Apisto’s meeting the neighbors

Everything good on day 2 no visible squabbles

This one was actually hanging with the big angel fish, before I got the camera ready

Hmmm maybe they are becoming buds

Sadly it won't last.... when they grow up they are going to want a home of their own to raise the kids; and they won't take kindly to guests....

Apisto’s got introduced to Bacter, and the shrimp cocktail tonight… lil guys were swimming around like they owned the tank… Mutt is still bossy at feeding time over the center of the tank, but at least with these feeds, it goes all over the tank, so everyone has fat lil bellies… still amazing, that when feeding brine shrimp, and blood worms, that none of the bigger fish takes a swipe at the zebra Oto’s…

I should have moved the “wrestling earth eaters” out of this tank a long time ago… the apisto’s are settling in well and swimming around in the open… this is a fairly well lit tank, which is partly why I chose tank bred apisto’s, and while the water is soft, it’s not particularly dark stained, or very low Ph, like wild fish would expect… as peaceful a tank, as you could expect with Cichlids… at least for now, until something changes…

The angel will probably never bother the njisseni. It's the old niche story - angels are not bottom oriented. It's the acaras and cupido that could become testy. None are cave spawners like the njisseni, so maybe it'll work out. I hope so.

I never needed tannins with that species. I know you aren't into breeding, but they bred at pH 6.6 - 6.8, as long as the water was soft (I think around tds 40 - it's been a while since I kept them). The tank water was clear, and they didn't seem to care about lighting. If they do get "reproducey", the colours of the courting females are very nice indeed.

GaryE said:

The angel will probably never bother the njisseni. It's the old niche story - angels are not bottom oriented. It's the acaras and cupido that could become testy. None are cave spawners like the njisseni, so maybe it'll work out. I hope so.

I never needed tannins with that species. I know you aren't into breeding, but they bred at pH 6.6 - 6.8, as long as the water was soft (I think around tds 40 - it's been a while since I kept them). The tank water was clear, and they didn't seem to care about lighting. If they do get "reproducey", the colours of the courting females are very nice indeed.

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While each fish is different typically Nijsseni like large territories - up to a square foot. They might recognize this isn't possible or they might insist to the best of their ability. Also that third wheel is gonna have to go to the other side of the tank or the top to be safe - again each fish is different however if you see the extra female trapped somewhere in a corner or the top of the aquarium do her a favor and move her somewhere else.

Coincidentally Dan’s got them in again, and are selling them in pairs now… I’ll keep an eye on them, lots of hideouts in the tank… and assuming all are still juveniles

So… a little update… all 3 look like they are doing well, and eating, though I expect they all won’t survive, there is one that is quite a bit smaller… none of the Apisto’s are really hanging together, and the tank has enough cover not claimed by someone else, they can find a spot… I expect because they are still juvenile, the bigger one, doesn’t go out and seek the others, but if it crosses paths, except at feeding time, it does move them away from where it’s swimming… maybe showing interest, to see if it’s reciprocal… the bigger one is more outgoing, and I’m guessing it’s a male… this was supposed to be a male and 2 females, but the 2nd largest has the same color pattern as the largest… the smaller one has a plainer color pattern, so I’m guessing that’s a female, but I’m guessing they’ll change a lot as they mature… but right now “it looks” like there are 2 males and one female… but no challenging going on…

It’s funny that Dan’s would sell them in 3’s, if that would typically be a problem, and then they switched to selling them by the pair… a seller like Dan’s, that say they are all about what’s best for the fish… you would think they wouldn’t sell them in a trio, if that was a problem… assuming that info must come from somewhere, perhaps the breeder???

Excess females; sometime the female can be picky but i haven't run into that problem. Also you won't notice any real change until someone (acara or apisto) reaches sexual maturity. Once that happens then change might occur very quickly in terms of 'friendliness'.

Last but least I don't know how knowledgeable Dan is or why he does anything. But as i noted either he had excess females, didn't realize they were pair forming or in some instances the females can be very pick about picking a male (the female is the one who will decide if a pair will be formed - at least as it relates to dwarf cichild females run the show in most things).

Apistos are doing well… the biggest still looks the same, but the medium one is picking up more color, these 2 hang out on opposite sidesof the tank, but not really witnessing aggression

Bigger one is more outgoing, had split in the dorsal when it got here, but seems to hang out with the bigger fish…

So, I haven’t figured out these Apisto’s yet… they were supposed to be a make and two females… but they are juveniles, so not easy for me to sex them… been here a couple weeks now… the biggest one, I was guessing was a male, when the came, and a medium size one, and a small one, is what I’m calling them right now… none of the currently hang together, but very little fighting between them… big one has it’s space on the right side of the tank, the medium has it’s space on the left side of the tank… the medium one chases the small one off it’s turf, and the small one has been hanging out mostly in the massive Chinese Evergreen roots hanging down from the plants n hang on pots along the back of the tank… the larger one does not chase the little one off it’s turf, but the little one typically likes to hang out by the filter and the root balls hanging down from the top… since these were tank raised, I assume they are all siblings, so I’m not trying to breed them… hey seem to be “getting along”, but no one is trying to pair up yet

Females and male a. nijsseni will look distinctly different as adults. This is an adult male; note the colouring and lack of a black body mark which the females have.

The male can have a mid body mark but he frequently turns it off and it is generally less distinct though when immature it is more frequently seen.

The female will get to be 1.5 to 1.75 inches and the male 2.2 to 2.5 inches typically - or at least the ones i had. the two hanging on the opposite side of the tank (2 pictures up) look like females. The one in post #16 first good picture looks like a male. This is going off the petral fins but quite frankly the photos are low quality.


Also quite frankly the title of the thread should be changed. It helps spread the misconception that all fishes in the genus apistogramma behave the same. This is utterly false and poorly understood because people keeping calling their fishes 'apistogramma'. Many of the different species have very different behavior with some actually preferring to be in a group and others extremely vicious torwards conspecific.