any apisto's available in the Philly metro area?

[Diesel Fitter]

ThankS Kevin for all that good info, I now know who to blame when my wife questions my need for more tanks. Here I thought I was happy with just two aquariums but I fear you might have opened a new"can of worms". Well I can honestly say that it wasn't my fault, blame Kevin!

 

[Kevin F Smith]

Hi Dave,
Glad to be of help! I have two rules of thumb: 1. Buy aquariums that look as nice as the furniture, which is why I've always been partial to wood, or woodtone, and, buy from Craigslist, this way the prices won't tick her off. The back tank in this picture, 55 long, was $125 on CL for entire setup. solid oak stand and canopy. The front stand also 55 long, while not as good as the back, is also real wood, and cost $115 on CL. All I had to do was add
water. My wife loves them.
BTW, Chance, Snubnose 38 is in the front tank. Doing great!

 

[Kevin F Smith]

Bowfront make a nice furniture statement also. These tanks are in my breezeway office, so she doesn't really care. Tanks have several apistos, killies, west africans, blue angels. .

 

[ErtyJr]

Wow Kevin, the tanks are gorgeous, I'm quite jealous! I'm thrilled SnubNose 38 is still doing well. I'm sure now with that big tank like that he will be growing like a weed! Hopefully you can get some pics of him for me and stacy. We miss him, although I believe Nitro and Ammo may be a bit happy he's gone. Don't tell SnubNose 38 though D=
On another note, my Wild A. Sp. Abacaxis starting displaying breeding behavior today! They've only been in their new home 1 week, and when I received them the male was so malnurished his belly was sunken and he had a hunched back. But he's already fattened up and starting exploring and the female has been showing him her belly and the male has been displaying for her! If they breed I will be extremely surprised as they are very small still, and straight from the wild. I'm just happy they are happy.

Lastly I went by fish factory this morning. They have two very beautiful A. BorelliI pairs for sale at $60 a pair. One looks to be a blue and the other a yellow. I snapped a few quick pics

 

[Kevin F Smith]

Chance, glad your abacaxis recovered. This is my only complaint about FF. They're a little high with their apisto prices. A pair of borelli should be $40 at most. But it's great that they're getting them.
BTW, I emailed Jeff Rapp at tangled Up In cichlids. He has some dicrossus maculatus. Might get some.

 

[Diesel Fitter]

Kevin, I agree with Erty, your tanks look great, along with your live plants. Currently I am fighting a cyanobacteria algae issue in both of my tanks, and I don't think I am any closer to winning the battle than the day that I noticed the blue green slime. Hopefully 50 % h2o water changes weekly will help me get it under control
Erty, thanks for the heads up on those A.Borrelli, I wish that I had the room I would probably pursue a pair, even though $60 a pair is a little salty.
Thanks to all the folks who have contributed to this thread, I never thought that a simple post on this site would be this sucessful, even if only a couple of folks participate. DAVE

 

[ErtyJr]

Chance, glad your abacaxis recovered. This is my only complaint about FF. They're a little high with their apisto prices. A pair of borelli should be $40 at most. But it's great that they're getting them.
BTW, I emailed Jeff Rapp at tangled Up In cichlids. He has some dicrossus maculatus. Might get some.

I agree they do charge more, but the fact that they frequently get in some of the rarer apistogramma makes me ok with it. Had I came in and had the space, I likely would have bought them at $60. Even if it is too steep, you get to see your fish in person which is rare when you are buying apisto.

Kevin I'm thrilled you contacted Jeff, please pass my name along to him. I promised to spread his name since he was so accomodating with my Abacaxis, and I'd like him to know I kept my word =D

And diesel it is amazing what this thread has become. I'm very happy with it and have found it very useful.
If you are having trouble with BGA, try adding some nitrates. They don't care much for nitrates, or heavy water flow.

 

[Kevin F Smith]

Thanks Dave. I've had that scourge also. Turning the lights off for a few days has helped me in the past. They are a voracious photosynthetic bacteria.

 

[Kevin F Smith]

Hi gents. I put a male A. bitaeniata in a tank with a female last night. Should be interesting; it's a Discus tank. I guess the discus will be the dither fish? also separated my female "blue" cacatuoides from the male, to condition her. Hopefully something happens with these two down the road. Will keep you posted. Going to HR and FF today. Will let you know what I find. I've come to the conclusion that FF has great Rams: Blue, Gold, Electric Blue, longfin, and Bolivian. Very good sizes at good prices.

