I am looking to start breeding apisto's. I currently have some agasizzis.
I also have blue rams. Both species are healthy in my tanks. I have heard
that agasizzi are harder to breed than others. what would be some species
of apistos that would be best to start off with. I have been successful
with kribs. Water parameters are pH 6.8, KH 3, and GH 7 using peat water.
Tap water is 8.2, KH 7, and GH 10. I have tried breeding the rams for the
past weeks, but so far no luck.

"Mike" ..
I am looking to start breeding apisto's. I currently have some agasizzis.
I also have blue rams. Both species are healthy in my tanks. I have heard
that agasizzi are harder to breed than others. what would be some species
of apistos that would be best to start off with. I have been successful
with kribs. Water parameters are pH 6.8, KH 3, and GH 7 using peat water.
Tap water is 8.2, KH 7, and GH 10. I have tried breeding the rams for the
past weeks, but so far no luck.

With those water parameters A. cacatuoides would be hard to beat
beyond the A. aggasizzi. Get a group of one male to three or four
females, plunk them in a 20long or so with good water, good foods and
plenty of hiding spots and its hard to get them to stop spawning.

My first was A. cf. eunotus Orangeschwanz, pretty fish, also very easy
to work with. Any of the whitewater Apistos would probably be a good
bet. You might also get away with A. sp. carapintada and A. borelli.
Stay away from the nijsenni complex species, such as A. panduro, A.
sp. Inca, A. payaminonis, A. nijsenni.. as these are quite aggressive
fish and require pH's near 5 and under to trigger breeding in most
cases. Also stay away from the blackwater species like A.
diplotaenia, A. elizabethae and possibly A. bitaeniata (although its
easier to get tank bred specimens of the bitaeniata, and these usually
aren't so fussy with their water.)

Check out http://www.aquabotanic.com/complex.html. This lists the
species of Apistos (not all are shown in this article since its old)
by complex. If you stay within the regani complex of fish it's hard
to get anything that are very hard to maintain or to breed.

Good luck!
Sarah

Do you think The A. Agasizzi would be successful in my water?
"Samala" wrote in message
om...
"Mike" ..
I am looking to start breeding apisto's. I currently have some
agasizzis.
I also have blue rams. Both species are healthy in my tanks. I have
heard
that agasizzi are harder to breed than others. what would be some
species
of apistos that would be best to start off with. I have been successful
with kribs. Water parameters are pH 6.8, KH 3, and GH 7 using peat
water.
Tap water is 8.2, KH 7, and GH 10. I have tried breeding the rams for
the
past weeks, but so far no luck.

With those water parameters A. cacatuoides would be hard to beat
beyond the A. aggasizzi. Get a group of one male to three or four
females, plunk them in a 20long or so with good water, good foods and
plenty of hiding spots and its hard to get them to stop spawning.

My first was A. cf. eunotus Orangeschwanz, pretty fish, also very easy
to work with. Any of the whitewater Apistos would probably be a good
bet. You might also get away with A. sp. carapintada and A. borelli.
Stay away from the nijsenni complex species, such as A. panduro, A.
sp. Inca, A. payaminonis, A. nijsenni.. as these are quite aggressive
fish and require pH's near 5 and under to trigger breeding in most
cases. Also stay away from the blackwater species like A.
diplotaenia, A. elizabethae and possibly A. bitaeniata (although its
easier to get tank bred specimens of the bitaeniata, and these usually
aren't so fussy with their water.)

Check out http://www.aquabotanic.com/complex.html. This lists the
species of Apistos (not all are shown in this article since its old)
by complex. If you stay within the regani complex of fish it's hard
to get anything that are very hard to maintain or to breed.

Good luck!
Sarah

"Mike"...
Do you think The A. Agasizzi would be successful in my water?

I can't see why not. I've had aggasizzi do well in very similar
conditions. They aren't to breed in my experience.

Sarah

Mike..

Sorry about that! They aren't too HARD to breed in my experience.
As far as leaving the pair together: it honestly depends on what
size tank we're talking here. Anything over 15 gallons and I'd say
DEFINITELY leave them together. Apisto's are usually fabulous little
parents, and their breeding behavior is one of the main reasons people
get into them. A ten gallon tank is iffy, a five gallon would be a
definite female-only situation.

As far as breeding tips, I can't offer too much. I've just started
with Apistos about a year ago myself. I find that feeding good food
(whiteworms, blackworms, mosquito larvae, daphnia, balanced pelleted
foods), doing plenty of water changes, and being patient is all you
need to get these fish in the mood. Sure, that's more work than a lot
of fishes, but, they're worth it.

If you haven't read anything on it already, look into getting a few
dither fish.. pencilfish work the best in my experience. And check
out http://www.thekrib.com/Apisto if you haven't already for more
info. Good luck with them!! Soon you'll be overwhelmed with fry
and will be ordering the newest species from faraway places, I can
tell.

One last thing, I suggest joining the Apisto mailing list. There are
loads of people there who can give you far better info/advice than I.

To subscribe to this list, send the following command
to , on a line by itself in the body,
not subject of an email
subscribe apisto

Sarah

Thanks for the help. Did you mean to say that aggasizzi are not hard or
easy to breed. I think you left out a word in your sentence. Do you remove
the male after breeding or keep him in. Any other breeding tips you can
give me for aggasizzi or caucitoides?
"Samala" wrote in message
om...
"Mike"...
Do you think The A. Agasizzi would be successful in my water?

I can't see why not. I've had aggasizzi do well in very similar
conditions. They aren't to breed in my experience.

Sarah