400l mixed community

[Conort2]

oooooooh

can't WAIT to see photos of them in the tank!!

Judging by their behaviour and their tank mates behaviour they’ll be going in their own dedicated set up. They’re far too slow and deliberate with their swimming to deal with the energetic hyphessobrycon and iguanodectes and the tetras seem to want to take the odd nibble.

Providing the female apistogramma isn’t guarding a spawn they’ll be going in the apisto spawning setup. The male is already back in the main aquarium as the female decided she’d had enough of his presence. I’m hoping this is because she has a spawn stashed away. The issue with these apistos isn’t getting them to spawn it’s more getting the eggs to last, certainly one of the more difficult cichlids I’ve encountered to breed. It is to be expected though as they’re from extremely acidic conditions.

Cheers

 

[shangman]

Judging by their behaviour and their tank mates behaviour they’ll be going in their own dedicated set up. They’re far too slow and deliberate with their swimming to deal with the energetic hyphessobrycon and iguanodectes and the tetras seem to want to take the odd nibble.

Providing the female apistogramma isn’t guarding a spawn they’ll be going in the apisto spawning setup. The male is already back in the main aquarium as the female decided she’d had enough of his presence. I’m hoping this is because she has a spawn stashed away. The issue with these apistos isn’t getting them to spawn it’s more getting the eggs to last, certainly one of the more difficult cichlids I’ve encountered to breed. It is to be expected though as they’re from extremely acidic conditions.

Cheers

Nothing wrong with a new tank of it's needed! They're definitely gorgeous enough to justify it 😍 really interested to see what their behaviour is like in the apisto setup, I hope they can relax a little and that she isn't a little demon to them! If she's like a mother macmasteri with otos or kuhlis they only get a move along nudge. How low is the ph in that tank?

 

[Conort2]

Nothing wrong with a new tank of it's needed! They're definitely gorgeous enough to justify it 😍 really interested to see what their behaviour is like in the apisto setup, I hope they can relax a little and that she isn't a little demon to them! If she's like a mother macmasteri with otos or kuhlis they only get a move along nudge. How low is the ph in that tank?

She was spawnless upon investigation so she is back in the main tank now. Both male and female seem happier already and are swimming around together. Maybe the breeding set up was just too small for them.

All ammocryptocharax have been moved, was like finding needles in haystacks in a five foot tank full of plants, thankfully they’re extremely slow swimmers. They’re extremely hard to find even in the small set up as they’re so well camouflaged. Will have to get some more plants and more flow in there to replicate their natural habitat abit better.

Spot the fish in the last photo ha!

Cheers

 

[HarrietHippo]

Stunning tank and amazing selection of fish - not often I have to google half of them 🙂 Great to have a local dealer who shares your interests too.

I had question on how you deal with cyano on the substrate where it is exposed to direct sun? Has always been a problem for me. I have a love/ hate with natural sunlight

Cheers

 

[Wookii]

She was spawnless upon investigation so she is back in the main tank now. Both male and female seem happier already and are swimming around together. Maybe the breeding set up was just too small for them.

All ammocryptocharax have been moved, was like finding needles in haystacks in a five foot tank full of plants, thankfully they’re extremely slow swimmers. They’re extremely hard to find even in the small set up as they’re so well camouflaged. Will have to get some more plants and more flow in there to replicate their natural habitat abit better.

Spot the fish in the last photo ha!

Cheers

Good to see you managed to get some Conor - are you going to attempt breeding them now you have them a dedicated tank? Would love to see some more phots once you have the settled and coloured up.

 

[Conort2]

Good to see you managed to get some Conor - are you going to attempt breeding them now you have them a dedicated tank? Would love to see some more phots once you have the settled and coloured up.

It’s something I’ll certainly try, seems like I have four males and two females judging on body shape. However my first priority will be to keep these alive, they look so fragile and didn’t get off to the best start in the main tank. Plenty of live food and water changes should get them back on
track.

had question on how you deal with cyano on the substrate where it is exposed to direct sun? Has always been a problem for me. I have a love/ hate with natural sunlight

I haven’t really, any slight cyno you see the substrate I just leave. Luckily all other algae is subsiding as the tank matures.

Cheers

 

[Conort2]

Just a little update in regards to the darter characins. They appear to have settled down now, they have started feeding on very small live daphnia. They are so slow and deliberate with their feeding and watch every food item for ages before they attack. Due to this feeding style I’d only recommend keeping them with dwarf shrimp or dwarf loricarids that don’t compete for food. I think nearly every other fish would put compete them for food. They’re even more specialised than I realised and I’m very lucky I had a spare tank as I don’t think these would’ve lasted long at all.

Will hopefully get some pictures once they’ve settled in for a few more days.

Cheers

 

[Conort2]

Managed to get a few pictures. They have to be the most bizarre fish I’ve ever kept. They swim head up and almost drift along until they find something to eat. They then slowly move towards it. Remind me almost of seahorses.

They can also change colour in an instant, unfortunately only one seems to be willing to try and change to green at the moment. The others look like little twigs lol.

