I just got my first pair

[Derek]

I just picked up a pair of WC a. pandurini this weekend. This is my first attempt with apistos, and I have a few questions:

The LFS had both pandurini and panduro. Aren't they the same thing?

What would the best diet be for this fish? I tried some frozen brine shrimp, and they were not interested at all. I emailed the LFS and they have been feeding frozen brine, frozen bloodworms, flake, and live black worms. I picked up some black worms and there is no doubt that they love those. I just don't know if that is the best thing for them to be eating. It seems that they might be easier to take care of than hatching BS though.

My last question is whether I should get another female, or just stick with the pair. I had planned on a trio of cacatuoides, but all they had left was a couple of males. I am keeping them in a heavily planted 20H with plenty of hiding spots. Right after the male feasted on his worms, he was pretty relentless in his pursuit of the female. I don't know if adding another girl would be a good idea. I don't really care about breeding, I just don't want this female to get beat up.

 

[scott]

derek,

panduros can be very aggressive and are very picky about chosing a mate so i would recommend gettin a small group and allowing them to paiir of then remove the other fish. or you could leave them and the pair will surely "remove" them for you. i have a breeding pair of panduro's now and i started with 6 fish to get the pair. every fish is different so you might do fine with 1male and 1 female just keep a close eye on them. as to your question about feeding, black worms are an exellent choice for apistos but you should also give them variety. i feed mine live brine shrimp, daphnia, grindal worms, baby brine and microworms as well as black worms.

 

[Mike Wise]

The LFS had both pandurini and panduro. Aren't they the same thing?

Yes, they are the same species. It depends on the exporter under which name they arrive at the LFS.

Worms of any kind are a high fat diet & should be used sparingly unless you are fattening up a female for breeding. Frozen foods should be taken by every apisto. Either you got a previously thawed, bad batch of shrimp or your apistos don't realize that it is food yet. In the latter case add some dither fish that know it is food. Once the panduros see the other fish eating it, they will too.

 

[BigDaddy]

It's funny how there are always exceptions to the norm.

My panduros are in a 75 gallon with other cichlids (2 pairs of panduros and a lone female [had 6 but one didn't survive transport], 4 keyholes and 4 angels). The males will occassionally flare gills at each other, but otherwise are relatively peaceful.

Amazingly, my keyholes appear to be the most "aggressive" cichlid in that particular tank!