 

[Diesel Fitter]

I'm also headed there this morning once I dump a couple of cups of coffee down my gullet. I really shouldn't but I am thinking about those BorrellI that Erty told us about, that happens to be the first apistogramma that I ever had, and still have soft spot for them. Dave

 

[Diesel Fitter]

Kevin, where did you get the Bitaeniata from, mail order? The Christiansen brothers have a beautiful pair of these on their website, from the "Shushape" region, I think.

 

[bobthebadger53]

Keep us posted. I'm looking for a Cacatuoides today and i'm hoping FF has them.

 

[ErtyJr]

I'm also headed there this morning once I dump a couple of cups of coffee down my gullet. I really shouldn't but I am thinking about those BorrellI that Erty told us about, that happens to be the first apistogramma that I ever had, and still have soft spot for them. Dave

If they still have both pairs there tell me which you got. I liked the one in the lower tank where as an employee (don) argued that the pair in the higher tank was better.

 

[Diesel Fitter]

Gents, I didn't see any Cacatoides at TFF today, they did have 2 pairs of agassizi and that pair of BorrellI that I couldn't quite pull the trigger on. Anyway THR had a great selection of live plants today and at pretty good prices. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. Dave

 

[Kevin F Smith]

Thanks for the heads up re plants Dave. I need some large Amazon swords. Didn't make it there this weekend, am going in a few minutes. Bob, I got the bitaeniata pair from HR this past July. Then I got two more from Steve Waldron of Aquarium Zen in Seattle. Very happy with them. I feel about bitaeniata the way Dave feels about borelli: was my first apisto. So long ago it was still called kleei. BTW, the pair is hanging out behind a sword plant.

 

[Kevin F Smith]

Just got back from HR and FF. no cacs. The borrelii from FF has a big chunk missing from its caudal fin, and is gaunt. The double red aggie is breathing heavy, always a bad sign. Some nice blue longfin rams at FF. Got some sword plants
from HR. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[ErtyJr]

Sad to hear the borelli has a chunk missing. He was fine last I saw him

 

[Diesel Fitter]

Happy Friday Men! After my h2o change on my 29 gal. tank this afternoon, I had a chance to observe what remains of my fry which appeared on the 24 the of January. Last night I tried to remove my female because she is becoming rather aggressive towards her offspring. That was unsuccessful because she somehow managed to outsmart the fish catcher! Actually I wasn't outsmarted I think I was outlasted, as this tank is heavily planted with several types of plants, and loaded with drift wood, and lots of Java moss. There are so many places for the fry to hide, and they are really excellently camaflaged, that I wonder if I have to move the hen. I only have a couple of babies left, but their numbers have remained constant over the last 10 days.
Have a great weekend, and don't forget to treat your women to a wonderful St Valentines Day! Dave

 

[ErtyJr]

Happy Friday Men! After my h2o change on my 29 gal. tank this afternoon, I had a chance to observe what remains of my fry which appeared on the 24 the of January. Last night I tried to remove my female because she is becoming rather aggressive towards her offspring. That was unsuccessful because she somehow managed to outsmart the fish catcher! Actually I wasn't outsmarted I think I was outlasted, as this tank is heavily planted with several types of plants, and loaded with drift wood, and lots of Java moss. There are so many places for the fry to hide, and they are really excellently camaflaged, that I wonder if I have to move the hen. I only have a couple of babies left, but their numbers have remained constant over the last 10 days.
Have a great weekend, and don't forget to treat your women to a wonderful St Valentines Day! Dave

Sad to hear the mother began showing aggression Dave. Try a few methods I use, I have become quite good at catching apistos in heavily planted tanks as I sell mine, and Kevin can attest to them being planted.

Bottle trap method is good, but has never worked for me as my apistos couldn't find their way in lol.
I often use 2 nets, one I move very slowly and set behind them, than the other smaller net I move quickly and herd them into the big net. Works well for me nearly always.
Try catching them before the lights come on, with a flashlight.

Lastly, just move very slow and feed them as you try to catch. Moving slow is critical, and once they get spooked just walk away and try again later. Happy v day, and good luck!

Chance

 

[Kevin F Smith]

Update on Snubnose 38 aka orange flash cac. Doing great! This is clearly a superior strain. His ventrals are blue, as is the area around his jaw. moved him to 55, well planted, with other apistos and tetras. Also put a wild form female cac in the tank. Will keep you updated.