A174

[cageman]

Well, I felt like using an A-number for a time
I have a duo of wildcaught 'Maulbruter' swimming over here.
I cant speak of a couple because they do not seem to enjoy eachothers company that much.
I keep hearing all around me that there are a lot of problems in getting female offspring? Are these problems known to you who are breeding and/or keeping the 'Maulbruter'?

Another thing:
A few hours ago I was on the phone talking to a fellow Apisto keeper.
He told me that there are rumours that there are two different kinds of 'Maulbruter'. Is he telling fables? Or is there a kind of thruth in it?
I'm curious what you have to say about it.
Thanks!

 

[blueblue]

Maulbruter is one of my favourite species and i once worked very very hard in breeding them. I finally succeeded and got many spawns from multiple pairs (you may check my old posts for some posts...).

Among the F1, i do have quite an equal share of male and female (again, pH and temperature both are important; and my tanks' temperature was about 26C-27C and pH was about 6.0 for the spawns i got).

For the species, there should only be ONE species but there are two color morphs. One with red (or reddish orange) cheek and one with yellow (or pale yellow) cheek. Both look very similar.

Well, I felt like using an A-number for a time
I have a duo of wildcaught 'Maulbruter' swimming over here.
I cant speak of a couple because they do not seem to enjoy eachothers company that much.
I keep hearing all around me that there are a lot of problems in getting female offspring? Are these problems known to you who are breeding and/or keeping the 'Maulbruter'?

Another thing:
A few hours ago I was on the phone talking to a fellow Apisto keeper.
He told me that there are rumours that there are two different kinds of 'Maulbruter'. Is he telling fables? Or is there a kind of thruth in it?
I'm curious what you have to say about it.
Thanks!

 

[Greg PL]

I have a duo of wildcaught 'Maulbruter' swimming over here.
I cant speak of a couple because they do not seem to enjoy eachothers company that much.

I can only confirm that. they seem to be really choosy about the mates. I thought both my males would be more enthusiastic about the female I added recently. she tries hard to lure any of them, but somehow they're not interested. could it be her squint or bad breath or something?

 

[blueblue]

I can only confirm that. they seem to be really choosy about the mates. I thought both my males would be more enthusiastic about the female I added recently. she tries hard to lure any of them, but somehow they're not interested. could it be her squint or bad breath or something?

hahaa... by the way, after the female is well-fed and has
turned egg-yellow, the male fish will be very interested in
her ^.^

 

[ProF_FR]

OMG ... i would give my shirt to have a pair of these apistos Malbruter ... I just can't find them anywhere in France.

ProF

 

[Mike Wise]

Another thing:
A few hours ago I was on the phone talking to a fellow Apisto keeper.
He told me that there are rumours that there are two different kinds of 'Maulbruter'. Is he telling fables? Or is there a kind of thruth in it?
I'm curious what you have to say about it.
Thanks!

Dr. Römer told me the same thing at the ACA convention. He calls the mouthbrooding form "Maulbrüter" and the egglaying form "Brustband". He says they are identical in all other ways. In my opinion we probably are dealing with a single species that has just started mouthbrooding behavior. Some may still practice traditional cave spawing behavior under certain condition (unknown) while others practice mouthbrooding. I imagine that the male does not care which way the female cares for the fry. He will breed in the same manner as all other apistos.

 

[cageman]

Thanks for the replies guys!
Lets hope I have the mouthbrooding one.

@Prof: I must say we had the same problem for a few years.
If you are willing to travel to Holland, you might be able to get a pair.

 

[Mark]

Hi Mike,

I think I agree on the single species. I think the female can choose for herself what to do; leaving the young in the cave or start mouthbrooding. Other species do a similar thing; sometimes they leave the young in one cave and sometimes they keep changing places. Stress in the tank normally is a major factor. Maybe stress stimulates mouthbrooding too? Ofcourse this can change between females and might be a step towards full mouthbrooding.