Cheers

 

[afroturf]

Amazing fish the Ammocryptocharax i've always dreamt of keeping them after seeing some of Ivan Mikoljis photos of them in the wild. So was astonished to see some at my local Maidenhead aquatics yesterday, so had to pick them up. No kidding on reading how tricky they are to feed. Any tips on feeding? thinking grindal/microworms my be the way to go, I've had some success feeding live bbs and to a lesser extent frozen bloodworm. No idea how these survive in the wild in high flowing streams they take some much effort in spotting/hunting prey, defiantly worth the effort though, amazing fish!

 

[Wookii]

Amazing fish the Ammocryptocharax i've always dreamt of keeping them after seeing some of Ivan Mikoljis photos of them in the wild. So was astonished to see some at my local Maidenhead aquatics yesterday, so had to pick them up. No kidding on reading how tricky they are to feed. Any tips on feeding? thinking grindal/microworms my be the way to go, I've had some success feeding live bbs and to a lesser extent frozen bloodworm. No idea how these survive in the wild in high flowing streams they take some much effort in spotting/hunting prey, defiantly worth the effort though, amazing fish!

Just noticed your in Nottingham too - which MA? Trowell or Notcutts Wheatcroft? . . . Though I have been a little off-put but Conor's report on their difficulty and needing a species specific tank.

 

[afroturf]

Trowell @Wookii I got 6 out of the 8 they had, the others were quite thin and didn't look in great condition, but maybe worth a look if you were interested. Quite impressed with the fish selection at Trowell not been in ages as it a bit of a drive better than the closer Wheatcroft.

 

[Wookii]

Trowell @Wookii I got 6 out of the 8 they had, the others were quite thin and didn't look in great condition, but maybe worth a look if you were interested. Quite impressed with the fish selection at Trowell not been in ages as it a bit of a drive better than the closer Wheatcroft.

Yeah, they often do have a good selection in there, it’s my go-to LFS. You did well to spot them 👍🏻

 

[Conort2]

No idea how these survive in the wild in high flowing streams they take some much effort in spotting/hunting prey,

Me neither, they take forever to strike at daphnia with the filter turned off. I have no idea how they manage to catch anything in the wild, Every movement is so slow and cautious.

 

[afroturf]

Yeah, they often do have a good selection in there, it’s my go-to LFS. You did well to spot them 👍🏻

Yeah I used to live near Trowell and went regularly thought it was just ok, I've moved further away and was the first time I've been in ages very impressed, they did have some Characidium fasciatum too that I was tempted with and would be much easier to feed than the Ammocryptocharax

Me neither, they take forever to strike at daphnia with the filter turned off. I have no idea how they manage to catch anything in the wild, Every movement is so slow and cautious.

Yeah realised that turning the filter off is part of the trick, a bit annoying but they gotta eat. Might get some worm cultures going again give a bit more of a mouthful than the few bbs each feeding, fortunate I can give them numerous feedings each day.

 

[anewbie]

Judging by their behaviour and their tank mates behaviour they’ll be going in their own dedicated set up. They’re far too slow and deliberate with their swimming to deal with the energetic hyphessobrycon and iguanodectes and the tetras seem to want to take the odd nibble.

Providing the female apistogramma isn’t guarding a spawn they’ll be going in the apisto spawning setup. The male is already back in the main aquarium as the female decided she’d had enough of his presence. I’m hoping this is because she has a spawn stashed away. The issue with these apistos isn’t getting them to spawn it’s more getting the eggs to last, certainly one of the more difficult cichlids I’ve encountered to breed. It is to be expected though as they’re from extremely acidic conditions.

Cheers

What ph tds are you spawning them? I know quite a few apisto require very low ph for the eggs to actually hatch; they will happily lay eggs in normal ph but they simply won't hatch until you lower the ph.

 

[Conort2]

What ph tds are you spawning them? I know quite a few apisto require very low ph for the eggs to actually hatch; they will happily lay eggs in normal ph but they simply won't hatch until you lower the ph.

Tds was around 20/30 in the end however they have now gone back in the main aquarium. The female took a serious disliking to the male and almost killed him. They now swim around like nothing has happened together in the main aquarium ha.

Cheers

 

[Conort2]

They now swim around like nothing has happened together in the main aquarium

Things have gone much better since and the female is now looking after fry. I have yet to see them but the area she is protecting has moved from where she initially was guarding and she still has her bright spawning colours so fingers crossed this time. Only issue is she will abandon them for food which is never great, however this only brief before she rushes back to the hiding place under some plants. I’m not getting my hopes up as there are a lot of fish in this tank but there are also quite a few hiding places so you never know.

Cheers

 

[Conort2]

The female definitely has fry and has a small group following her around now. Still not getting my hopes up as there are far too many predators in this tank but she is doing a good job so far. They’re still sticking quite close to her but as they grow they like to explore and may become snacks. I’ll be over the moon if even two or three survive.

Cheers

 

[Conort2]

Mum and dad (surprisingly) still doing a great job. You can just make out a few of the little ones in these pictures.

Cheers

 

[Conort2]

New fish are settling in well. Will hopefully get the corydoras spawning in the near future once they’re properly conditioned.

The tucano tetras are tiny! I knew they were a dwarf species but didn’t realise how small they’d actually be. Stunning little fish but hard to capture their beauty on camera. This is a breeding tank so ignore the algae!!!