• Hello guest! Are you an Apistogramma enthusiast? If so we invite you to join our community and see what it has to offer. Our site is specifically designed for you and it's a great place for Apisto enthusiasts to meet online. Once you join you'll be able to post messages, upload pictures of your fish and tanks and have a great time with other Apisto enthusiasts. Sign up today!

water parameters for resticulosa-complex?

Ben Rhau

Apisto Club
Messages
566
Location
San Francisco
Hi all,

Following up on my first post <linked>, looks like I have some as-yet unidentified resticulosa-complex fish. Can you please give me some guidance on the ideal TDS to breed?

My params:
Tap water GH3, KH3, pH 8+, TDS 138
Peat-filtered tap: TDS 104, pH 6
50/50 tap + peat-filtered tap: TDS 121, pH 6.6
50/50 tap + distilled (I do not have an RO unit): TDS 61, pH 6.0

Before joining the group, I had been using buffers to get my tank pH down to 6.6, but my TDS was sky high (525). Since then, I’ve been doing daily water changes with either distilled water or 50/50 tap + peat-filtered tap to lower my TDS by about 9% per day. I’ve got the TDS down to 180 so far, and would like to get it below 100 before moving to only some mix of tap + peat-filtered tap.

I googled resticulosa, but could only find an old thread on the Krib <linked> that discussed sp. resticulosa (not the complex) as having been bred successfully at very low TDS. However, it also said it was a white-water species.

Is the 50/50 mix of tap + peat-filtered tap (TDS 121, pH 6.6) reasonable to try to breed these fish? Since lowering the TDS, they have begun to show breeding behaviors, but no eggs that I have seen yet. Hard to say, because I have small apisto caves, and I'd need to lift them up and shine a light in them to see anything.

Thanks,
Ben
 

Ben Rhau

Apisto Club
Messages
566
Location
San Francisco
Updated photos:
Male showing maybe a little bit more blue iridescence in the body, and more transient color changes, generally.
One female with slight yellow coloration. Hangs out in the cave, but comes out to feed.
Other female just hangs out in the cave and chases away the male. She really doesn't like to come out, will grab some frozen food quickly and take it back to the cave.
 

Attachments

  • DSC_0005.jpg
    DSC_0005.jpg
    171.8 KB · Views: 284
  • DSC_0022.jpg
    DSC_0022.jpg
    149.4 KB · Views: 301
  • DSC_0033.jpg
    DSC_0033.jpg
    147.7 KB · Views: 316

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,202
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
Resticulosa-complex are, for most species, not very demanding on water values. Most are white- or clearwater species. Either of your water values should work. Behavior of one of your females indicates that she might be brooding eggs/larvae.
 

Ben Rhau

Apisto Club
Messages
566
Location
San Francisco
Thanks, Mike. Keeping an eye on her for sure. Where can I find information on which species comprise resticulosa-complex (besides Wangenflecken, which you've eliminated) for an eventual species ID?
 

Ben Rhau

Apisto Club
Messages
566
Location
San Francisco
Update: Both females now have free-swimming fry. :) Assuming they hatched roughly a week ago, that would have been around TDS 250, consistent with them being white-water. Not expecting too much this time, since they are both first-time mothers and I do not have BBS hatching yet. I am hoping they will take some frozen in the meantime. Thanks for all the knowledge I continue to gain by reading this forum!
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
17,915
Messages
116,201
Members
13,027
Latest member
tonc61

Latest profile posts

Josh wrote on anewbie's profile.
Testing
EDO
Longtime fish enthusiast for over 70years......keen on Apistos now. How do I post videos?
Looking for some help with fighting electric blue rams :(
Partial updated Peruvian list have more than this. Please PM FOR ANY QUESTIONS so hard to post with all the ads poping up every 2 seconds….
Top