Hello All- advise pls

[cruzn2]

Hi every1,
i Have been reading up on this forum for a while.
and i finally got some apistos.

i Have 4 male Cacs (double red) and 4 male agassizi "Double red"

i keep 2 of each in 2 seperate 300l planted dicus tanks using ADA substrate's

they all seem to be very happy and healthy,they all show great coloration and get along well (no female's in tank)

hoping to add a few more later on when a new shippment of german apistos arrive's here in Australia.

I also keep a pair (bought as pair) of Elizabethae "Super red"

had them for about a week in a 100l planted tank - ADA amazonia and plants-

tank has been running for 3 month along with filter.
Since i got them the male always hid in a top corner of the tank not in any of the caves or plants at bottom.
The pair never had fights as far as i could see but this morning the male was dead on the bottom. water tested fine ph is steady at 6.8 temp steady at 28.7

i have fed them only chiclid flake and tetra bits and pellets- 2 times a day very little - no left overs after 2 mins---

so i dont know why he died, but i suspect the female did not like him and beat him up over a few nights to the point where he died.

so the main ? is--- can i leave the female alone ? can i put her in one of the tanks with the cac's and aggie's or will they kill her.. should i put another female cac or aggie in with her - ican not get my hands on another male elizabethae as these were sold and imported as pairs-
not sure pls any help will be greatfull

oh - and great forum and info here

cheers
Ron

 

[blueblue]

Hi Ron, sorry to learn that your eliza male has passed away.
There are many reasons accounting for it... anyhow, i know a guy who is
in Australia now and he has some eliza F1... you may contact him and see
if he can help you get a male eliza.

Hi every1,
i Have been reading up on this forum for a while.
and i finally got some apistos.

i Have 4 male Cacs (double red) and 4 male agassizi "Double red"

i keep 2 of each in 2 seperate 300l planted dicus tanks using ADA substrate's

they all seem to be very happy and healthy,they all show great coloration and get along well (no female's in tank)

hoping to add a few more later on when a new shippment of german apistos arrive's here in Australia.

I also keep a pair (bought as pair) of Elizabethae "Super red"

had them for about a week in a 100l planted tank - ADA amazonia and plants-

tank has been running for 3 month along with filter.
Since i got them the male always hid in a top corner of the tank not in any of the caves or plants at bottom.
The pair never had fights as far as i could see but this morning the male was dead on the bottom. water tested fine ph is steady at 6.8 temp steady at 28.7

i have fed them only chiclid flake and tetra bits and pellets- 2 times a day very little - no left overs after 2 mins---

so i dont know why he died, but i suspect the female did not like him and beat him up over a few nights to the point where he died.

so the main ? is--- can i leave the female alone ? can i put her in one of the tanks with the cac's and aggie's or will they kill her.. should i put another female cac or aggie in with her - ican not get my hands on another male elizabethae as these were sold and imported as pairs-
not sure pls any help will be greatfull

oh - and great forum and info here

cheers
Ron

 

[cruzn2]

I know a guy who is
in Australia now and he has some eliza F1... you may contact him and see
if he can help you get a male eliza.

Hi Blue, Thanks for the quick reply.

that would be realy great if you could do that . I live in Sydney.
I can PM u my mobile or email if that would help.

i am just waiting to c if the female will be alright- as said water par are fine.
we have had heavy rain in the last 4 weeks and this is starting to cause problems here for fish owners with water changes as our Gov add all sorts of stuff tothe drinking water to combat bugs and waste washed into the dams.

i do use stored and aged water of approx 3-4 days between changes

anyways thanks again
waiting ur reply

Ronnie

p.s how do you get the forum to display new posts at bottom of page instead of top ??

 

[Mike Wise]

I think that you will do much better with A. elizabethae if you drop the pH below 6. It is a blackwater species after all.

