What Quantify A Good Apisto

[Fei Miao]

For beginners like me...
What should we look out for in male and female....

pictures with comments would help...

[Simon]

are you referring to its health or the nature of the fish itself?

how the fish looks depending alot of gene, this one is very difficult to determine, unless the breeder dont mind letting you know. as for wild fishes, no way to find that out

[Fei Miao]

mmm...
let me rephrase...

besides being healthy...
what you look for in buying a fish
a Borelli
a Tri
a Caca...
finnage, colours, body shape...are there a certain guidelines like in Discus... or is it more a personal preference.

[Simon]

i think its more to individual preference.. the things to look out for is deformation, colouration, character (you wouldnt want a over aggressive fish in yr tank, either do you want a timid fish, who gets bullied and will never have a chance in breeding/defending)

[Goondoo]

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On 7/2/2003 3:38:54 PM

as for wild fishes, no way to find that out
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I'm rather puzzle about this part.
I notice most wild fishes like rams, apistoes etc are quite dull in colour in the shop. Do you mean that supposely the fish is of good colouration or grade, the colour will come back later or not at all(I meant they will stay the colour we had since bought them)?

[Simon]

usually those colourful ones you see from other webby, are through enhanced breeding.. I think you wouldnt get many wild apisto with vivid colours

[Goondoo]

oh.... thats a useful info, I always thought wild fishes will be of better grade interms of colour and grade. Seems I'm wrong.

thanks

[Fei Miao]

Thanks! That helps.

[andre]

Normally fish will colour up in your home tank after they have settled in and are stablilized, doesnt mean that when you see an apisto in the shop and it isn't coloured up, it will stay plain, most times after a few days my apistoes look fantastic, I have some from Trop fish In'tl that looked almost white, but the Tri really took form when settled.

And oh yes, brilliant apisto is directly related to stock quality ask Charles, I'm sure he will say the same, his fishes and pretty darn swee!![:0]

[Simon]

andre, i believe biotope's apisto are mostly F1... of course, vivid colour in wild apisto is frequently seen else where but not locally

[andre]

Hello, Simon sometimes whether a fish is wild or not, it can be traced to its behaviour in the tank, wild fish are afraid of human contact (dart around, see Sam Yick mendezi)and dont yet realise they get fed by us, until some time later. Some even not take food such as frozen BW, till they're hungry and learn, just like dogs as illustrated by Pavlov's theory on association ie. see hand, swim up and take food.... Even if they're not wild, I do not see any reason why F1 apisto are not to be kept, they're wonderful fish...

[Simon]

andrea, I'm referring to vivid colours of wild fish (I did not talk about acceptance of F1 to wild fishes). True that wild fish don't readily accept frozen food, but for the darting/scared of human.. it depends, sometimes not related to only wild fishes but all fishes (this could be due to stress, poor environment, heavily traffic areas, fish character) My POV is, wild apisto sold here are not of the best quality.. what fei miao wanna know in this thread is how to choose a good apisto and I have mentioned colouration, which varies by gene

[Fei Miao]

Hi Guys,
Thanks for all the comments... currently I have

pair of Borelli which spawned twices(last batch of fries are now about 6-8mm big)--this is my first Apisto(from Toh)

Bought a pair of Tri(from Toh)

Bought a pairof Caca(Orange Flash) from Charles---couldn't resist buying..[]

just want to learn appreciate these fascinating fish more...

[loupgarou]

evolution selects towards survival.

so there is a balance between form and function.

I guess apistos can be quite colorful because of the dark waters of the native environment, if the waters were clear, I guess they would evolved to some dull color so that birds and other fishes don't eat them.

things like exaggerated finnage would probably be selected against in the wild...

[kenchou]

In my experience, Apisto have different colour display under different envionment. e.g. PH, light(HQI, PL, FL, T5...etc) A. bit will change their caudal spot colour from black to red when display to the other Apisto.

[lsz]

i think the issue of "standards" apply more for show animals like cats and dogs and some fish like discus, arowanas.

THe most important thing is sound health. You should be looking for those signs instead. a healthy animal will display to the best of the breed's potential.

It will be difficult if we try to affix a value to a fish's appearance. Just enjoy the pet you have, you will last longer

[Betta Almighty]

cool..u breed em too.
got a question...how do u tell if the female is ready to spawn?