I would say they stay quite tightly as a group, they don't have the boarder of territory as some would say they like to make. The only aggression comes when I'm feeding my Bristlenose plecos/corydoras in the tank as they fight for the tablets or frozen food that reaches the bottom. There will be the odd times where some will liplock and I put this down to establishing order within the group and after this brief encounter the aggression stops until the same happens again which is not often. I find if you introduce younger angels they will settle without problem from the older, larger ones int he tank. It does show that these are gentle giants and that they get some really bad reputation. Obviously they would prey on fish that are big enough to fit in their mouths, I'm sure this will apply the another fish but if you avoid that then its all good.  

When it came to breeding, the pair will drive the others to the other end of the aquarium. However, the other Angels show no signs of attempting to eat the eggs, although they do wonder close they do not appear to be targeting the eggs more to have room to swim about in my opinion instead of being forced into a corner while the two are breeding. The pair will take turns to guard the eggs while the other will go feed and to actively warn the other inhabitants.

I know I went off topic but this is just some observations I really want to share, as Angelfish have always been my top most loved fish since my dad started keeping them when I was young.

Dwarf Cichlids I've kept many times but its so hard to find pairs. Most stores only sell males due to their colours, they rarely have the care to allow females to show their breeding colours to appreciate their true "show quality" so to say. I have kept a pair of A. Panduro, the male refused to co-exists with the female and ended up bullying her, I had to remove the female to my 20 gallon to keep him from killing her. I've had Apistogramma Cacautoidies and A. Hongsloi too and even on their own they have their own personal behaviour which are awesome to watch. My Hongsloi was not aggressive but he could definitely stand up to some large angelfish, even they are scared of him!

The Apistogramma species and Rams are definitely something everyone should keep at some point!	 

Michael.


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## Kyle Lambert (26 Dec 2013)

I used to have some GBRs back when i was 18 and i managed to get them to breed then, also had Agassizi back then in a separate tank which also bred. I think dwarfs are a really rewarding fish to keep. Theyre really friendly and full of character.

I think this pair my be alright but ill be keeping an eye on them for the next couple days as i dont want any deaths. I have a breeding tank i can separate them with.


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## dw1305 (28 Dec 2013)

Hi all,





Kyle Lambert said:


> bought a pair of Apistogramma Macmasteri yesterday from rats, cats and elephants and i was pretty sure i managed to pick out a male and a female from the group they had. However, now ive had them in the tank for 24 hours the fish i thought to be female has developed really bright yellow colours and is displaying to the male (who seems to have no interest) which has led me to believe i may have possibly 2 males...By displaying i mean 'she' is showing her flanks and bending her body into an 'S' shape.


 No that is a good sign, and she is definitely a female. You've done well, because nearly all the_ Apistogramma_ for sale in the UK at the moment are males.

Just keep feeding them a good quality diet (lots of live food) and make sure she has a choice of caves, and they will spawn. I really like Bob Wiltshire's web site for general information for Apisto's <Dwarf Cichlid Aquarium Care>, and there are a couple of forums, the BCA <British Cichlid Association • The place to talk about the Cichlids in our Aquaria> and Apistogramma forums <Apistogramma.com>.

cheers Darrel


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## Kyle Lambert (28 Dec 2013)

there are 3 'caves' as such in my tank but they are all grouped together in the middle. There is alot of foliage for the male to hide if necessary as i havent had the chance to do a trim in the tank for a couple weeks (cabomba and marsilea are pretty much taking over!). I'll have to get some live food at the weekend, at the minute theyre getting fed a mix of algae wafers, catfish pellets, fish flake and a homemade mix of spinach, red pepper and either cod or river cobbler (i think it was cod as i didnt want any potential fresh water parasites). Anything live in particular or just a good mix of the usual suspects?

The only other reason i thought the female could be a male is due to reddish cheeks, i have read that they only have yellow/black/brown markings but if youre quite sure then im a happy chappy.

And youre right, when i went in they had 1 male opal, 2 male cacautoides, 2 male agassizi, 3 male macmasteris and the female macmasteri aswell as 3 male panduros. I was very lucky indeed!


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## Michael W (28 Dec 2013)

They will happily take mosquito larvae, a bucket of aged water out in the back garden will do the job. Daphnia they will also take, I've seen blogs in Apistogramma.com where people will feed red earthworms or a type of bait I believe? Darrel should know what I mean. But Apistos are not fussy eaters when there are livefood in the tank. A member of that forum even feeds RCS to his A. Cacatuoides!

I highly suggest you to take some time and visit the forum mentioned above as they have same amazing information in there regarding keeping/breeding Apistos. I know Darrel and other members on there have some awesome experience and info to share such as placing peat inside spawning caves due create a mini environment for Apistos which require a more acidic and soft water environment which allows a greater hatch rate. A member on there measured noticeable difference in PH inside the cave and outside.

I can't remember the thread of the top of my head but its in there somewhere.

Michael.


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## dw1305 (29 Dec 2013)

Hi all,





Kyle Lambert said:


> there are 3 'caves' as such in my tank but they are all grouped together in the middle.


 Move 2 of them around so they are in a back corner and/or a bit more hidden. 





Kyle Lambert said:


> algae wafers, catfish pellets, fish flake and a homemade mix of spinach, red pepper and either cod or river cobbler


 Sounds a good mix of dry food, Grindal and Red worms are a good easy live food, Black-worms and_ Daphnia _take a bit more looking after, but not a lot. My Grindal worm cultures all have Mites in them, but you can get them from EBay etc. Banana worms are good for fry. BBS are the best food, and you can feed them to both fry and adults, but they are more fiddly.

As "Michael W" suggests you can "ranch" mosquito larvae and blood-worms (also a midge larvae) in the summer. I fed my RCS to the _Apistogramma, _although a word of warning with this, I fed them by taking a big piece of java moss out of the shrimp tank, and putting it in with cichlids, over time I've managed to feed all or nearly all of my female shrimp, probably because even as juveniles the females tend to swim around less than the males, and just find a good position (in/on the moss in this case) and stay there. 

Recent peat thread (and original) is here <Thank you, Ted Judy | Apistogramma.com>.

cheers Darrel


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