Another update with more pictures

Hello anybody who is still reading this!  Just a short note, trying to get back in the swing of writing this.

The tanks are doing well, and I have no new fry to report.  I have been feeding less frozen brine shrimp and I think that effects the females in their egg production.  All my fish now seem addicted to frozen blood worms.  I have read both good and bad about feeding these, but my fish go crazy for them, often fighting over a single worm; playing tug of war with it.

As mentioned in the title, some new pictures.  These are juvenile pics of the Apistogamma sp. pebas ‘morado’ and Apistogramma borelli ‘blue’ whose fry photos I posted many months ago.  These fish are pretty much ready to go, so will be putting them up for sale shortly.  Just waiting on some shipping supplies right now.

Anyway, here are the promised photos.  Thanks for reading and have a fishy day!    Mark

A. sp. pebas ‘morado’

A. borelli ‘blue’

 

February update

Hi all,

Sorry for not posting for a while, but it’s been slow with the tanks.

Business as usual in most tanks, the Apistogramma sp. pebas ‘morado’ are growing well, and I’m getting ready to start trying to sell them as the weather begins to warm.  Same with the Apistogramma borelli ‘blue’.

I have gotten a nice little female Apistogramma bitaeniata ‘Shishita’ from David Soares (apistodave on Aquabid) and the  male just about turned himself inside out displaying all over the tank when I introduced them.  They have already been “cave-shopping”, and she has taken an almost instant dislike to a female dwarf gourami in the tank.  Although not sitting on eggs, she chases the gourami in a territorial manner, even though the gourami is 5 times her size!  The 2 Siamese algae eaters evidently pose no threat, however.

The Apistogramma trifasciata ‘Guapore’ (also from David Soares), have spawned once so far, and the babies were doing well until the dad likely ate them.  Maybe next time.

The female macmasteri appears to have eggs also.  She is colored up, but no obviously guarding any particular site, so time will tell.  Last time she hid her fry so well it was very difficult to find them at all.

Last but not least, I am awaiting half a dozen Apistogramma eremnopyge (F1) from Ted Judy.  These are fry, about .5″, and will go into tank with A. borelli fry for now.  Have the tank divider, just need to raise temp in that tank a little bit.

What a wonderful time we live in when all these beautiful fish are available just with the click of a few buttons.  There are many more apistos I would love to work with, but for now, tanks are pretty much full and no room to add more.  My count so far is 9 species kept, 7 bred, and fry raised from 2.  This in less than a year.  I have wonderful water for apistos, and I try to give them the best care I can.

Will share a photo of the male Apistogramma bitaeniata ‘Shishita’ as I sign out.  Thanks for reading and have a fishy day!      Mark

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year and new pictures!

As promised, I got some photos of the Apistogramma trifasciata.  Even got lucky enough to get one with some fry in it!  Still can’t locate the A. macmasteri fry, however.  THINK I got some baby brine shrimp in their vicinity once.

Just want to wish everybody a safe and Happy New Year.  May you all be blessed with good fortune and health in the upcoming year.

Male A. trifasciata                                                    female with some fry

 

Have a fishy day!   Mark

Back with an update

Hello everybody!  Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and here’s wishing a safe and Happy New Year as well!

There hadn’t been too much new in the fish tanks lately, pretty much same old.  This is just a quick update with no pics this time.

The Apistogramma hongsloi ‘Rostrich’ continue to breed, but have only seen 3 fry that didn’t make it.  Think the female is still eating the eggs, but can’t be sure.  This is about 6 times she has laid eggs.  Soon, I will try my hand at hatching them myself.

The Apistogramma macmasteri female is with eggs for the second time, no fry survived the first time, unfortunately.  It was a small spawning, at most I think I saw 10 fry.  Let’s hope for more this time!

I have a ‘possible’ pair of Apistogramma bitaeniata ‘Shishita’ in the 29, but not sure.  Kind of looks like 2 males at this point.  Sigh…oh well, don’t have room for more fry at this point anyway.

Speaking of fry, the Apistogramma sp. pebas ‘morado’ and the A. borelli ‘blue’ fry are all doing very well.  At about 3 1/2-4 months the larger are closing in on an inch in length, which I believe is about right.  The ‘morado’ are vicious little eaters, taking frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp with gusto.  They also like their ‘fry crack’, which I got from Fishguy_1955 on Aquabid.  Paul’s a great guy, and I buy several items from him regularly.

