A. diplotaenia - Wild fish from Rio Negro

[blueblue]

A pair of wild A. diplotaenia from Rio Negro.
Its colour looks more solid than the tank-bred species'
and the 2-lines are clearly visible. ^_^

 

[AquaAlbatros]

They are beautiful.
What is the substrate ? it's normal gravel ?

 

[candidi]

Hi Blueblue,

Wonderfull fishes you have!!! One of my Apisto dream!

 

[blueblue]

Thanks AquaAlbatros and Candidi ^_^
The substrate is a kind of aqua-soil which is in the form of
a small ball.... after using for some months, they will start to
soften and may need replacement later... This kind of substrate
can keep the water very soft and acidic...

 

[yorky]

Wow! You have excellent quality Diplos..

Stocks just came in?

 

[mervin]

hi there,
me will be in HKG sometime at the end of OCT, can u point me in the right directions to aquire these beauties.

thanks

 

[cageman]

nice fish bleu bleu!
I heard that with breeding the young ones almost always grow up to be males.
is this true? and what could be the reason?

 

[blueblue]

Thanks Yorky. Yes, this pair came to my place recently... it is probably a new batch of wild fish exporting from south america after the raining season... ^.^

Hi Mervin. Good to learn that you will go to HK. Well, most of my apisto are
NOT from local fish retailers anymore... Basically, most of them are ordered from overseas... by the way, what kinds of apisto are you interested in?

Thanks cageman. For breeding A. diplotaenia, my experience has, on the contrary, turned out to be "more female than male"!! I have also heard of the scenario that you mentioned, say, there is more than 90% of male in a batch of fries. For me, on average, 60%-70% of a batch of fries has turned out to be female... Of course, water temperature, pH and kH values all matter in the development of sex of apisto. To explain this phenomenon, I would propose that because female A. diplotaenia is usually smaller and weaker than male A. diplotaenia in their infant stage, so many female A. diplotaenia actually could not compete with the stronger and bigger A. diplotaenia and hence they fail to develop... This directly results in having more male A. diplotaenia than female A. diplotaenia in the same brood when we observe them when they are, e.g. 2cm, long.

 

[kray]

Very nice fish indeed! Is it very troublesome to import in yourself?

 

[blueblue]

Very nice fish indeed! Is it very troublesome to import in yourself?

Not really. There are many methods of bringing in fish. Of course, one convenient and safe way is to order thru' reputable stores.

 

[yorky]

Not really. There are many methods of bringing in fish. Of course, one convenient and safe way is to order thru' reputable stores.

Hi,
Where do you reside? HK?
You are probably aware of the new shipments from Germany into HK which just arrived.

 

[blueblue]

Hi Yorky, yes, i am living in HK.
I am not aware of the new shipments.. when did the new shipments arrive?
Anyhow, i just placed an order via a close friend to get me a few toppest quality of fish, both German and wild fish... will post the fish here after i have received them... ^___^

Hi,
Where do you reside? HK?
You are probably aware of the new shipments from Germany into HK which just arrived.

 

[mervin]

Hi Mervin. Good to learn that you will go to HK. Well, most of my apisto are
NOT from local fish retailers anymore... Basically, most of them are ordered from overseas... by the way, what kinds of apisto are you interested in?

.

hi there,
well...i'm looking for "good quality" Diplos, Mendezis, Piauiensis and sp. Xingus.

 

[starforsaken]

"hi there,
well...i'm looking for "good quality" Diplos, Mendezis, Piauiensis and sp. Xingus."

ARENT WE ALL???

 

[Mike Wise]

starforsaken,

Yes, I imagine we all are. Asia has importers that often are willing to supply these - and hobbyists willing to pay the price asked, unlike many in North America. You might be surprised at what these fish cost in Singapore & Hong Kong.

 

[cawa1031]

dear blueblue~

so here you are !
very nice fish ~

Cawa

 

[mervin]

"hi there,
well...i'm looking for "good quality" Diplos, Mendezis, Piauiensis and sp. Xingus."

ARENT WE ALL???

Hi Staforstaken,
that is why i'm asking.

lets be nice......

not sure about apistos varieties in N.Amercica but here in Asia, the chances are much better especially in Taiwan and HongKong

 

[blueblue]

hi there,
well...i'm looking for "good quality" Diplos, Mendezis, Piauiensis and sp. Xingus.

I see... well, you probably could find some Diplos, Mendezis in the HK fish street (i.e. Tung-Choi Street, which is near MongKok KCR station/ Prince Edward MTR station)... it is also a good season to buy them as their prices have lowered a little bit these days but the availability is uncertain
(for Mendezis, the prices used to be HK$700-HK$1400 a pair, now lowered to be HK$5xx - $1000 a pair; tank-bred Diplos: HK$4XX-HK$1900 a pair, wild -caught Diplos: usually NOT available, if available, the price is about HK$3000 a pair).

For Piauiensis and sp. Xingus, they are NOT popular in HK. For Xingus, i do see some around but the quality is poor (price is about HK$400 a pair). I have not seen Piauiensis for a long long time...

P.S.: One US dollar = 7.8 HK dollar.

 

[blueblue]

Mike is right. I guess in Asia, Japan is the nation which imports the largest amount of top-quality apistos via their own collectors in South America. Apistos from Japan are also the most expensive ones in Asia (maybe the whole world as well). Here in HK, many retailers now get good-quality apistos from another big market in Asia - Taiwan. Taiwan has a couple of trading companies for Apistos and the price is quite high, but quality is also high. In addition, Traders in Taiwan also distribute the apistos from germany and europe to Hong Kong.

starforsaken,

Yes, I imagine we all are. Asia has importers that often are willing to supply these - and hobbyists willing to pay the price asked, unlike many in North America. You might be surprised at what these fish cost in Singapore & Hong Kong.

 

[blueblue]

so here you are !
very nice fish ~

Cawa

Thanks cawa, yes i am back after settling some personal affairs.
^.^ have you got some new apistos recently? I have found a lot
of interesting apistos in the list from Basil Aquarium (Taiwan - "Stone")