iwishweallcouldwin's Apistogramma macmasteri

[iwishweallcouldwin]

Got this fella from C328 quite some time ago, just before bro Samuel got his pair. A relatively 'bo chap' guy, who recently turned insane after i introduced a female into the comm tank housing other rummynoses, danios, cory sterbais, peruvian angels and tiger barb. This bugger became the king of the tank overnight, attacking my tiger barb and angelfishes more than 4 times his size. Female still rather shy and shifty, hard to take a good photo of her. Thanks Samuel for your life - injector! By the way my apologies for the dirty tank surface...

[Samuel2618]

Hi Bro..

No problem man.. Hee.. Hope you like the female Mac and wish she will breed for you soon..

Like I always said.. I always think your Mac male is much nicer than mine.. Especially the very high dorsal fins.. So you know what to do when they breed.. ..

Regards
Samuel

[iwishweallcouldwin]

haha that's if they do breed... with his 'bo chap'-ness sometimes i wonder if he's straight... but now seems like he is... but still clearing out a tank for them. would a 3.5ft be too much?? haha because that's the only free tank i have now... your female is doing fine, started feeding a couple of hours after i introduced her into the comm tank, but met with some irritation from the tigerbarb and peruvians... maybe that's what pissed my male off haha...

[thanantosis]

hmm seem like i found what to buy next for my empty tank ha

nice pair brother

[trident]

clint,
that is some dorsal! nice fish bro.

[doubleace]

Wow what a nice and long dorsal fin.. Is that his true color? Seem like he's scare.

[illumnae]

Wow...that is really a very long and nice dorsal fin there on your fish

I understand fully what you mean about your "bochup" fish...the A. sp "Rio Mamore" that I used to keep was exactly the same way! Condition your fish well with live foods and use the methods to induce spawning posted in another thread and hopefully the good genes of this daddy macmasteri will be spread!

[iwishweallcouldwin]

@doublelace: yeah he's pretty stressed because at the moment as i have no choice but to dump him into my comm tank with other much larger tankmates. occassionally he turns black due to stress i guess. but he's doing much better now after the female has been introduced, and has been hassling other bigger and supposedly more fierce fishes, so hopefully his condition will improve! introduced a couple of coconut husk caves for him but they pretty much got taken over by the cories instead. will be setting up a 3.5ft tank for the pair soon.

@trident: thanks! yeah i didn't notice his dorsal when i bought him, got attracted to him due to his nice colouration and intensely red lips even when he was in the small sealed plastic bag back at C328. but somehow the colour seem to have faded? and his dorsal really grew quite a bit too.

@illumnae: picky guy who refuses to eat anything except for bloodworms, but after being introduced into the comm tank he has become a lover of tetrapro colour as well! never tried live adult bbs or daphnia before though, but tried tubiflex worm which i use to feed my bettas once. surprisingly he still remained 'bochap'! to tubi! hopefully soon he will get his colouration back and stay healthy for spawning! by the way, would a 3.5ft be too huge for a pair of macmasteri to spawn? because that's kinda like the only tank i've got now...

[illumnae]

haha there's only tanks which are too small for apistos, not tanks that are too large

try feeding them live brine shrimp. so far all my fish have been unable to resist it on the rare occasion that i buy it as a treat for them. to enhance the colouration of your fish, it's good that it's eating tetra colour pro now. another option to try is New Life Spectrum food, but your mileage may vary. I just collected my NLS from Richard last night and he told me that his fish hated the food...but when i brought it home and tried it, my A. elizabethae loved it and was even guarding the food from the poor dwarf pencilfish (presumably for future consumption, since he already ate)

[Samuel2618]

Haha..

See Bro Clinton..

Told you before that your Mac male is very nice le.. Should have shown us the picture long ago.. .. The water is a bit brownish due to ketapang leaves you used I guess.. That might prevent you from taking very nice pictures too..

Of cause I didnt say I dislike mine mac lah.. I also like mine a lot.. He is my fav fish as well among all other apistos I have so far..

Regards
Samuel

[iwishweallcouldwin]

@illumnae: haha thanks for your big tank confirmation! soon my macmasteri pair will shift to their new villa! i presume that adult brine shrimps also live in salt solution? means like feeding bbs i would have to wash them under tap water before throwing them into the tank? how long would a packet of adult brine shrimps stay alive or rather how long would they stay fit-for-consumption by my fishes? those from C328 should be fine right?@Samuel: yeah i added in quite alot of ketapang leaves extract before i left town so the colour isn't really clearing yet. but i think my fishes love it... owells, guess i'll have to cut down on that for my new tank if i want to take good photos! of course you like your macmasteri lah... i was the one who told you and 'poisoned' you about it what hahaha.......by the way, if i am using a cannister for my 3.5ft, would it pose a threat to my apisto fries in the event that my apistos spawn? flow rate is not very strong, 1000l/h i think.

[illumnae]

Adult brine shrimp do live in salt water. you can probably keep them alive in the salt solution for 2-3 days if you pour them into a small pail with an air stone in it. scoop out what you need and rinse it under fresh running water for awhile before putting it into your tank. Those from c328 are fine

a canister filter would indeed pose a thread to your fry as they can get sucked into your filter. 1000li/hour is very strong for a 2mm long fry...do you think he can outswim that suction? what i do in my tanks when my fry breed (one tank has a mini-canister 200li/hour and the other has a large HOB rated at 600li/hour but adjusted down to about 300-400) is to put a pre-filter sponge (available at most LFS) on the filter inlet to prevent the fry from being sucked in

[iwishweallcouldwin]

Thanks alot for your advice illumnae! another friend of mine also suggested putting a pre-filter sponge around the filter inlet. guess its tank setting-up time! will be visiting c328 soon enough!

[nicktc]

Adult brine shrimp do live in salt water. you can probably keep them alive in the salt solution for 2-3 days if you pour them into a small pail with an air stone in it. scoop out what you need and rinse it under fresh running water for awhile before putting it into your tank. Those from c328 are fine

a canister filter would indeed pose a thread to your fry as they can get sucked into your filter. 1000li/hour is very strong for a 2mm long fry...do you think he can outswim that suction? what i do in my tanks when my fry breed (one tank has a mini-canister 200li/hour and the other has a large HOB rated at 600li/hour but adjusted down to about 300-400) is to put a pre-filter sponge (available at most LFS) on the filter inlet to prevent the fry from being sucked in

I store my adult live brine shrimp with the water that they were packed with, in my fridge, normal compartment. They survive about a week.

[iwishweallcouldwin]

wow my mom will behead me if i touch the fridge....

[nicktc]

I use an opaque container, labeled of course, so that no one else touches it except me.
But must make sure it has a good tight fitting over.

[iwishweallcouldwin]

this may sound quite dumb but does the lid of your container have holes? if not the brine shrimps won't be able to survive without air? pardon me.

[nicktc]

I did not put any hole, just in case it topple. Anyway, the temp so cold, they hardly move, but they are alive.

[trident]

clint,
no holes required. the bbs go into hibernation, sort of deep sleep and they will wake up when the temperature rises.

[iwishweallcouldwin]

oh ok thanks alot guys for your advice! its something new to me and i'm going to try it out soon...