I also acquired a nice little pair of Apistogramma trifasciata, and they settled into a 10 gallon quickly, and as of this morning, mom has close to 20 free-swimming fry!  Only had these fish a couple/few weeks.  It’s that magic water again!  I have a couple pics of the male that are decent, and I think one of the female in non-breeding colors.  Will post them next time after I upload to computer.

In with the A. trifasciata are my new favorite non-cichlid, some threadfin rainbowfish.  These are active, showy little guys, with the  males doing lots of display bluffing.  Awesome little fish, and I think I will try to get more in the future.

That’s it for now.  Pictures to come next time when I have a few more to post.  Until then, have a fishy day!    Mark

 

 

 

New additions and news!

Hi all!  Been a little bit and it doesn’t seem too many folks are reading, but will do an update.  Not sure how much longer I will continue to do this, but is fun for now.

The Apistogramma hongsloi ‘rostrich’ have spawned for the 4th time, and it appears the female ate the eggs yet again.  Whether they fungused or not, I don’t know, but think I will artificially hatch them next go round.

The new Apistogramma macmasteri also have spawned, a very small clutch as best I can tell.  I saw the female leading what appeared to be less than 10 fry just once.  She now has them well-hidden, so I have to guess at where to squirt the baby brine shrimp (bbs).  I think she may also be spitting food out for them, but again, can’t be sure.  She is very secretive.

Ok, on to the new additions.  I freed up some space last week, and have now filled it…lol.  I have 8 brown tailed pencilfish in with the A. macmasteri and a male red flame dwarf gourami (mate coming next week).

In the 29G, I added the pair of Apistogramma bitaeniata ‘Shishita’, another gourami of same flavor and a small school of pygmy corydoras (8).  I like them so well, am adding another 6 next week, along with a mate for this gourami, as well.  This tank may be pushing its limits for occupancy, but the corydoras are soooo tiny, and they all seem to occupy different areas and are so far getting along.

I have also decided to get fish for one of the 10G.  Again, I might be pushing it a bit, but have tank space should I need to move somebody.  Set for this tank are 6 threadfin rainbowfish and a pair of Apistogramma trifasciata.  They are a smaller Apisto, so I think it should work.  If not, I still have the one 10G left to seperate the rainbowfish.

Well, that’s all for now, will leave you with some pictures of new additions.  Except for the A. bitaeniata.  They are very camera-shy it would seem.  Have a fishy day!

 

brown tailed pencilfish (camera-shy, or just plain shy also)

Pygmy corydoras, a small group

Male red flame dwarf gourami

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quick update after selling some fish

Hi all, it’s been a busy week or so.  I have finally managed to re-home a number of Apistogramma as well as many tetras.  I had too many Apistogramma borelli ‘blue’ what with 15-20 fry doing well in a 20L, a lonely heart Apitogramma bitaeniata ‘Rio Napo’ male, and too many fry-hunting tetras.  Never again in my Apisto tanks.

I’m still learning, since I’ve been out of the hobby for over 20 years, and just began keeping Apistos this April.  The female bitaeniata succumbed to ich, introduced by some black neons from Petsmart that I foolishly didn’t quarantine first,

Now, I have 2 20L with fry (Apistogramma borelli ‘blue’ and about 30 Apistogramma sp. pebas ‘morado’).  All doing very well, eating microworms, freshly hatched brine shrimp,decapsulated brine shrimp eggs and some a little ‘fry crack’.  The larger morado are now able to take whole frozen brine shrimp (one lasts them quite awhile…lol).

The 29G has a female Apistogramma bitaeniata ‘Shishita’, the male having died in shipping.  Am waiting on another male.  That tank also contains the 2 Siamese Algae Eaters, who are very shy right now.  I need dither fish for that tank and another.  Have decided on 10 brown-tail pencilfish for one and 10 Pygmy corydoras for the other.

The 20L with the Apistogramma hongsloi ‘Rostrich’ is keeping me on my toes.  It seems the female has eaten her eggs twice now, and the male has been very aggressive.  If you remember, this male (gorgeous fish; photo in last blog post) harassed his first female nearly to death, and I was unable to save her.  He has twice circumnavigated a tank divider, causing me much stress and resulting in many idle threats and name-calling.  On the bright side, the new female looks to have laid eggs a third time and is keeping him at bay this time, as well as the Loreto tetras I couldn’t catch without tearing tank apart.

