Apistogramma Nijsseni Died!

[benetay]

Roy hope to hear more from you about your apisto =)

[A. Moae]

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On 7/10/2002 1:14:46 AM

Hmm... it seems like I've adpoted a rather haphazard way of rearing apistos. So, my question now is, which hopefully benefit beginners, what is the best starter apisto and how many to get of each sex?

Btw, I heard from the helpful staff at Pet Safari that a good approach is to get a single male for a few species than gradually add the females. Comments?

Cheers,
Roy
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Hi Roy, dunno if you've read this article but, you may find some useful info for starters. http://www.thekrib.com/Apisto/beginner.html

For your second question, I personally think it depends on various factors like tank size, tank setting & specimens. Take for example A. cacatuoides.
We know the male keeps a harem during mating. Should you be keeping 2 males & adding 1 female later in a tank size, 30cm x 30cm x 30cm, with just a flower pot, it is a disaster waiting to happen. Chances are the dominant male will likely kill off the weaker fellow after bouts of wrestling matches.

However, if the tank size was bigger, say 60cm x 30cm x 30cm, with pieces of driftwood to act as shelters & territory markers, the scenario changes. At least, the weaker male has a much higher chance of escaping the harassment & wrath of the dominant male. Further to my opinions, I feel it is wiser to add the female first if you wanna to spawn the pair. It is important to familiarise herself with the conditions, of the lovenest first before settling down and feeling comfy prior to introducing the male. Least she knows all the 'safe' spots during mating displays.

Just my 2 cts worth.

[benetay]

yup i agree with A.moae with the introduction of female first into a breeding tank.[]

[stormhawk]

when u introduce the females into the tank first u allow them to establish their own territories. this gives the females enough time to create a pecking order in which one of them will become a dominant female. when u introduce the male, he might become a refugee in the tank but slowly he himself will establish his own territory. once he's settled in, when it comes to mating, he might mate first with the dominant female and then mate with the other females. thats following the pecking order amongst the females. as usual the females will protect the eggs and resulting fry and male is usually chased away. when u have several females with eggs and fry to protect, u can see them squabbling over territory and feeding grounds. fun to see em. ask ben, i think he's seen that going on before :P

anyway, i got most of the info on the web. so correct me if i'm wrong. []

regards,

Apisto-What?! oh yeah.. Cory Combat!

[benetay]

IMO having more then 1 female usually i'm talking of bigger tanks like a 3-4ft tank,nothing less.

ANything less then a 3footer, as what people say digging your own grave. Why?

Reason being is simple, the character of apisto during breeding season is fasinating, they are willing to fight off any intruders regardless of size, so why can't we put in other apisto in there?[:0]

Breeding time
lets take for an example, a pair of nij and a pair of cockatoo in a 2ft planted tank community with nothing else. Lets say the nij spawn and the cockatoo also spawn both at each end of the tank. The female will guard the eggs while the male will guard the outer boundary of the site which IS 30cm CIRCUMFRENCE of the SITE They will occasionally meet one another and start doing tail lashing and worst case jaw low[] Prevention is always better then cure like one said.

Feeding time
When you're feeding, you can't possibily know how many BW do each of your fish eat so you decided to spread the BW at both ends of the breeding ground. You will start to realise that either side of the group will sneak into the other boundary and the tail-lashing and chasing begins.

Chasing time
Apisto don't have a certified route to swim, and so if the chasing begins in the tank it seldom means the nij male will not stop at the 30cm boundary line and say : " oops i've almost cross your line,cockatoo." This isn't the issue the real issue is that the nij male will continue to invade cockatoo boundary and chase him away, by having 2 dominant males chasing around it will never turn out to be a good prospect.

So all in all, all the above informations are just FYI nothing much, don't jump me cos there are very easy solution for it.
First: don't keep more then 1 species in a small tank.
Second: Get a divider as simple as that[]

Cheers!

[roy]

Thanks folks for the reply!

As for the introduction of the females first followed by the male(s), what time frame are we talking about? Would something like 3 days be enough for the females to establish their respective territories?

Please help with another question. How to id male and female nijsseni? Is it possible for male nijsseni to have black ventral fins? The reason I asked is because my deceased females were yellow and had black ventral fins while the ones in Pet Safari looked like male, i.e. not yellow, and have black ventral fins! Lost yet again!

Cheers,
Roy

[roy]

Simon,

The rotkeil is king of the tank! The whole length of the 3 feet driftwood is his! The rest of the apistos wouldn't dare venture near his territory! He extended his fins quite frequently this evening - very nice!

Anyone got a female A. Rotkeil to spare [] Will pay top dollar for one []

Cheers,
Roy

[roy]

Ben,

Thanks for the detailed info - very detailed indeed [] Can I visit you to check out your planted tank(s) and apistos?