 

[cruzn2]

Thanks for the info Mike - will need to do a bit more research-

the seller of these fish kept these all in tanks with ADA AFRICANA substrate i know this will keep the ph a bit lower than the Amazonia but not at below 6-

might have to get some peat moss or something else- i dont like using buffer's as very high in phosphate any suggestions

Cheers
Ron


p.s.
Blueblue any word on that contact of yours here in Australia

 

[blueblue]

Hi Ron. I have contacted that gentleman for you. His name is Thomas, from Sydney... If he is willing to help you, he will reply me and i will let you know right away

Thanks for the info Mike - will need to do a bit more research-

the seller of these fish kept these all in tanks with ADA AFRICANA substrate i know this will keep the ph a bit lower than the Amazonia but not at below 6-

might have to get some peat moss or something else- i dont like using buffer's as very high in phosphate any suggestions

Cheers
Ron


p.s.
Blueblue any word on that contact of yours here in Australia

 

[cruzn2]

Thanks BlueBlue

keeping my fingers crossed hope to hear from u ..

Ron

 

[tleehm]

Hi Ron,

Welcome to the world of apistogramma.
I'm Thomas - the person blueblue refers in earlier replies. Apology for the late response, as I've been offline and missed your post.

First is bad news (sorry) - despite I really wants to help but I don't have enough to go around (have had several others asking before and I had to turn them back). The reason is I've yet to master the skill in raising the elizabethae (unlike blueblue), the one I've bred was from German "red" form. Only managed to have one lot hatched while only 5 grow to adult.

Secondly - do more research especially with posts from Mike Wise, blueblue and others here where these are the real guru with apisto. George's advice (I know the place they're from) isn't accurate, and he would want to move them asap.

As for the so called "super red" they've labeled, I really question about this as my German "red" sibling has heaps more red than these fellow (I had the chance of choosing and took the first pair where the male has more red than your one). The time I bought the German "red", I was told from a reputable source these fish are so damn expensive they're hardly making any money on them (and their prices was 2/3 dearer than George's). And when the fish were labeled as breed-able pair which these are at least 1cm smaller than the one I got from a different source, this lead me to question what exactly are they supposed to be (one of the reason I took the pair as they're cheap and want to grow them out to see what they're like).

Back to the original question - it's best not to toss the remaining female into a tank with the aggie and cacs as Mike has already pointed out the elizabethae is from black water and need much more acidic water to thrive (mine are keep at 5.5 or below).

It's probably best to go back and ask George what he can offer to help out your situation (he does get fish in regularly) if you're keen to obtain a replacement male. However if this is the first time/year in keeping apistogramma, than probably best to stay away from elizabethae as it is definitely not a beginner fish.

Cheers,
Thomas.

 

[cruzn2]

Thanks for the reply Thomas

I have sent u a pm thru A\Life.

I really appreciate the info all u have given so far, and still learning everyday

if ur interested in my female let me know-

Ron

 

[blueblue]

Hi Ron and Thomas. For eliza, i actually still have some F1s (all sizes).
If Thomas will stop by Hong Kong and he would bring some apistos back
to Australia, you may contact me and you need not waste your female.

 

[cruzn2]

Thanks Blue thats a really nice offer..

i would be happy to accept the offer as not to have to sell the female,but its upto Thomas of course

But thanks again its a very nice thing to do- considering i am new here

cheers
Ronnie

 

[tleehm]

Thanks for the offer (very tempting as your elizabethae are always top quality) but I wouldn't think about bringing any fish back with our strict quarantine law.

Ron, here's a picture of one of my male - which is a sibling of a "Red" form (not "Super Red"). You'll be the judge on SLS's so called "Super Red".

And courtesy of blueblue, here's what German "Super Red" elizabethae looks like (picture from RVA):

 

[cruzn2]

Hi Thomas
i cant see the picture just a red x

 

[tleehm]

pic fixed.

 

[cruzn2]

thanks for that Thomas- i can see what u r talking about re colours and so on---

 

[blueblue]

I see Thomas. BTW, the super red eliza that you are showing is not mine, it is from RVA (i may have posted it somewhere while i also mentioned that it is FROM RVA)... please see my fishes (both pairs have got their babies this month... while they both exhibit an interesting behavior...) as follows:

No. 1

No. 2

 

[tleehm]

You're right, I've added more description of where the picture originate from.