Help breeding Apisto. bitaeniata

[Lihn]

Hello everybody

I am new at the forum, so maybe I am asking stupidly!

I got 1.1 (1 male, 1 female) wild caught Apistogramma bitaeniata from Peru, for a few days since. Now are the pair in a 54 litre aquarium with Rineloricaria sp red (L010a), Corydoras davidsandsi and some Poecilia wingei (Endlers Guppy). The guppy's will be sold in the next week, to get more space for the Apisto's and more silence in the aquarium. The aquarium is very good planted, and the pH is about 7. I use rainwater, to get a low hardness, and a lower pH. The temperature is now about 22-23 degrees celsius.

Can you give me a good advice to how I can breed this wonderfull and very nice Apistogramma?

 

[Sharpfish]

First- Welcome to the forum.
Second- There is no stupid questions here.
Third- You have come to the right place for answers.
Fourth- When I spawned them I kept them in a species only tank. The decor. was live plants, clay pots inverted with a entrance hole in the side, 1" diameter PVC in 6" lengths, and all buried undr a layer of Oak leaves. More people will be able to give better water parameters.

 

[Tea]

help.

Hey Lihn, when I kept and breed my bitaeniata's the ph was 5.5 and almost no hardness. You should try to lower the ph with adding some peat to the water as these are found in a black water habitat. I sometimes feed the fish not regularly but only every 3 days for a week or two. Then after feed them more and add some ro or water conditioned with peat moss to lower the ph to trigger a spawn..I hope this helps.
Vue

 

[Lihn]

Thank you, for your answers!!

Isn't possible to breed the Apisto with the catfishes? (Corydoras davidsandsi and L010a)

When I am breeding catfishes, I sometimes remove the eggs from the father, to another aquarium, where they hatch. Is it a bad idea to take eggs from Apisto's and hatch them seperately?

Thank you for the idea's, with the water and the caves for the fisches. Do some of you have a picture of the aquarium, where you breed the Apisto?

 

[dw1305]

tanks

Hi all,
I've never kept A. bitaeniata, but I think that 22 - 23oC is probably a bit low, I'd go up to 26 - 27oC, the Iquitos area where they come from is fairly close to the Equator. One reason I've found is that for some Apistogrammas male/female ratio can become unbalanced at low temperatures. Other post's would suggest the that Corydoras are not a good idea. I think L10a would be fine as I can't imagine they would be efficient fry predators, but I'm not sure how aggressive the parents will be towards them.

I've an image of the small tank that I've bred Apistogramma borelli in here: <http://s464.photobucket.com/albums/rr10/dw1305/?action=view&current=view_jan_2009.jpg> & <http://i464.photobucket.com/albums/rr10/dw1305/view_jan_2009_top.jpg>

I always use rainwater, changed 10% a day, and leave the parents and fry together until the fry are quite large. This tank in the photo's didn't have any dithers, but it does have some Cherry shrimps.

I like ApistoBobs recommendations for habitat <http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/Aquarium_plants.php>.

Personally I think the advantage of a weedy, well established sponge filter, mulm, leaf litter and algae heavy tank is that the fry find plenty to eat and can hide from their parents until they are big enough to eat Daphnia, Grindal worms etc. The disadvantage is that it is difficult to catch the fry and/or feed them additional microworms or bbs. I get more fry surviving this way, but better fish keepers will get more fry surviving by rearing them separately.

cheers Darrel

 

[Bilbo]

They are a beautiful fish and my favorite of all the apisto's avaliable here.

My setup was 1.1 in 600x300x300 tank with sand and lots of leaves with a coconut shell cave. Temp 26c, pH 5.5 - 6 and very soft. The fry seem to be very slow growing compared to rams or cockatoo's.

They are well worth the effort so very best of luck with them.

I had to remove the eggs as my female kept eating them so no problem with that if you have to but there is no finer sight than a mum apisto swimming with fry. For me, I would avoid anything else in the tank while the fry are tiny.

 

[Lihn]

Thank you for your answers! I can use a lot of it. Today my female is yellow (breeding suit?) and very temperamental. She is protecting a coconut, so maybe something cheeky is happening. I hope so. Maybe I will seperate the eggs or maybe I will let them be in the aquarium.

 

[dw1305]

Hi Lihn,
Sounds promising, Bilbo's right, your male fish (in the photo) is one of the most beautiful Apistogrammas I've ever seen.

I hope they spawn for you soon.

cheers Darrel

 

[Lihn]

Thank you Darrel.

I have never breed Apisto before, so what am I gonna do, IF there are eggs in the cave?

My idea's is:
1) Let the female take care of the fry, and let the fry be in the 54 litre aquarium with the male, Corydoras davidsandsi and L010a.
..or
2) Try to lift the coconut, and maybe I will spot some eggs. Then I will take the coconut with the eggs into a 12 litre and let the eggs hatch here.
..or
3) Let the fry hatch in the 54 litre aquarium and let the female take care of the youngs, and when they are about a week or two old I will seperate the fry in a 12 litre and later in a 30 litre.

Which idea do you think is the best?

 

[dw1305]

Raising fry

Hi Lihn,
I think you probably need to remove the Corydoras. It that's not possible, you need to move the coconut and female to the 12 litre. If you do this, I'd definitely try and put some sand and java moss in with them and, if possible, a matured air powered sponge filter. Personally, I'd always leave the female with the eggs/wrigglers until they are free swimming. It's a really small tank so you are going to have to keep a really close eye on the water quality as well.

If you can leave them in the main tank, which from the picture of your male, may well be possible, I'd let the female and fry move round the main tank picking at "natural food", I'd try leaving the male in as well, but I've never kept A. bitaeniata or a pair and fry together without dithers (although I have used Cherry shrimps as surrogate "dithers", not sure L10a is going to be suitable, as my Apistogrammas totally ignore the Otocinclus in the tank, even the females with fry).

Hopefully someone who has successfully raised A. bitaeniata may be able to give you some more informed advice.

cheers Darrel

 

[Lihn]

Hi Lihn,
I think you probably need to remove the Corydoras. It that's not possible, you need to move the coconut and female to the 12 litre. If you do this, I'd definitely try and put some sand and java moss in with them and, if possible, a matured air powered sponge filter. Personally, I'd always leave the female with the eggs/wrigglers until they are free swimming. It's a really small tank so you are going to have to keep a really close eye on the water quality as well.

If you can leave them in the main tank, which from the picture of your male, may well be possible, I'd let the female and fry move round the main tank picking at "natural food", I'd try leaving the male in as well, but I've never kept A. bitaeniata or a pair and fry together without dithers (although I have used Cherry shrimps as surrogate "dithers", not sure L10a is going to be suitable, as my Apistogrammas totally ignore the Otocinclus in the tank, even the females with fry).

Hopefully someone who has successfully raised A. bitaeniata may be able to give you some more informed advice.

cheers Darrel

Thank you Darrel!

Yesterday I lifted the coconut, and I saw the eggs in the cave. YES! So I hope the fry will hatch soon, and give me some nice Apisto's
I have moved 3 Corydoras, and I will try to move more of them, if I can catch them. Maybe 2-3 Corydoras in the tank would be good, so the male and female Apisto. have someone to hunt.

 

[Apistomaster]

FWIW, I have never had Apistogramma successfully spawn whenever they shared a tank with 6 adult L10a Red Whiptails. They may be bolder and persistent than their day to day behavior may suggest.