Apisto's from Orinoco?

[Daryl]

Hello,

I am in the planning stages of an Orinoco bio-tope type aquarium... I am looking for info on which Apisto's come from this river or it's tributaries?

So far my reading as turned up 3 possible candidates;

A. hongsloi
A. hoignei
A. viejita

Are there any others? I figured I would ask the experts here before cranking my search up a notch... Basically my next step is to memorize (or try to) all of the major rivers in the Orinoco catchment area and go from there - I'm hoping you guys & gals can save me some steps!

Cheers,

Daryl
(PS: If anybody also happens to know of any Corydoras species that come from this area I'd appreciate that info as well - but planetcatfish could come in handy for that question!).

 

[Daryl]

I've done some more reading and it looks like A. macmasteri comes from the Gauviare - which forms part of the upper Orinoco catchment (according to my map!)...

 

[bigbird]

Gday Daryl,

Ok the one I know of are
Macmasteri, Hongsloi, Hoignei, Viejita, Inridae,A Spec Rotpunkt.

Sorry cannot help you with the Corys.
Sound like a nice set up. Send us a photo after and advise us what Apistos you got.

Cheers JK

 

[Mike Wise]

The Orinoco is one gigantic river system with many different biotopes. The species in each biotope dependx on which part of the river that you wish to imitate. All 10 - 12 members of the macmasteri-group are found in the Orinoco, as are 2 Rotpunkt-group species, 4 iniridae-group species, 2 pertensis-group species, 1 or 2 brevis-group species, & A. cf. diplotaenia (Río Orinoco).

 

[RAF]

I don't know if it's such a good idea joinig apistos and corys... but in a biotype of Rio Metae you have the macmasteri and the Corydora metae.

 

[Apistomaster]

Corydoras are fine with Apistogramma but I wouldn't include them in a breeding tank or much of anything else for that matter. I use cherry shrimp widely including in Apistogramma breeding tanks. They are useful as scavengers and will eat much of the brine shrimp nauplii the fry may miss. The pose no threat but still act as dithers for the breeders.

 

[Daryl]

I am currently undecided if the bio-tope is going to contain female apistos... I figure a pair of Blue Rams may add enough drama to the tank... Ultimately I guess it will come down to how big a tank I can get - bigger tank means females may be added, smaller tank = males only...

The nice thing is I will always have my 3' long 22 gallon tank that I can house the females in and move a male over to if/when I want to breed the apistos...