Sighting 11 Mar 08: Gigantic Apistogramma cacatuoides

[FishSoup]

Hey guys, i was at c328 earlier today, and to my astonishment saw two absolutely gigantic male cacas

These guys are even larger than the giant bettas, i think they're easily 4 inches long, maybe more.

Are they some specially bred giant breed of caca? Or some wild variant which grows to a much larger size than normal?

[iwishweallcouldwin]

Normal Ap. cacatuoides have the ability to grow until that size. my previous 2 pieces also reached that measurement. I saw those two which you mentioned as well. Hopefully they'll get 'rescued' from their small containers soon enough.

[illumnae]

haha i saw those 2 displayed and another 2 kept behind. they're probably really old fish, the stud males of the farms that grew too old to breed perhaps?

[benny]

They are about 3 inches long. Last night, Michael Lai and I was looking in disbelief that the shop actually brough in these 'matured' speciments. They are probably males from the breeding groups that are no longer productive. Hence you see only single sex offering.

Most hobbyists prefer specimens that are further away from the tail end of their projected lifespan.

Cheers,

[yorky]

I gotta go see these fishes..

I recalled the last time EcoCulture brought in 2 pairs of matured A. trifasciata.
It was the commercial breeder's breeding stock.
Not only was it big it was super swee...

[doppelbanddwarf]

Y618 had quite a few of these on Saturday. Really big.

[illumnae]

mass retirement of stud males on the farms i guess do they get to withdraw their CPF now?

[doppelbanddwarf]

Haha maybe they'll get lucky and someone provides a good comfortable tank for them, with lots of live food and good quality flakes everyday.

[celticfish]

yorky,

They are at the betta tanks and the "small-condos" at plant area in the back.

[taygu]

Saw it in Y618 the day before. Was very surprised.

[FishSoup]

never knew cacas grew THAT big. Quite an eye opener.

[EvolutionZ]

yea.. i saw it as well.. frankly said, i find it quite disgusting...

[yorky]

yorky,

They are at the betta tanks and the "small-condos" at plant area in the back.

Irwin, thanks.. from the description of fellow forumers, sounds quite yucky..

[Wackytpt]

That reminds of the Ulitmate big size Inka in the old Chong Sua...

[Zenislev]

Erm, besides those big guys...are there any new apistogramma stocks in c328?

[EvolutionZ]

just went today..
saw 2 pairs of Ap. agaisizzi 'tefe', 1 pair of ap. biteaniata, few pairs of caca 'orange' if im not wrong, and also a pair of ap. viejita.

PS* : im new in apisto.... so some spellings or species i might get mixed up.. sorry about that.

[illumnae]

The Ap. agassizii 'Tefe' currently at the betta rack is stunning. a very very good buy imo. if i didn't already have my wild pair from biotop i'd have snapped it up. its colours are better than my wild's but finnage is not as nice

[EvolutionZ]

my 1ft is not ready yet... if not i might want to get it.. haha

[genes]

Saw them yesterday too. Very nice red patterns on the tail and dorsal plus long dorsal and lyrate caudal fins. These giant size apistos are by no means freaks of nature. I have seen before even Ap. diplotaenia reaching this size. And all the while i thought Ap. diplotaenia are suppose to be the smallest variant. These are the true sizes of alot of full grown specimens.

You can acheive this kind of sizes too for your apistos. My first Ap. cacatuoides grow up to 4inches as well in my 3footer. Just provide the fish with a big environment to roam about and clean water. The reason why our apistos always remain small is with the small space we allocate to them. Hence, their growth is stunted.

[Zenislev]

Now only left with 1 pair of Tefe and Biteaniata i guess, just went down to C328 just now. Saw the giant cacatuoides, they're like really trapped in the small containers.