Archivarium 2004

[ACE]

Marcos ,

I recently purchased a pair of these beautiful fish ( 1 Male / 1 Female ) and have them setup in a heavily planted tank around the same volume as yours with larger rocks and driftwood and was wondering how they are with plants in their homes ? Is there any special food you give them ? and would recommend any other tank mates ? I have chosen to leave them as a pair and not add anyone else , is that a agood idea ? The male is a bit bigger than the female , but she holds her ground once he steps in around her ! Sorry with all the questions , I did some research on this species before I bought them but personal experiences from yourself or anyone else on this board would be greatfully accepted. Thanks !

ACE

[Marcos Avila]

Well I only have 4 months of experience with these two and with Apistos in general so I anything I say should NOT be generalized...

MY couple seems to really love the densely planted paludarium, they spend a lot of time squeezing themselves in between Anubias leaves and Glossos to find edible critters and little bits of food.

They love frozen bloodworms and they've learned to eat a very simple, small grain sinking pellets for loaches, but they spit out almost everything else I have...freeze dried tubifex, Tetra Min Pro, and even a sinking Apisto pellet I bought because I'd thought they'd prefer it to the loach pellets.

I cannot recommend for or against any companions, 4 months is just not enough for that. MY female living in MY paludarium, seems to tolerate the male for now but usually wants to kill everything else. And even so, when she decides she wants to pick on the male, she's absolutely relentless...she's very intelligent and KNOWS he's in the tank somewhere so she pokes through every little niche, clearly hunting him out...
_________________
Are you a Fish-HAVER or a Fish-KEEPER?
Success with a fish/tank is measured in YEARS, not months or weeks...

[ACE]

Thank you for the reply , I myself shall keep anyone here posted with my results with keeping this species.They currently seem to like their home and have plenty of open swimming room along with places to hide.The male though has brighten up a bit in colour and fans his fins everytime she comes around.I guess its typical cichlid behaviour ? As for the food recommendations , I will give some of these a try. Thanks again.

ACE

[nonamethefish]

This photo series has been great! Good luck with the fry! Many people seem to claim this species is one of the more difficult apistos.

[Marcos Avila]

Alright, the babies have already completed a month of age so it's time for an update. There are indeed about 7-9 babies which are now between 6 and 9 mm in size. The larger ones are perfectly-shaped little apistos now, but no coloration yet, just some brownish patterns over a rather transparent body to keep them camouflaged. Their behavior is pretty much the same as the adults also, the typical move-stop-move-stop in search of scraps here and there, they even flare at each other sometimes!

Today I did a routine water change in the paludarium, which I like do opposite to normal tanks...first I fill up the tank completely, flooding the emmersed plants. I leave it like that for several hours before lowering the level again so the fish can have a ball exploring those upper levels...they absolutely LOVE it! And today for the first time the babies ventured up with the parents...this one's right beside a Christmas Moss bud that is normally just above water level:


Here you can see Momma in the background for size comparison:


One more, notice the red belly just filled up with decapsulated artemia!


Excellent camouflage against black beard algae

_________________
Are you a Fish-HAVER or a Fish-KEEPER?
Success with a fish/tank is measured in YEARS, not months or weeks...

[benedictj]

Nice- They all look very well nourished, just like they have swollen little puppy bellies.

Interesting stuff with the behaviour, it's kind of shocking to me that young ones would begin flaring at such an early age...guess they learned it by watching mom, hey?
_________________
Best,

Jake

[Magnus]

[aurther_dent2001]

Marcos, Can we have a full shot of your paladrium pleaseeeee!
The babies look wonderful, and the whole setup seems very interesting. photos please :

[ACE]

Since I didn't want to start another topic on the board I shall add to this one for the time being.Well just after three weeks of keeping these species(One male/ female) they have spawned and now about a dozen or so of these little guys were swimming around the bottom of the tank with mom near by keeping a watch ! Dad was also near too but swimming mid water! Both parents seem to be doing a good job so far and when I get near the glass , they run up to where iam looking and kinda flare their fins at me , kinda funny but interesting too.I'am amazed at the short time these two got busy ! My setup is an Eclipse 12 Gallon which includes lots or java fern , cryptocoryne wendtii , a medium sized peice of driftwood and a few large sized pebbles/rocks which most of the little ones are hiding in and around of.My pH is around the 6.8 area ( Co2 injected with a Hagen kit ) so I guess this range is good for spawning so I have found out.As too what happens next , well I shall let them be and hopefully a few or more survive to adulthood.

ACE