Will Apistogramma Breed In These Conditions

[Seal36]

I have had my pair of apistogramma for a year now and they have never laid any eggs. They defend there own territory, the female colours up and goes into a cave but then they never lay any eggs and the male stops showing interest when the female colours up.

The water parameters are
Nitrate 10ppm (comes out of tap like this )
Nitrite 0ppm
Ammonia 0ppm
Ph 7.6


Thanks for any help from Tom

 

[Malex530]

Add some driftwood or an almond leaf or 2! As for the nitrates try to keep them at 0. Add a piece of floating hornwort, it should help. The ph should be about 6.0 for them to feel comfortable and breed. Hope i helped! good luck! 

 

[Primous]

I was going to search your posts to see which apistogramma you had but your sig states you have the most common apisto which I believe is where your problem is. Your stats are fine. The PH as long as it's stable is in my experience irrelevant when it comes to breeding apistos. But like malex530 said I, personally, would work on the bringing the nitrate down to zero. I thought you had a pair/trio of a species which is more choosy in terms of their mates such as the A Nijsseni .But you have cacs and unfortunately they have been bred and morphed so many times that there are increasing reports of cacs simply not breeding with the suspicion that the male is sterile.
 
To be sure I'd start feeding them NLS with garlic after a 5 day course of live food. If after a month they still haven't bred then unfortunately it's unlikely they ever will.

 

[Seal36]

Thats a real shame about the apistogramma cacatuoides being bred so much that they sometimes wont breed together. What does NLS stand for and also my apistogramma have had frozen live food for about 3 months now, so i don't think it will happen between them then. Are apistogramma Panduro picky when it comes to choosing mates and if they are what other species of apistogramma are colourful and not picky with partners. Also I have got my nitrate down to 0 from Tom

 

[Primous]

panduros are picky or at least they can be. In all honesty the more picky the better. In my humble opinion avoid cacs and agazzizi (spelling) or any apisto that has more than one variation ie double red/triple red/red flash etc etc. There are a bunch of apistos that I'd consider gorgeous but your best bet would be to research. I just updated a journal with my community apisto (very poor pics i'm afraid.)
 
NLS stands for "New Life Spectrum."

 

[Seal36]

Thank you very much for your help. So do you think that my apistogramma won't pair up as they have been in the tank for over a year and been on frozen food for at least 3 months. I do like panduro but might see what my las has in a see if they would swap a 2 apistos for 2 different apistogramma from Tom
Also should I get a trio this time 1 male and 2 female as see which ones pair up. this is only if I don't see a pair already formed at the shop or should I get a trio anyway.The tank is a 110 litre heavily planted tank with a floor space of 80cm long 36cm deep 45cm high thanks for the help from Tom

 

[Primous]

Your tank as described should be perfect for apistos. And yes, a trio would be best just place a small cave (I use small vases) at either end so each female has their own territory. This will make them less competitive but they will remain jealous of each other and as a result eager to breed. I just witnessed a smaller female steal an egg from another female and place it in a little pit she had spent a good half hour digging at the back of the tank. Making the actual theft more of a planned heist. 
 
Panduros are gorgeous too but the spawn yield/number of eggs laid is a lot lower, roughly 20 or so as opposed to 50-100 most other apistos are capable of
 
Here are some other suggestions...
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFS7hVzB0Mw
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjlAgXP5DDM
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LyWuBr6fbg
 
Your best bet would be to look into which one you like most and then try to get your nearest lfs to order them in so that you can make a selection yourself. Good luck.

 

[Seal36]

I have attached a picture of my fish tank as I want to make sure that it is defiantly suitable for a trio of apistogramma. You can see that there is two coconut cages one on each side of the tank. One of them could also make a cave in the rock in the centre and there is a piece of wood that one could go under. Also I will be replacing the plant on the righthand side so that will be more heavily planted and thank you very
much for the videos will take a good look at them from Tom

 

[Primous]

I saw your other thread and figured I'd copy and reply here seeing as it's pretty much related.
 

 

I have been talking with some members on the forum and my apistogramma cacatuoides have been with me for over a year now and have been on frozen live food for at least 3 months and the female comes into breeding condition but she does not make a nest and the male shows no interest in her. So we have decided that they wont mate which is why i got them in the first place.
 
i have had a look in my lfs today and they have
 
Banded Apistos
Apistogramma Panduro
Apistogramma macmasteri 
 
my questions are what ones are easier to get to breed and should i get a pair or a trio as i have a 80cm long 110 litre tank with 4 caves in. If there is anything else you think i should know please tell me and also if you have

 
If you want to breed them to sell then of the three banded would probably make you the most money. And please forgive me if this sounds harsh but your approach is a little off. And by that I mean when it comes to apistos you should really take a minute to research. Because in doing so you will come across a species you simply have to have and that is always better than just seeing what the local lfs has in stock. After all if, you've waited a year a week or two for the lfs to order in that "must have" apisto will for want of a better word "feel" better. That said the banded apisto or the macs would be better than the panduro in terms of spawn yield. Also, if the lfs has had these in store for sometime then it's possible the best specimens are gone and you should probably wait for a new shipment. Be careful the banded apisto is actually a bitaeniata and not a trifasciata because the latter is the only apisito I've kept that murdered females by being relentlessly aggressive. Also the macs have several naturally occurring variations. Some are red, others yellow. I posted a pic to my journal of a red mac.
 
With the right trio the tank could work but personally I'd consider a rescape two create two very distinct territories. Again, a poor example is in my journal. 

 

[Seal36]

Don't worry I research all my fish and won't just go out and get one as it looks "pretty". I'm not looking for them to have loads of babies just a few really so that I don't have loads to try and sell on. I was thinking of getting the apistogramma panduro as they don't have big batches of eggs. I agree with the waiting for the new shipment as they only had 2 pairs of panduro in. I have only just rescaped my tank and don't want to do it again so I guess I will have to go for a pair rather than a trio of the panduro. If I did try and put a trio in as my tank is what do you think would happen. Also the thing is that the banded and macmasteri are very expensive with the banded being £50 a pair and the macmasteri being £39 where as the panduro is only £25. If I was to get a trio it would be very expensive for the banded and macmasteri from Tom

 

[Primous]

Ahh yes, the rising price of apistos. Whatever price is best suited to you is probably the way to go. If it is a panduro take some time to select the pair yourself because as I stated earlier panduro fall into whats know as the "Nijsseni complex" which basically means they have to choose each other. If they breed, resist the urge to look inside or disturb the cave because the female will eat the fry at any perceived danger. I myself have lost spawns for being too inquisitive...
 
Panduros will produce 20-30 fry. You'll need somewhere to put them and extra filtration. You can make a diy filter for around £10-15 but that's another thread. You'll also need to remove the gouramies, cory cats, rummy noses, and perhaps your neons too. All of them will feast on newly emerged fry. The rummynose tetras will turn into a wolf pack. Best way to remove them is after a blackout of a few hours on day 5-6 of the spawn so they are all disorientated and you spend as little time as possible catching them. You should make a journal when you get them...

 

[Seal36]

I have decided that I'm going to keep the apistogramma cacatuoides because although they are not breeding I think it's better for the tank as I don't want them constantly attacking my Cory's and other fish when they go into breeding mode from Tom