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Apistogramma tankmates??

That's not a bad sign; an aggresive female will usually do a good job as a mum. Just don't let her beat the male up! If they're confident on their own then it probably won't matter what dithers you put it, as long as they don't eat the babies.
 
Ed and Dw,thanks for your advice,I got 9 gold line pencil fish today.Very pretty,quite comical,not shy at all.The 'gold line' is pretty amazing,it really shimmers,and almost as soon as I added them some started colouring up red on their fins,just glanced at them across the room actually and the red is getting really pronounced.
Very glad I got these fish,might consider getting a big load of them when I get the 360.Very unusual and as pretty as any tetra.
 
Hi all,
Red fins so Nannostomus beckfordii (below) rather than Nannobrycon unifasciatus?
Nannostomus_beckfordi_1.jpg
They are a good choice, really smart fish and a bit more robust than some of the other Pencils, although beckfordii are better fry hunters than the other Pencil fish so you may need to keep an eye on them.
cheers Darrel
 
Yep,lfs were a bit vague,so looked them up when I got home,def Beckfordii.Been watching them over the last couple of days,they don't school too good,they're kind of all over the place,mind it's a small tank though.
Seem to have two males who have gone very dark red,black and brown who constantly vie with each other.I'll keep an eye on them,and if I do get fry,hopefully mum will chase them off,if not,I'll try them in the bigger tank.
Talking about the aggies,their behaviour has changed again totally since adding the pencil fish,with the female once again in residence in a cave and not attacking the male.
 
Hi all,
I think Beckfords are quite active for Pencils. I've recently got some N. eques (Hockey stick Pencils), they are very safe dithers, I like them and they seem quite happy, but they are a bit "stationary" and often just hang there in a very loose shoal.
cheers Darrel
 
do dwarf cichlids dig? if so, to what extent?
 
Yeh,I'll keep an eye on the pencils,I have options,my tanks aren't heavily stocked.
Re the digging,tbh,one of the cichlid experts will give the definitive,I've only had mine a couple of months,I haven't seen them digging at all.
My 60 has a playsand foreground and I regularly see my male filter feeding there,picking up mouthfulls of sand and spitting it back through his gills.That's appistogrammas though,you don't say what type of dwarf,I would imagine the Africas would dig more,coming from a more rocky habitat?
 
Hi all,
No Apistogrammas don't dig, although if you have sand the female will adjust the size of the spawning cave to her satisfaction. They do a lot of sand filtering, as described, this is because they are part of the Geophagine lineage, but it doesn't do any harm. It's quite useful habit if you don't have Corries because they will pick of the food pellets, grindal worms, blood worms etc. that make it to the bottom of the tank. I wanted to try to establish Blackworms (Lumbriculus spp) in the tank substrate to take advantage of this and keep them entertained, (I thought about Tubifex, but didn't want to risk them) but you I couldn't get a culture in the UK.
cheers Darrel
 
Hi all,
Yes some of the little African cichlids are champion diggers, I haven't kept many, but Neolamprologus multifasciatus are great, they bury their shells, and they are incredible diggers, you can't imagine how little fish can move so much sand.
cheers Darrel
 
ok, thanks guys. Darrel, I keep n.multifasicatus, awesome little fish, i'd love to get about 50 and watch them all dig, think how quick they'd be!

the species in particular i was looking at is nannacara anomala :crazy:
 
Think my fire reds have either spawned or attempted to today,the two who were previously like Punch and Judy.Little minxy was very flirty and enticed him into her lair and he was in there for about half an hour.I must say I was very worried as I can't see in and thought she might have killed him but no.So now she's in and out like a yoyo and he's patrolling.
If there are eggs,how long before I can expect to see them venture out?Oh and Dw,I'll take you up on the worm culture,give me a wee pm with some details please 🙂
 
Goodygumdrops said:
Think my fire reds have either spawned or attempted to today,the two who were previously like Punch and Judy.Little minxy was very flirty and enticed him into her lair and he was in there for about half an hour.I must say I was very worried as I can't see in and thought she might have killed him but no.So now she's in and out like a yoyo and he's patrolling.
If there are eggs,how long before I can expect to see them venture out?Oh and Dw,I'll take you up on the worm culture,give me a wee pm with some details please 🙂
Click to expand...

If she's going in and out it might not have been the spawning itself but a little bit of 'preliminary action'! :lol: When she spawns she will probably wall herself into the cave by piling a bit of sand up against the door.

If they have spawned then you can expect free-swimming fry to be brought out in 8 days at usual temps.

As to digging; all cichlids will dig a bit IME (Even my wild angels cleared a few bits of sand away from the bottom of a log at one point!) however dwarfs will only usually dig around their cave and when turning the substrate over looking for food.

I've had a 2ft tank full of a N.multifasciatus colony and their excavations were immense! They piled all the sand up in little walls between the males territories and across the front of the tank! The base near their shells was clear glass!!! The L.meeli shelldwellers I'm keeping now dig much less than the N.helianthus rock dwellers in the tank. To me digging is part of the character of cichlids to be honest.
 
Hi Ed,don't kow what's happened,I'd say she spent a day or so fiercly protecting the cave and has gradually ventured further from it,still going back in regularly now.Mind they've only been in the tank a week or so,so nice to see they've settled and claimed space for themselves.
Her ovipositor was down before they disappeared into the cave together,but even if they did spawn,I wouldn't expect them to get it right first time.Re the walling in,I actually put a pebble in front of the cave with just a gap big enough for them to squeeze through to try and keep the bristlenose out,seems to work and the aggies must feel more secure.
 
dw1305 said:
Hi all,
No Apistogrammas don't dig, although if you have sand the female will adjust the size of the spawning cave to her satisfaction.
Click to expand...

Apistogramma do dig, some more than others. I have had the females of some species effectively seal themselves in a cave. The A. nijesseni complex tend to dig more than A. agassizii group.

Ed is also correct with the easiest way of sexing apisto's. Black frot edge to the ventral fins. The only exceptions to this are the species where males are more acting in brood care. For example A. norberti males have gray/black in the front of the ventral fins. Romer has reported that the males of this species sometimes take over brood care in some populations.

Rob
 
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