Apistogramma spawn

[doppelbanddwarf]

Was about to do some CNY cleaning on the tank when I discovered one of the apisto females have spawned right on the substrate at the front of the tank. Sorry for the poor photo. The clutch of yellow eggs is right in the middle of the photo.

[ciaossu]

congrats bro, what species is that?

[doppelbanddwarf]

Apistogramma diplotaenia, one of my favourite apisto. This is this female's second spawn, though its the first time she has spawned in such a visible spot. I only managed to save 2 from the first spawn as I have a few pair in the same tank and the chain swords actually make it hard for the female to spot other fishes until they are close. Hopefully I can get a decent photo of the adults soon.

[ciaossu]

wow, i heard they're hard to spawn. mind sharing your tank setup and parameter? if you got any fry or pair to let go let me know

[doppelbanddwarf]

Actually they are rather easy to spawn as long as you can get low ph. I don't have any measurements of the parameters but I use ADA Africana for substrate and run a handful of Sera super peat in my canister filter.Tank is a simple 2ft planted densely with chain swords and staurogyne sp. Water change is just straight tap water with seachem prime. I only fed them bbs initially as I got them as wildcaught and were rather skinny. After that food is just NLS pellets. When there's fry I'll feed some decap bbs.

[ciaossu]

i see, wouldn't topping tap water increases the water hardness and PH too? i've a pair of WC apisto caca gotten from bro jitticus recently, i kept them in a 1 feet cube tank was wondering should i change to a bigger tank or just leave it as it is. PH is rather high 7.5. advice please?

[doppelbanddwarf]

I read that cacatuoides come from a wide range of ph even in the wild, so ph should not be a problem, although personally I always try to keep apistos in lower ph. Also I find that doing a water change when it rains to simulate the rainy season does help. I had a wild pair of cacatuoides some time back but never got around to breeding them though.