Back Into Apistos!

[MarcJoshua]

Hello all, its been a while since I've been back here at AQ, I hope everyone is doing well. A few days ago, after overhauling my tank and letting everything settle, I happened to be in amk and decided to visit JZX aquarium. I noticed that they have quite a few species of apistos now, more so than last time. I happened to chance upon the tank holding some nijssenis and I decided I'd give them a look. A look turned into gazing, gazing turned into studying, and finally studying turn into desire and I walked away with a hopeful pair of nijssenis. Currently, with the pair, I have a random cory, 2 otis and 4 pencil fish. Let me know what you guys think as well as if my female is actually a female or not. Hahaha. Cheers Guys!

PS there is a lone small male a. trifasciata in there. if anyone wants him do let me know. thanks!
Here are the Pics!
FTS


Male



Female?

[RackinRocky]

Hi - I'm new, so am no help in sexing them, but they are interesting looking fish. I suspect the male is even more colorful than this photo shows. And the female (if that's what she is) is my favorite! I just love her look for some reason. I like how you have your caves set up too.

[MarcJoshua]

Thanks Rocky, I've never kept this species as well so I am a newbie too. Besides, being away from apistos for almost 2 years has me me kinda rusty too. Differentiating between male and female isn't easy especially when the fishing are in LFS-es as most of the time they are not really separated into their respective sexes and even if they are, the females can actually be subdominant of sneaker males mistakenly labelled as females as the sneaker males adopt female colors so that they don't get abused by the dominant males.

With regard to the pair which I have, the male still hasn't fully colored up yet but i'm pretty sure it is a male, as it shows typical attitude of a male being more aggressive and slightly more colorful. Females aren't easy to differentiate from sneaker males cos even though they are supposed to take on a brilliant yellow coloration when in breeding dress and have the black blotches, sneaker males adopt the same colors as camouflage. What made me choose this piece was that in their tank in the LFS, this was the only piece to actually look like a female with her colors being constant and not fading when males approached. The males also didn't seem to bother "her" that much.

Thanks for the complements on the cave set up, It wasn't too difficult, just set them a bit further apart from each other and position some stuff in the way so that the line of sight is broken. Cheers mate!

[huhengyi1986]

hmmm very interesting! this is the 1st time i hear that sneaker males can turn bright yellow? i was taught only real females turn yellow...

Do you have any experience where a yellow female apisto turns out to be actually males?

[Ecalyte]

Sneaker males will never turn bright yellow to fake breeding colours. They're incapable.

[RackinRocky]

Do the Nijssens do well in a community tank? I have a Bolivian Ram, male, and am thinking of getting some type of Apisto. I also have female bettas (all very mellow), platies, balloon Mollies, and cories in there. Its a 55 gal. I really like the look of Nijssens, and if you think they wouldn't be aggressive with my Bolivian or the others, I just might go ahead and get one.

[MarcJoshua]

Honestly then a male would look great in a comm tank. But make sure that there are enough hiding spaces for everyone. cheers!

@Ecalyte: Really? I didn't know that. I probably have a confirmed female then?

[fhan]

You got a pair bro!,
Cheers

[MarcJoshua]

@fhan Thanks for the confirm bro, now just gonna change water and see if they think about breeding, though i highly doubt it since the female is very small.

Guys, I would like to know if changing my filter system to a canister filter like a eden 501 or a Boyu EF-05 would be advisable for my tank. Dimensions being 40 (L) X 25 (W) X 28 (H).

[sen_jie]

Hi Marc nice tank!

anyway i am currently using Eden501 for my 2ft tank. so far so good! just use the rainbar and direct it onto DW or BW etc if the pressure from the Eden is too strong for your liking.

[MarcJoshua]

@sen_jie, thank you for the info! and for the compliment!

[SCOPE]

i guess too strong water flow may disturb breeding...i use to breed this just by sponge filter air blow very slowly...Wish you happy breeding soon!

[Royston]

My WC Apisto. Elizabethae "Rio Tuccano" just got them about 3weeks ago now stabilize & just trained to eat pellets all thanks to Joe

[jssl]

My WC Apisto. Elizabethae "Rio Tuccano" just got them about 3weeks ago now stabilize & just trained to eat pellets all thanks to Joe

One of my all time favourite...

[MarcJoshua]

Really good Looking fish there man! Can't wait to see them in spawning mood! Thanks again for the info Joe! I hope we will meet again sometime soon. Cheers!