Any info on these?

[Flippin'thing bit me eye]

Apistogramma sp. "Inca"

Apistogramma sp. "Mamoré"

Apistogramma sp. "Maulbruter"

Apistogramma sp. "Papagei"

Apistogramma trifasciata "Guaporé"

Apistogramma viejita.

Size, Diet, Social behaviour please

 

[Cian McLiam]

Most apistos have the same requirements, and most stay under 4", all of the undescribed species you mentioned would be ok at pH 5.8-7 with very soft water required for breeding. They usually take frozen bloodworm, but with a bit of work will accept Tetra Prima, which is a high protein diet. Bloodworm doesnt have enough protein to give the apistos enough energy, so it cannot be their only diet. Frozen brine shrimp is also taken, but again will not mak a balanced diet.

All are territorial, and its best to keep one male to three females, with only one male per 2ft of tank. They are mid-bootom dwellers and like a sandy substrate.

The single described species you mention, veijita has a rep for being a little terror, and males will fight no matter what size the tank is. They will attempt to harass any other tank occupants too. The inca or papagei get my vote for looks, the malbruter is pretty plain, except for shimmery scales and it also has an intersting mouthbrooding method of caring for fry.

In a 3ft tank, you could put three species of one male and two females of each type, except the veijita, which is best kept alone in a 2ft with three females or more, so one does not get too much unwanted attention.

The fry of the trifasciata and mamore are both slow growers, the rest are quite hard to breed but thrive on newly hatched brine shrimp, then bloodworm and flakes.

Ken

 

[Flippin'thing bit me eye]

Wow thanks Ken, I agree with you about the incas for looks.
I've never kept dwarf SA's before so may try it soon

 

[Peter Lovett]

Most apistos have the same requirements

For general care the above is true. But for breeding it gets a little more complicated.

I have kept and spawn over 12 species wild Apistogramma and have found that they will take all food you offer. Apistos are generally detritus feeders and spend most of there time sifting on the bottom of the tank. So don't worry if the food you give is not eaten straight away they will find it soon enough. I feed my fish mostly aquarian tropical flake and live daphina.

It is not an easy to answer how many fish you will be able to keep in a tank. Though i would keep only one male in any tank less than 4' and no more than 1 female in anything less than a 2'.

It is true that a male apisto will spawn with more than one female at a time. But if you have two females in a 2' tank and one female desides to spawn and the other one does not than you will probably have to remove the extra female from the tank.

Out of all the fish you have listed I would have to go with the Inca they are very hardy and are quite easy to breed a ph less than 7 and miduim soft water and good feeding and a little humick acid and they should start spawning at about an inch long.

I have at the moment trio of spawning wild fish and 2 spawning f1 pairs.

So far all the male have been good fathers and do not eat fry.

If you need anymore info on apistos let me know.

 

[Cian McLiam]

Though i would keep only one male in any tank less than 4' and no more than 1 female in anything less than a 2'.

Why? Females will have a territory of 15cm diameter approx around a cave, and a male will guard approx 30cm around this. I have had a male spawing with two female cacatuoides and a spawning pair of hongsloi in a three ft tank with only very minor incidents. I think 4ft for three males is more than enough.

If you have enough decor for them to draw up boundaries around their own caves, you should have no trouble keeping two species with one male and two females in a three foot tank. It worked well for me, except when I put veijita in, they had to go back the next day

Ken

 

[Peter Lovett]

It is just my opinion.

Why? Females will have a territory of 15 cm diameter approx around a cave, and a male will guard approx 30 cm around this.

Will they?

This is unfortunately is not always true. A male apistos will keep a territory are large as he is capable of holding 3" male is more than capable of doing this and a female will do the same.

The reason this is because for a male the larger his territory the more females he can spawn with. For a female it mean more food for her fry. When a male spawns will more than one female it is his responsibility to keep each female in it's place. Female will try to enlarge there alotted territory if possible.

I'm not say it is impossible to keep more than one male in a tank i just would not do it for long time.



The one good thing about Cichlids are that they don't read books and serf the net.

Can i ask how large your fish where at the time.

And what fish where in the tank when you added your veijita.