buying apistos

[Barnett8]

where do you buy inexpensive apistos without bidding??? mabey someone here has some extras??? :duh: :help:

[mooman]

http://www.southernapistos.com/

http://apistogrammaidiots.com/index.html

these are two of the most reputable breeders in the biz. I would be happy to sell you some A. gibbiceps (mine are about 1/2in), but they are not the most attractive apisto to the uninitiated. Somewhat rare, and to my eyes quite beautiful, but don't have the colors that most people look for.

[Barnett8]

thanks mooman im one of those only-a-mother-could-love <--(the fish, not me) fishkeepers, so nothings ugly in my eyes. thanks for the links, and i willhave to take you up on that offer some time, for now ive found a breeding pair of apistogramma cacatuoides that have caught my eye.

[mooman]

Just be wary. ANY pair of cacatuoides is a breeding pair, and the females of that species are the shortest lived of any of the apistogrammas. Usually only about one year (maybe three or four spawns)

[Barnett8]

it says breeding pair on aquabid, here (http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwapisto&1148063280)

thank you i will do some more research i want some thing longer lived

[Barnett8]

do you have any nijsseni ?? or know where i can get them.

[Rowangel]

moonman, when did you get into apistos? I’ve been quite impressed with your extensive knowledge on apistos and your advice with cichlids in general, so I assume you’ve worked with quite a few types and been doing this for awhile.

When researching to stock my 30g, many of your posts helped me the most and I’m THRILLED with my new cichlids. I couldn’t be happier with my Bolivian Rams and Angels, both which I bought at your, and a few others, suggestion.

[Barnett8]

how long do apistogramma nijsseni live like 3-4 years?????

and yes mooman is one of the best people to turn to as far as cichlids.

[mooman]

I got bit by the apisto bug about a year and a half ago. The first time I watched my cacatuoides female tending her spawn, I was hooked. Before that I just kept your typical community tank mish mash. I was fortunate to have a job that allowed me a lot of time to do internet research. It wasn't long before I had a few more tanks set up, and every one had a new species of apisto in it. I also got a part time job at a LFS so I was able to get them for a lot cheaper than retail (big help when your talking about 20.00 fish). It's become a bit of an obsession.

Here are the sites I got alot of my info from when starting out

www.aquarticles.com (awesome sight for articles on all aspects of the hobby)
www.thekrib.com (compilation of old dwarf cichlid usenet news group)
www.apistogramma.com (where the the real apisto geeks hang out)

I would also suggest a great book by Barlow called "The Cichlid Fish" It's all about different cichlid behavior and adaptations. It's written in such a way that you don't need an advanced degree to enjoy it. There's a section where he talks about apisto breeding behavior that is absolutely fasinating.

As far as I know nijsseni should live 3-4 yrs, although apisto males lose alot of thier color when they get really old. The aquabid link showed what looked like pretty young females, so they would be a good buy. Calling them a "breeding pair" however is misleading. they should be labled as just "a pair". Every pair of cacatuoides I've owned has spawned within three weeks of putting them togehter though, so they will certainly become a breeding pair. They make up for their shorter life spans by getting down to bussiness quickly and often :) (in addition to doing so in harder more alkaline water than most apisto species prefer)

[Barnett8]

i set up a tank for the apistos the other day and got three neons as dither or target fish ( dont know what it means, but its recommended all over). they had white spots on the when i got them, and everyone of them died overnight, including one without spots ( i think its ich.) is there a reason the neon without ich died? i used a water cycling product, and an ammonia locking product. heres the stuff out of the ordinary: playsand substrate thourughly cleaned, house plant leaves and peat in the filter.
:bowing: :bowing: thankyou wise mooman :bowing: :bowing:

[Barnett8]

and out of the 2 apistos, what would you get?: a. cacatoides or a. nijsseni?

[wwildcats04]

quit strokin the moos ego lol
he would go w/ the cac as would I

[mooman]

Hmmm Ok you made a few mistakes, but assuming you didn't buy the apistos already it's nothing that some patience can't fix.

Cacatuoides is my favorite beginner apisto, and one species that I try to keep a pair of at all times. They're very tolerant of different water chemistry, and have a reputation as being the easiest to breed (which I agree with).

The neons died becuase of the ich (never buy a fish with spots), and the other one died becuase.....well that's what neons do.....they die. I don't recommend them unless a tank is very mature (4+months old). They just don't do well in new tanks. Even in well maintained, mature tanks, survival rates are low (you buy a dozen and end up with 8 after a couple weeks). Go with any other type of tetra once the tank is cycled. Which brings me to........

Was the tank cycled? Why the cycling product and ammonia lock? If the tank was seeded using a significant portion of an established sponge (from another tank) then you don't need either, and in fact both were a bad idea. Stop using them. The "Cycle" is snake oil (doesn't work) and the ammolock can actually lock up all the ammonia, and end up starving your beneficial bacteria. Then when it wears off you don't have enough bacteria to deal with the ammonia being produced by the fish, and have to add more ammolock.......see where this is going?

Why did you put housplant leaves in the filter? I have heard of people using dry oak leaves for the same reason that people use peat, but not leaves from houseplants. Best case senario, the leaves are harmless and decompose (lowering your water quality the same way any decomposing organic matter will). Worst case, the leaves contain a toxic compound that can kill your fish.

Why the peat? I know, I know. Everything you read on apistos recomended peat. For a few species, peat in combo with RO water are needed to induce spawning. The RO makes the water soft enough so that the peat can lower the ph. In tap water however I have found peat to be completely ineffective. Plus, with most species, RO water alone will do the job. You can keep using it, but you really don't need it at this point. Save the peat to use after a couple months if you can't get them to spawn in your tap water.

Did you get the apistos yet? If not, you should wait, as you indtroduced ich into the tank when you put the neons in. If there are no other fish in the tank, I would do a 100% water change to remove as much ammolock and ich as possible. Add a peice of a filter sponge from another tank, crank the temp up to about 89 degrees and add a pinch of fish food each day for the next two weeks. The heat will do two things, it will help speed up the ichs life cycle (no host for two weeks and it will die), and it will speed up the decompostion of the fish food as well as speed up the reproductive rate of the beneficial bacteria that you will be culturing for the next two weeks. At the end of that time, do a 100% water change, lower temp to 78, and you can add the apistos. Don't mess with ich. Apistos DO NOT tolerate either commercial ich meds or the salt treatment very well. Fortunately they don't usually get ich, but when they do it is hard to treat.