apisto?

[Daniel Harris]

I picked up 3 of these the other day thinking that they were some sort of apisto, the guy wasnt sure. They were only 6 dollars so I picked up 3. Im currently trying to fatten them up with some bloodworms. thanks

 

[aquaticclarity]

Looks like they are most likely Apistogramma "sp." steel blue.

 

[Daniel Harris]

Thanks, that does look very similar to them

 

[Livebearer Lady]

Have you asked your L.F.S. if they were wild caught or not? I would go back and make an inquiry with the shop owners and see were they get their wholesale stock from. It pays to know were the fish you buy come from, so try to get to know them, as they may want to buy back future fry from any fish you might breed at home.
My L.F.S. owner is real nice and have gotten to know him soo well, he'll buy my excess broods, let me catch my own fish at his store, and will share his stock list and wholesale sources with me.
Ironically I too just picked up {3} of these type for $6.99 each a month ago and were labeled on the sale tank as >A. borellii< He told me his stock list shows these as Apisto. borellii "wild" W.C. Now I've done some research on what I bought and realize these are Apistohgramma SP. steel blue. I have the luxury to call this wholesaler were the store owner got these to verify if indeed they are wild caught and are borellii. if I'm right, the wholesaler was misled by the distributer!
They are very very diffucult to sex as well, unlike any boerellii I've encountered.
So from my observation I think I have 2 male 1 female. I've also had to separate them 2 weeks ago as they are showing territorial tenancies even though the tank (24" long) is void of any real structure as this is a quareentine tank only.
I need to worm them too and yours are very emaeciated and should be as well. They very well may be wild caught as a tank raised fish fom a distributer should never be that thin. They feed the heck out of them to grow out fast before selling to retailers.
For more controverial info on htese fish;
{see www.dwarfcichlid.com under Apisto borellii read down this page and click on Apistogramma sp. "steele blue" which will link you to that page.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

So from my observation I think I have 2 male 1 female. I've also had to separate them 2 weeks ago as they are showing territorial tenancies even though the tank (24" long) is void of any real structure as this is a quareentine tank only.

The females have black edged ventral fins and nothing like as much blue. When I wrote the linked "sexing" document on Bob Wiltshire's site I didn't actually have a female (I thought I did), and all the pictures are actually of males. If you look at Ste Chester's video link on same page, (or Merlin's in the thread below) it shows male and female quite clearly.

As you've found they are fairly aggressive, and this may be made worse by intestinal worm infection, when I eventually found a female (and she was easy to pick out from the males) she brought Camallanus with her, and I ended up losing all of mine, some discussion here: <http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/threads/camallanus-worms.14396/> & <http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/threads/apistogramma-sp-steelblue-female.12702/>.

cheers Darrel

 

[Mike Wise]

So far as I know, there is no credible claim of wild caught Steel-blues.

 

[Livebearer Lady]

Mike,
I was just stating that that's what the L.F.S. stores stock list order that they came in on said, so who know's.
I'm working on getting to the bottom of this controversy though. This is now the 4th person I've spoke to on and off line who said they bought these fish and were sold as A. borellii.
I knew right off that they were something else. I read Tom & Martins page on these that gives good info and controversy on what they might be. A solo fish will get along fine with other dwarfs and cory's in a community set up but put them together and all hell breaks loose! I probably have all of one sex too.

Daniel, where are you????

 

[Mike Wise]

Mike,
I was just stating that that's what the L.F.S. stores stock list order that they came in on said, so who know's.

I know what you mean. Sadly, you have to be skeptical of retail information when it counters other, more specialist, reports. I once bought some beautiful red Pv. pulcher. I asked the owner if he could find out if they were wildcaught. He checked his supplier who told him that they were a rare population from Ghana. I was speaking with Dr. Paul Loiselle about them a couple of years later. He'd just gotten back from a Peace Corp mission to West Africa only a few years earlier (Lord, does that date me!). He informed me that this was impossible. There are no Pelvicachromis species in Ghana because during the last Ice Age the area had completely dried out and it had lost its riverine cichlids.

 

[Livebearer Lady]

I bet it's frustrating trying to convice the stores that get these from fish farms that YOU have collected fishes and really know what's going on out there.
I usually DON'T buy from LSF as I'm a club member and that just the way it should be for anyone seriously in this hobby, but once in a while I will if I can't find it privatley.

 

[Mike Wise]

Well, I buy from LFS when they have something I want and I know what it is. I don't expect the retailer (or even his supplier) to be an expert on every fish they sell. I can't agree with you about all LFS. I am a club member, too. Many of the fish I'm interested in rarely are bred/sold by club members. To avoid buying from a good LFS only leads to there being no good LFS (Local is the important word here). Too many have already been lost to big-box/discount stores with inexperienced sales staff, where purchasers only think about $$. I imagine everyone here has read one of my mottos: "a community tank is not a breeding tank". Well, I also have another that I prominently display on all my talks given to fish clubs: "know your fish".

 

[Livebearer Lady]

O.k. Mike,
I'm with you on this one and yes there ARE good little mom and pop stores still out there but are are and few between.