Cheers,
Roy

[Simon]

roy, not to worry... my tefes r king of the tank .. as for the sexing of nijsenni.. the body markings of both male and female is totally diff.. the female has big spots on her body (dunno where.. but obvious enuff), the male is somewhat u call, plain

[roy]

Ben,

My male nijsseni is really passive but very inquisitive. Never bother other apistos or other fishes in the tank. Holds his ground but never aggressive. Kinda wondering whether he is normal for a nijsseni.

The deceased females were passive towards other fishes. Didn't observed their behaviour towards other apistos. However, they [the females] were aggressive towards each other. So, my strategy is to add just one female nijsseni.

You might be shaking your head with what Í'm going to say. Just bought a pair of Caca triple red [:] I'll observed them closely. If things get rowdy, I'll move 1 or 2 species into the spare empty tank in my study room. Probably will be getting a divider too in the next couple of days. However, still prefer to keep everyone in the community tank. Well, see how things develop.

Cheers,
Roy

[roy]

Simon, the pair in Pet Safari are plain looking just like my male. The staff in PS said they are females. I think otherwise but the black ventral fins really puzzle me.

Cheers,
Roy

[benetay]

okay just to clear some doubts for you Roy =) Nij female will have five black markings on their body, observe them closely and u're know.

Don't worry Roy, you can try different tactics and ways to keep and breed apisto there is no such thing as a "must do" way of handling suitations.

Different strokes for different folks =)

PS: For viewing of my tanks, can no problem just leave me a PM we'll arrange thru there.

[juggler]

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On 7/10/2002 11:01:35 PM

IMO having more then 1 female usually i'm talking of bigger tanks like a 3-4ft tank,nothing less.

ANything less then a 3footer, as what people say digging your own grave. Why?

Reason being is simple, the character of apisto during breeding season is fasinating, they are willing to fight off any intruders regardless of size, so why can't we put in other apisto in there?[:0]

Breeding time
lets take for an example, a pair of nij and a pair of cockatoo in a 2ft planted tank community with nothing else. Lets say the nij spawn and the cockatoo also spawn both at each end of the tank. The female will guard the eggs while the male will guard the outer boundary of the site which IS 30cm CIRCUMFRENCE of the SITE They will occasionally meet one another and start doing tail lashing and worst case jaw low[] Prevention is always better then cure like one said.

Feeding time
When you're feeding, you can't possibily know how many BW do each of your fish eat so you decided to spread the BW at both ends of the breeding ground. You will start to realise that either side of the group will sneak into the other boundary and the tail-lashing and chasing begins.

Chasing time
Apisto don't have a certified route to swim, and so if the chasing begins in the tank it means the nij male will not stop at the 30cm boundary line and say : " oops i've almost cross your line,cockatoo." This isn't the issue the real issue is that the nij male will continue to invade cockatoo boundary and chase him away, by having 2 dominant males chasing around it will never turn out to be a good prospect.

So all in all, all the above informations are just FYI nothing much, don't jump me cos there are very easy solution for it.
First: don't keep more then 1 species in a small tank.
Second: Get a divider as simple as that[]

Cheers!
----------------

Ben: You deserve the Jane Goodall Award (if it exists) for Apistos!

[juggler]

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On 7/10/2002 11:47:32 PM

Please help with another question. How to id male and female nijsseni? Is it possible for male nijsseni to have black ventral fins? The reason I asked is because my deceased females were yellow and had black ventral fins while the ones in Pet Safari looked like male, i.e. not yellow, and have black ventral fins! Lost yet again!

Cheers,
Roy
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Check out the photos at this site: http://www.thekrib.com/Apisto/
And also some info at http://www.ntnu.no/%7Efoksen/Apistog...stospecies.htm

[benetay]

Pardon my ignorance but what is a jane goodall duuno what it is.

[benetay]

Juggler i don't deserve any awards, i'm still learning. I still need you guys around too for exchanging for information.

[roy]

Folks, my male nijsseni is dead too [] Really at a lost what's going on. Anyway, read in the Krib that nijsseni demands tip-top environment and perhaps my tank isn't up to exacting standards.

ben, juggler meant you know your apistos like Jane Goodall knew her chimpanzees. I do agree with juggler and that you do know your apistos []

Cheers,
Roy

[dennisks]

Die, die, die... so far, I've lost at least 10 already and another female dying soon. Kind of give up already. I had the same problem 10 years back with Discus... now, it's Apisto. Most likely I'll give myself a break and decide what to do next. I find Apisto more difficult to keep as compare to Discus. Now, I'm trying out breeding RAM.

[dennisks]

One more question. If I lower my PH to around 5.5 where most bacteria would not survive including the good ones, how could I control the nitrate? Is the water safe enough with only filter to keep the tank clear and nothing else?

[benetay]

Apisto are not difficult to keep they are pretty easy i'm sure, if you don't believe you can just pop by one day to my place and take a look at my apisto =)

A good reliable source and healthy stock will make things easier =)