Have a new pair of Apistogramma macmasteri (red-tail, I believe).  Got them less than a week ago, and the female looks to be guarding eggs as well.  Geeshhh, I wanted them to spawn, just not all at once…lol.

Well, they have tank to selves for now, and dithers coming next week hopefully will not bother eggs or fry.  I also have kept the 2 10G open, which will likely pay off in the long run.

Also big news- I FINALLY broke down and got a Python water-changer.  No more lugging 5G buckets up a flight of stairs!  This will only mean increased water quality.  Not a moment too soon, I might add, as my back is trashed and I receive a shot in lower back next week.  No more heavy lifting for this old man…lol.

Will post a couple poor pictures of the newest additions to my family.  Have a fishy day, will update soon as something happens.

Female A. bitaeniata ‘Shishita’  She is very active, but no doubt lonely without a male in big tank.

Male A. macmasteri.  Haven’t gotten shot of female yet.  Both these and the A. bitaeniata have been in tanks less than a week.

LOL, what timing!

Although I just added to the blog today, I had to do a quick update.  Not two minutes after I posted, I saw the female Apistogramma hongsloi ‘rostrich’ confronting the male, then frantically swimming into a cave.  Shortly thereafter, she came out to chase away a Loreto tetra.  She seems VERY nervous, but unafraid of the male who is about 4 times larger.

I’ll be darned if she didn’t read my blog and decide to lay eggs BEFORE the other fry are old enough to sell, meaning tank-space crunch!  I also re-united the male and female borelli in the 20L with the fry, but he is having none of that.  In went the tank divider.  Now both borelli have fry of their own in same tank.

That leaves a 10G available for now, until  I hopefully move some fish this weekend.  I will keep you posted.  Have a fishy day!   Mark

More baby pics +

Hi again.  It’s been a little while since I’ve updated the status of the tanks, so here goes.

Not really that much going on, but I did have to separate the borelli pair.  The male was becoming aggressive toward the female as he seemed to be guarding the older fry while she was watching the youngsters.  He is now in a 20L with all but one or two of the older fry.  Unfortunately, the youngest fry with the female seem to have disappeared.  Could be she ate them, I’m not sure.

Most of the other tanks are still business as usual, but I’m thinking of doing some major changes before winter arrives.  I would like to re-home quite a lot of fish, in order to do major tank cleaning and re-stock with fish I haven’t bred yet, maybe some a bit more challenging.

Also in the maintenance department, I have a canister filter coming this week to clean up and help polish the water.  I tend to feed a bit heavily, to bring fish into breeding condition and to assist in the growth of fry, and my sponge filters don’t help much with mechanical filtration. This will be an important addition.

I also visited a really neat fish store not so long ago, and got to meet the owner, Ned Bowers.  I met Ned what seems like a million years ago, when he operated out of a basement.  I saw a small ad in the back of Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazine at that time.  He had difficult to find fish even then.  I got out of the hobby for over 20 years and had no reason to re-visit, but now, I just HAD to see his store.

Now, Uncle Ned’s Fish Factory in Millis, MA  has over 103 community tanks in the front room, over 97 tanks in the African cichlid back room, and 16 large vats in the parking lot for goldfish, koi and pond plants in the summer.

Ned currently enjoys the Geophagus (eartheater) species, as they exhibit less aggressiveness than many cichlid species.  He is a personable and knowledgeable fish person, and I highly recommend a visit if you are in the area.  A fish for every taste!

Ok, last, but not least…the babies.  The Apistogramma sp. Pebas ‘morado’ fry number at least 30, and they are growing nicely.  At about 4-5 weeks old, the largest have reached about a half inch.  I expect them to start putting on size rapidly soon, as they start to be able to take a more varied diet.  I have begun to put ‘feelers’ out for sale in a couple of months and have found some interest.

The Apistogramma borelli ‘blue’ fry are about a week older, but are typically a slower growing fish.  Roughly 20 of them are doing very well, and like the others, I expect faster growth soon.  I’m sure the extra cleaning capability that the canister provides will help immensely.

On to the pictures!

5 wk old A. sp. Pebas ‘morado’ fry. Cute, huh?