Mark

 

[ProF_FR]

Sorry to be fishing like this guys ... but any chance for them to be shipped ?

i swear i'll send my shirt back !!!!!

ProF

 

[Microman]

Yes,try Eelke at Aqua-Ferrytale in Holland for Maulbruter as he has recently had a Peruvian shipment in...
I found my Maulbruter bred easily for me with a near equal male/female ratio in 100% peat filtered RO water at 79f, ph 5.8-6.2, hardness at undetectable levels.
After this first brood the female now wants to start again and the male is showing no interest whatsoever. He is also getting very agressive towards her constant advances and harrassment.
I think that Mike is correct in his theory that Maulbruter will care for their larvae in both the conventional way as well as mouthbrooding. I did not witness my female practising mouthbrooding.
Mark...

 

[ProF_FR]

Thanks a lot Microman i'm checking their website actually but it has no english part

I'll try to mail them

ProF

 

[blueblue]

Hi Mike,

I think I agree on the single species. I think the female can choose for herself what to do; leaving the young in the cave or start mouthbrooding. Other species do a similar thing; sometimes they leave the young in one cave and sometimes they keep changing places. Stress in the tank normally is a major factor. Maybe stress stimulates mouthbrooding too? Ofcourse this can change between females and might be a step towards full mouthbrooding.

Mark

In addition to what Mark said, the choice of substrate also matters.
In Hong Kong, most hobbyists use ADA aquasoil and most of them DO NOT observe the mouthbrooding behaviours even though they have bred this species many times. On the other hand, if we choose to adopt the bare-tank approach or we use very fine sand as the substrate, we could observe the mouthbrooding behaviour. This proposition is well supported by many hobbyists' experience in Hong Kong (including myself).

 

[Griz]

I appologize for veering slightly OT, but where can I find a list of the A numbers for apistogramma. I did a search but don't see a list anywhere.

Thx

 

[element]

I appologize for veering slightly OT, but where can I find a list of the A numbers for apistogramma. I did a search but don't see a list anywhere.

Thx

Don't know if it's publised out there somewhere on the 'net but you can find it in the DATZ South American Dwarf Cichlids book .

-Jason

 

[Greg PL]

after the female is well-fed and has turned egg-yellow, the male fish will be very interested in her

she is really selfconfident - 2 days after being added to the tank she turned yellow, claimed the middle of the tank and started courting the males... and so it goes for 2-3 weeks.
I saw quite a few species in my tanks, but this one seems different.

 

[cageman]

I appologize for veering slightly OT, but where can I find a list of the A numbers for apistogramma. I did a search but don't see a list anywhere.

Thx

A while ago I made a list with the A-numbers of the described and undescribed species.
Described:
http://www.dwergcichlide.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?t=197
Undescribed:
http://www.dwergcichlide.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?t=198

It came from the DATZ "South American Dwarf" By Koslowski and mates.

 

[Griz]

Thanks cageman!

 

[cageman]

I keep on having problems with introducing the male and female to eachother.
They do not seem to enjoy eachothers company all that much.
I now have two pairs so partnerswitches are possible ofcource.
Should I leave a male with two females and see what happens?
Or, because the females of this species seem quite agressive, one female with two males?
Should I do something else?
What techniques do you use?
Everything is welcome!

 

[Mike Wise]

How large is the aquarium? Please describe the tank that they are in. It will help with replies.

 

[cageman]

Oh sorry, you are right:redface:
It is 50cmx50cmx30cmhigh that's 20"x20"x12"
Right now it is divided with plexiglass in two parts to separate the male and female.
They can't see eachother but if I remove the visual blockage and see eachother they immediately start fighting. Not first threathening, no, real vicious fighting.
See photo's:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/cageman13/P1010715.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/cageman13/P1010708.jpg
this one is a gift:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v726/cageman13/P1010721.jpg

The tank is ofcource pretty wel decorated with plants and potts.