Theodore's Apistogramma agassizii 'Tefe' Breeding Journal

[theodore]

Hi to all,

I've just registered myself as a member on this forum and though it might be easier to break the ice by sharing the following...

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Male = A. agassizzi 'Tefe' (farm bred)
Female = A. agassizzi 'Tefe' (farm bred)
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Tank = 60 x 30 x 45 (1 of 2 partitions)
Filter = Atman internal filter (the smallest I can find) + rainbar
Flora = Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov', 'spikey' moss
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. Mon 28/Apr/2008 > Spawned (eggs observed)
. Tue 29/Apr/2008 > Separated male (aggression-related injuries)
. Fri 02/May/2008 > Hatched (aka Day 0)
. Mon 05/May/2008 > Free swimming
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[Day 5]
. 2 days after free swimming
. Counted 15+ fries
* Note* This is their first spawn and the female was very young (< 1inch) when it happened

[Day 10]

[Day 15]
. Counted 9 fries

[Day 20]
. Lateral band is starting to show

[Day 24]
. Female separated from fries as she begins to 'court' the male on the other side of the partition
. Still 9 fries (I think)
. Lateral band is well defined
. Total length now exceeds 10mm

... TO BE CONTINUED :wink:

 

[Mike Wise]

Very good! You did not include water values. These are very helpful for other breeders.

 

[ste12000]

Hi, welcome to the forum. With the quality of your first post it looks like you will fit in well here...Nice fish and good quality pics, welcome aboard

 

[Apistomaster]

Maybe you could post a photo of the male as well?

 

[theodore]

Very good! You did not include water values. These are very helpful for other breeders.

I didn't run any tests recently but untreated tap water in my area should be around pH 7.5 and KH 0 - I usually buff it up to KH 3 for my CO2-injected planted tank.

For the breeding tank, 25% of the water is changed every weekend. Chlorine/Chloramine remover is added to a large pail of water 2-3 days before the change and a bag of peat is tossed in to soften water while it ages.

 

[theodore]

And here comes the male...

[~1 week after I bought him]

[~3 weeks] *Just before my breeding project*

 

[javoski]

gorgeous fish

 

[peterK]

Really nice fish and quite interesting project!

 

[blueblue]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Apistomaster]

Hi Theodore,
Very nice fish and your fry look like they're off to an excellent start.
I can't wait to get my first spawn from a new pair of these.

 

[theodore]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the interest.

I was quite worried about losing them to starvation when I went on a 9-day vacation but (miraculously) all 9 fries survived. The bad news is that their mom (in a separate partition) died a couple of weeks back for reasons unknown.

Growth rate for the fries has slowed down considerably - Total length is ~15mm for most of them. I've switched to dry food (Hikari Micro Wafer) at the 60th day mark and am supplementing their diet with bbs every 3 days or so.

My biggest challenge now is water change - I am changing 25% weekly and this is probably not good enough given the large amounts of feeding.

 

[Apistomaster]

Hi Theodore,
I find Apistogramma never out grow Artemia nauplii(bbs) so most of mine are fed some daily. I think it is especially beneficial to continue feeding bbs at least once daily until they are easily sexed. bbs promotes rapid growth, more intense colors and ultimately, larger healthier adults.
I hatch them daily so I feed most everything I keep and raise bbs for as long as they continue to show an interest in them.

 

[fishme.]

i feed the fry only bbs 3-5 times a day and i change 25-50% of the water daily.

i think that they grow faster when they are fed with bbs

 

[Apistomaster]

Theodore,
Sorry about the loss of your female Tefe', I know it it not easy to just visit you favorite shop an buy a replacement. This so typical of Apistogramma spp. What is more is it seems the more you care about a particular spp the likely it is that one of the pair will die for no apparent reason.

The important thing is you did get the 9 fry and I would pamper them with all the bbs they want and frequent but carefully executed water changes so they grow into beautiful young adults, totally adjusted to your care and water conditions. They are enough to provide the founding stock of a nice size breeding colony of this particularly beautiful A.agassizi form. I haven't decided if i should take a taxonomic lumper approach or a splitter's approach as to whether it is a valid species. I'm usually not comfortable with the subspecies concept but like all things in fish taxonomics that would be splitting fins, er, I mean hairs.

 

[theodore]

[Day 106]
. Still 9 fries/juveniles
. Diet is a mix of Hikari Micro Wafer, Hikari frozen bloodworms and bbs
. Water change ~50% weekly
. Total length ranges from >25mm for the larger ones and ~15mm for a couple of 'runts'
. A couple of them seem to have 'sunken bellies' but that's probably due to refusal to take dry food (frozen bloodworms appear to be readily accepted)

[Recent pic of my male]
. A sign of old age perhaps? The tail pattern has changed significantly if you compare it with some of the older pictures I've posted

 

[theodore]

Theodore,
... They are enough to provide the founding stock of a nice size breeding colony of this particularly beautiful A.agassizi form...

I am intending to concentrate on just this species/sub-species (not too bothered by such definitions). Hopefully I can get 2 nice pairs from the 9 juveniles. If not, at least nice females that can mate with the male (if he still around by then).

If it all works out well enough, I should only need to introduce new breeding stock sometime next year to prevent excessive inbreeding.