6 wk old A. borelli ‘blue’ fry.  Love these guys, too!

Borelli fry with dad in the picture

Possibly the best pic yet of the male A.hongsloi ‘rostrich’.  No fry yet from this pair, although  I think the female laid eggs once.  Most likely she ate her first spawn (not unusual).  Hope they give me time to move some fry before they try again!

That’s all for this time.  Thanks for reading and have a fishy day!   Mark

Fascinating but sad…

Hello all!  Saw something rather amazing in one of the tanks yesterday, and felt I had to share it.  As you know if you’ve been following this blog, the Apistogramma borelli have both 5 week and maybe ten day old fry in their 10 gallon tank.  They have been good parents and the fry have been growing nicely.  As usual, the female has done most, if not all of the work herding and protecting the fry.

Yesterday I noticed the newest fry seemed to have abandoned the female and were schooling with their older siblings.  I thought that was pretty cool until I saw the female with one lone fry.  Unfortunately, this fry was dead.  I watched as she sucked it into her mouth and spit it out three times, seemingly looking for any movement.  When none occurred, she proceeded to take the fry into her mouth one last time, turn around and swim into her flowerpot cave, where she evidently deposited it.  She emerged seconds later with no sign of the dead baby.  As of today, she is still guarding the flowerpot while her other fry happily swim about with their brothers and sisters.

Not to anthropomorphize, but if fish have feelings, this fish was feeling rather sad.  I’ve never witnessed anything remotely like this, and my heart goes out to her loss of a single fry.  Thankfully, the others all seem to be doing well, in fact, I’m considering trying to net out the older fry to put them in a grow-out tank.

In the only other real news, the Apistogramma cacatuoides have also given me a bit of a surprise.  The female is nowhere to be found in the 10 gallon, and the male is diligently guarding the small horde of approximately two week old fry.  All I can think is that she has laid more eggs in a cave and will emerge when the fry are free-swimming like last time.  I wouldn’t have thought that two weeks would be long enough for new eggs to develop, but it must be so.  Unless the male just drove her away and stole the fry, which I doubt, as she was pretty fierce and seemingly quite able to keep him from them.  Still no developments from the Apistogramma hongsloi ‘rostrich’ tank, although female has been in breeding colors and in cave for quite some time now.  Maybe a good thing, as I only have one grow-out tank currently.  I NEED MORE TANKS!!!

Thanks for reading, and have a fishy day!    Mark

Female Apistogramma borelli ‘blue’ looking forlorn in her breeding dress

Short update and fry pictures!

Hi all!  As title says, not too much to say today.  I was fortunate to spend a couple of days with a very good friend and fellow veteran last weekend.  We stayed with a lovely couple he knows, the Kerrs, Aron and Beth.  They are in Deerfield, NH, and own a farm there.  Beth works with horses and Aron runs his own welding company.  They are extremely nice people and were very hospitable in sharing their lovely home.  We all attended the Deerfield Fair while we were there as well.  Loaded up on lots of food and saw many, many horses, goats and sheep.  Haven’t gone through those pictures yet, but may post a couple in the near future.

On to the tanks.  Things seem to be going well.  The female Apistogramma borelli ‘blue’ has week or so old fry in with the month olds.  She is guarding a handful of the new fry, while the others seem to be mixing with their older siblings.  Both parents seem tolerant.  Pretty cool in a 10 gallon tank!

The Apistogramma cacatuoides ‘orange’ are doing well.  Momma is a fierce protector and dad is still doing his job, keeping the evil Loreto tetras (all 4 of them!) at bay.  Babies not showing much growth yet, but they are less than 2 weeks old.

Most noticeable change is in the Apistogramma sp. pebas ‘morado’.  The fry are starting to put on some size at less than a month old, and I’ve even seen some territorial chasing as they pick their favorite spots in the tank.

Still no sign of fry from the Apistogramma hongsloi ‘rostrich’, although the female is colored up and has been in cave most of the time for what seems like over a week.  Keeping fingers crossed.

Bottom line…in the six occupied tanks,  I have fry in three, possibly soon four!  Now to raise them all up!  Until next time, I hope you’ve enjoyed the update and the baby pictures.   Have a great day.     Mark

Apistogramma sp. pebas ‘morado’ fry at about 3 weeks old

Baby Apistogramma borelli ‘blue’ at about 4 weeks old