help with my apisto

[Incredible319]

hi all,

I have been having this apisto panduro pair for a few weeks now. The female becomes yellow every 2-3 weeks or so but unsuccessful in spawning so far.

A couple of days back, the same thing happened except that the behaviour has changed slightly this time. There was more digging up of the gravel.

Since yesterday, the male is hiding in a cichlid cave somewhere ( i dont see any eggs that he is guarding in that cave). The female was digging frantically under a bog wood and surrounded herself with gravel (even though i have another apisto cave). Now I dont know where she is. She hasnt appeared since last night. I hope she didnt jump out of the tank. I looked around but no sign of any fish.

Is that considered normal behaviour? I tried feeding them but they didnt come out either

thanks all.

PS: My tank is not big either. About 1 ft sthing. Its only a pair of apisto inside.

[EdwinTay]

hi Incredible319

Is yr tank heavily planted? If so, chances are that they are hiding. Apistos are notorious for hiding...sometimes I don't see mine for days.

With regards to behaviour, from the way you describe, it doesn't seem like your fish are too aggressive.

With regards to eggs, most of the time, I don't even know when my fish have dropped. Sometimes, only when the fries are about 2 weeks' old, then I see them. It happened with my Mamore (twice), Hoignei & Trifasciatas. If I am lucky, I see the female turning very yellow...

It's best to cover your tanks.

[Incredible319]

hi bro,

Thanks for the reply. Its not heavily planted but there are hiding places for sure. I also have a canopy of trees behind the bog wood and thats where the female (in my opinion) probably hiding.

In terms of aggressiveness, yeah they are not aggressive..they are very relaxed in my opinion - not sure how they would deal with other fish if it were in a comm tank.

Do u mean cover the tanks to prevent light from going in to make the fish comfortable? or to cover the tank to prevent the fish from jumping out?

cheers

[alfredliow316]

Sometimes when you do not see the female for a few days, it could be either good or bad news

[Incredible319]

thks for yr reply..

oh..i hope nothing bad happened

[stormhawk]

If you do not see the female after 3 days upon noticing her disappearance, then prepare for bad news. Often the female will be guarding her hideout for close to 3 days watching over the eggs. She may venture out to feed every now and then, but usually the female will not eat until her fry have hatched. Should you not see her after 5 days then she is likely dead, with the body trapped somewhere. If your tank has a mesh cover or some sort of cover to prevent her from jumping, then she should still be in the tank.

[Incredible319]

thks for the advice bro..

Finally some gd news today! She finally came out from behind the driftwood - all fins raised and looking very much on guard. Am not sure whether there are fries etc (time will tell) but I am glad she is alive!

The male is acting somewhat in a scared manner - always hiding in a cave at night and during the day, he is in a remote location amongst the plants. Thought he would be guarding the eggs too!

I will try to find some sort of mesh cover for them..

cheers

If you do not see the female after 3 days upon noticing her disappearance, then prepare for bad news. Often the female will be guarding her hideout for close to 3 days watching over the eggs. She may venture out to feed every now and then, but usually the female will not eat until her fry have hatched. Should you not see her after 5 days then she is likely dead, with the body trapped somewhere. If your tank has a mesh cover or some sort of cover to prevent her from jumping, then she should still be in the tank.

[joopsg]

I do have apistogrammas females digging holes to breed. I usually like to use driftwood to make the cave rather then using pot. Can try using coconut shell too.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Incredible319]

yeah that was interesting to see..she rejected all the cave hideouts in the tank and instead built her own cave behind a driftwood..

I do have apistogrammas females digging holes to breed. I usually like to use driftwood to make the cave rather then using pot. Can try using coconut shell too.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[stormhawk]

The males do not participate in active brood care, at least for panduro. The female, if she has taken on the brood coloration, will mean her fry have just hatched into the wriggler stage. They remain this way for a few days until their yolk sac is consumed. In the mean time, you should get some BBS eggs etc in anticipation of the fry going into free-swimming stage, by which time you must have appropriate foods ready.

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species...ramma-panduro/

This link shows the colors and pattern of the female during brood care. If you see her in her maternal suit then you my friend, are in luck.

Once the fry are free-swimming you can consider the following foods - well-sieved Daphnia/Moina (ang boon locally at LFS) or newly hatched brine shrimp or microworms. You can try dry foods like Sera Micron or Hikari First Bites, but some fry will not take them. Crushed Tetrabits can be utilised once they are slightly bigger but to be safe, look for Daphnia or hatch your own BBS.

You must try to isolate the male in a separate tank or breeder trap, or the guarding female can and might kill him if she thinks he is a threat. I've lost male apistos before, because I did not notice the mother was guarding her fry.

[Incredible319]

hi bro,

thanks a lot for the advice. I have switched off the light in my fish tank a couple of days ago ( i noticed both of them became extremely agitated whenever i approached the tank). I turn on the lights only when i am feeding them. So, the female (during the lapse of time that i see her if she is not hiding) is not exactly yellow but more light blue. But the dark patterns on her body and eyes are very dark..

I will keep an eye on the male. Yesterday, both of them were flapping fins for a while before they retreated to their own spot. So, i thought they were still happy togehter. This morning, i did not see either of them -hiding in separate locations probably.

As for brine shrimp, i have those ready. I got from a nice bro here. In fact, i just hatched some yesterday to feed the apistos. I also have tetrabits ( i had platy fries at home a couple of months back) . I will get hold of these brands that you told me. ..

thks

[stormhawk]

I wish you the best of luck, because good quality panduro locally can be hard to come by. If your female has jet black patches where they should be, then she is guarding her fry or could be a sneaker male. Very often the shops here stock sneaker males alongside males and they are sold as female, because they exhibit female patterns. A brooding female panduro is almost always yellow and with distinct black marks on the chin, pelvic and dorsal fins, along with the side blotch. Any other case could mean a sneaker male.

If possible, try to take a photo of both of them and post it here.

[Incredible319]

hey bro,

thks. Well, she was very yellow the first time she tried to spawn but this time around, she was not that yellow. So, i guess she may not be a sneaker male..Attached in this link are some pics i posted the first time she became yellow.

http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ding-behaviour

cheers

PS: More importantly, judging by their size, are these adults or turning into adults? I noticed that the male's bottom two fins (those two things that ressemble 'fangs') became more orange with time. Not sure if he is happier now or because he is growing..

[Incredible319]

here is how the female looks like today. Just took the pics before feeding her. She is slightly more yellow today.

i took one with flash and no flash - in case my tank light influences the color change.

f_nf.jpgf_flash.jpg

[stormhawk]

If the pelvic fins became orange over time, it means that the male is sexually mature. You have a female in lighter colors not yet in full breeding phase but only time will tell. Locally, I believe at times we might have A. nijsseni x panduro hybrids, since both species are similar and being in the same group means they might produce viable fry. I saw a pair of "panduro" in bags floating in one of the tanks at C328 but both were exhibiting female colors, which is strange or both are basically sneaker males.

[Incredible319]

If the pelvic fins became orange over time, it means that the male is sexually mature. You have a female in lighter colors not yet in full breeding phase but only time will tell. Locally, I believe at times we might have A. nijsseni x panduro hybrids, since both species are similar and being in the same group means they might produce viable fry. I saw a pair of "panduro" in bags floating in one of the tanks at C328 but both were exhibiting female colors, which is strange or both are basically sneaker males.

Noted on these points. Ok, i see why they are slightly more orange now. thks a lot bro.