Since I have used plants in the tank with the absence of caves the fish have taken to spawning on leaves. He will "pretend" to be a female and take any opportunities presented to mate with willing females. With these valuable lessons in my head I promptly packed up my fishroom and moved it to a new house. apistogramma, multiple males, or just a pair? By this time, Puberty differences begin to appear. The cockatoo cichlid is a substrate spawner and will use these shelters as a nursery. Apistogramma cacatuoides Female picture by Schmaus, G. Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes ( gen. , sp. ) The water was near 0 ppm hardness and a pH of about 6.5. Do keep in mind that this required at least 3 males and 2 or more females per male. If you are not keen on buying a bunch of water, you can age water in a large vessel and add a nylon stocking full of peat moss. The Apistogramma cacatuoides is one of the more sturdy cichlids and is therefore suited for the beginners in the hobby. Freshwater Tropical Fish Articles | TFH Magazine, Apistogramma steindachneri | Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine, The Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlid | Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine. Slow-moving waters would be consistent with their natural habitat, as collectors who are looking for Apistogramma will look for the leaf littered shores of lakes or big rivers (leaves don’t settle in fast-moving water), small brooks with leaf litter, or small pools. Once you are hooked and willing to track down more species, you will find that your hobby has expanded, and the folks you will meet along the way are going to be worth knowing. Feeding blackworms to Apistogramma really has done a lot to improve the number of spawns, the number of eggs, and the survival of the fry in my tanks. Rasboras. Both males get to show off defending their female, and I think this improves the odds for the female being attracted to the male. I also use Otocinclus spp. The first was that breeding the captive stock from a tank I had seen can produce fry if that tank can be roughly replicated. If two species of Apistogramma are kept together in a tank, they tend to fight too. They are likely to cope better with temperature changes and this makes them easier for beginner to keep. Stress leads to illness and early death. For some fish it takes a spare male, others a spare female. Wanting to mix things up a bit, I eventually started putting all sorts of live plants in the tanks, and the apistos seem to use them constantly for refuge and territory boundaries. There are other possible issues, but these are the most common, and there is one solution that may solve two of these problems. His tanks would make me crazy when I visited his fishroom, but they worked on the principle that low water flow was helpful in bringing the fish into spawning condition. Don’t keep a couple as the male will chase the female to mate and this might lead to her death as he will not stop. Some need really warm water, some really cool water. The leaf litter need not be replicated with dead leaves; any tank you can create with loads of crevices and spaces for the adult Apistogramma to hide among would be good. But it’s not easy to house many fish with an oscar Astronotus ocellatus, or a pike cichlid Crenicichla sp. Apistogrammas that end up subject to high-stress levels – whether from improper tank conditions, poor choice of tank mates, or unbalanced schools – won’t achieve the high end of that lifespan. Apistos will be most comfortable in a tank that has plenty of hiding place (ie. The Double Red Agassizi's Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma cf. The point is the plants will keep the tank water cleaner. And the great bit is many of those people are a joy to just talk to, and many of the articles and books will enrich your life. Here are some of our favorite Apistogramma tank mates: Fish of the same species; Neon Tetras Keep this in mind when preparing and scaping the tank and choosing the other inhabitants. You will need to read magazines and books that detail the habitat of the species, as you will not be able to succeed with rare species of Apistogramma without speaking to a number of people and educating yourself. Is the plants will remove ammonium from the tank while the male will have much softer water in a of. The medication will not take long yellow when she is breeding cichlids will breed like crazy do a species. Peacefully with them and they grew quickly a neutral pH Romer is one of the can! Not disturb the parents when there is fry, and well suited for beginners who can even breed with fish... 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