# Apistogrammas?



## willjones (5 Jul 2008)

My LFS had some of these in recently, thought they would look great in my tank.
Have tried looking for info online without too much success. Anyone got any experience of keeping this fish? Are they difficult to keep?
Thanks for replies, Will


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## GreenNeedle (5 Jul 2008)

You should find loads of info on Apistos.  Probably struggling because there are so many differnt types.  They are a Dwarf Cichlid.

Go onto Google, type Apisto and then click on images.  You should be able to match them up then.  You will also see how many different Apistos there are.

Dwarf Cichlids aren't overly hard to keep but some are more aggressive than others so you will definately need to research properly.

As an example with Bolivian Rams (not an Apisto but still Dwarf Cichlid) in your 200ltr tank you would only be able to put 2 pairs (1m, 1f)!!, 3 pairs max if the tank had lots of visual barriers.  This would be due to territory.  This is one of the least aggressive Cichlids so you can obvs see that if you chose another then you may be reduced to 1 pair dependent on their aggression.

Andy


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## willjones (5 Jul 2008)

2 pairs would be just fine, my main worry is whether they'll eat / bully my cardinals and pencilfishes (had to get rid of troublesome angelfish previously).


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## GreenNeedle (5 Jul 2008)

Angelfish are larger.  They won't bully the smaller fish but when spawning will chase them away from their territory.  Nothing to worry about and is normal behaviour to protect their eggs/fry.

Its different with Angelfish because neons are their natural prey in the wild.  Also being bigger they will bully any fish that is small that they se as possible prey.

Apistos/dwarf cichlids will go mad for frozen bloodworm.  It will float and they will shoot for the surface and try and pull it down as if it is an insect landed on the surface.  Great behaviour to watch.

Andy


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## Ed Seeley (7 Jul 2008)

You could very easily keep a trio of most species easily in your tank.  I imagine the ones in your LFS were A.cactuoides or A.agasizii.  Both are pretty easy to keep in good tank conditions in softer water.


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## willjones (11 Jul 2008)

Bit the bullet and bought four a week ago, 2 males, 2 females. They seem happy enough at the moment. The only problem is that they have a bit of a limited diet at the moment. At the shop I was told they'd take flake food (which is what i feed my fish most of the time), but so far they've just watched the other fish eating the flakes and will only eat frozen bloodworm. 
This is tricky as most of the bloodworm gets eaten by the other fish, so it'll be pretty expensive if i have to feed them bloodworm all the time. Any suggestions?


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## Ed Seeley (12 Jul 2008)

What species did you get?  2 males will soon start fighting IME and you may have to remove the subdominant male unless it is a huge tank or you have a very peaceful species.

Are they tank bred?  The only dry food mine really go for is granular food.  I buy mine from TA Aquaculture and it's very cheap and very, very good stuff.  Frozen food of various types is good for them and so are live foods.  If you hatch artemia they go nuts for them.


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## Pleccy22 (12 Jul 2008)

In my experience Apistogramma nijessini is the most peaceful, males will fight unless the tank is large enough so you may have to remove one of the males. Apistos take most foods such as frozen bloodworm, daphnia and flake, whiteworm is particularly good for conditoning the fish prior to breeding.


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## Ed Seeley (13 Jul 2008)

Pleccy22 said:
			
		

> In my experience Apistogramma nijessini is the most peaceful, males will fight unless the tank is large enough so you may have to remove one of the males. Apistos take most foods such as frozen bloodworm, daphnia and flake, whiteworm is particularly good for conditoning the fish prior to breeding.



Sorry to disagree but nijsenii complex fish are pair forming species and some of the most aggressive IME!  Once they settle into a pair they are great, but the pair forming process can be bloody and rapid.  Also some pairs are simply not compatible and just constantly fall out causing even so-called 'experts' some headaches!  My pair annihilated the spare pair in a 3ft, 40g tank in under a week.  They then went on to breed regularly though.  The best thing about cichlids, even dwarfs, is that they don't read the books and you never really know what is going to happen as they are all individuals!


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## Pleccy22 (13 Jul 2008)

........................


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## willjones (21 Jul 2008)

Well most of the predictions are ringing true, including Ed's comments:


			
				Ed Seeley said:
			
		

> The best thing about cichlids, even dwarfs, is that they don't read the books and you never really know what is going to happen as they are all individuals!


Took the less dominant male back to fish shop due to bullying from the other male. I optimistically hoped harmony would ensue but was disappointed...
The main problem seems to be feeding, none of the remaining three are that enthusiastic unless I give them frozen boodworm, frustrating!
They are very interesting fish to watch however, and I really enjoy having them in my aquarium. They exhibit unusual behaviour interacting with each other and the other fish, haven't really figured them out yet. They also seem to have a vendetta against my corys and chase them around the tank. I really want to try to accomodate the apistos, however I fear that with their current lethargic eating habits they could gradually decline. 
One of the females seems to be out of favour with the male and gets chased away during feeding. Her fins look slightly frayed and I wonder if this is a sign of distress.
Going to try splitting up the frozen blood worm to try and reduce the competition. 
Any advice?


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## johnny70 (21 Jul 2008)

do you feed everyday? I always leave mine 1 day a week with no food, never had problems with them taking food including dry. What dry foods are you using?

Whats the temp you are keeping them at?

JOHNNY


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## willjones (21 Jul 2008)

The aquarium is at 26 degrees, and I feed them everyday, flake food, sinking pellets for catfish, live daphnia/ mosquito larvae (about every other day), and bloodworm. Haven't tried leaving them for a day without feeding.


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## johnny70 (21 Jul 2008)

try it, I had some sucess not doing a water change for 3 weeks and had my Baenschi and Trifasciata spawning, also dropped the temp to 24c when not doing the water changes, after 3 weeks got a big 50% cold water change and temp back up to 27c, spawned quickly after that, once they are are spawning thye will eat as all there energy is going into defending the babies

JOHNNY


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## willjones (21 Jul 2008)

Some pictures...










The male is about double the size of the females, I don't know if they will grow any more or not.
The first female in the photo is the one the other two chase around.
Gonna try a day without any food.


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## beeky (1 Aug 2008)

Lovely. No idea what they are though!

I'm sure Ed would help with that.


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## ceg4048 (1 Aug 2008)

These are Apistogramma agassizi. One of the less demanding of the dwarfs.

Cheers,


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## Ed Seeley (1 Aug 2008)

beeky said:
			
		

> I'm sure Ed would help with that.



Looks like Clive beat me to it!!!


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