# apisogramma agassizi flame red advice



## apistolover2010 (Apr 18, 2010)

has anyone had any experience with apistogramma agassizi flame red,i bought a pair from my lfs and would love to breed them,need some advice on how to do this  also how do i tell if they have paired off?????? my set up is 3 foot 85litre tank,fluval 105,heater,bogwood,loads of plants,c02 system and few other fish any replys would be most appriciated thanks


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## HiImSean (Apr 5, 2007)

i've heard the trick to breeding apistos is low conductivity, low ph and temps about 78-80F
this is also a good link
http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/Good_habitat.php


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

What are the other fish?


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## Cvurb (Apr 12, 2010)

Have at least three caves, and make sure that the water hardness is low, the pH is acidic (~6.0-6.5 IMO) and have the temps around 80F.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

one of the best ever breeding setups I've ever had with aggies was a 20g long tank with a trio, a dinner plate (great tip from Aspen) and a flower pot with a very tiny hole in it only large enough for the female. The dinner plate allowed non-breeding females to swim "away" from anyone they needed to simply by swimming around and around and around :lol:

Even in a display tank, that principle can be applied. Make sure the bog wood allows for line of sight breaks, the tank mates won't eat eggs or fry, and that the female can "escape" from the male and vice versa after the eggs and fry show up.

Flame red is often a name given to captive bred/ line bred aggies so I doubt you have to go nuts on pH or soft water. Probably any old pH below 7.7 and soft-ish water will do. GH and KH should be around 4ppm or so...

other than that... add good food!


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## Cvurb (Apr 12, 2010)

Yah Number6 I like the dinner plate Idea. And I second the good food. Frozen Blood worms are good for plumping them up, and getting the females full of eggs. I prefer frozen over live in worms because of parasites.


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## apistolover2010 (Apr 18, 2010)

Thanks for the advice everyone ill use the dinner plate idea,the other fish I have in the tank are 3 green corydoras'pair of pearl gourami,10 neon tetras albino bristlenose and 2 zebra loach which I added to sort out a snail problem which did work thank god,I'm currently feeding them frozen bloodworm on a morning and flake food on a night,any advice on a good quality dry food


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Blood worm is about the worst thing you can feed apistos. Blackworms, mosquito larvae, brine shrimp, mysis shrimp are all good.


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## Cvurb (Apr 12, 2010)

Really? And why are blood worms the worst thing to feed them?


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Becuase the chitinous casing of bloodworms does not breakdown too readily in the apistos gut. We have a small community of avid apisto keepers here in Australia, one of the members lost a number of apistos and took the bodies to a vet friend of his for autopsy. The vet described the gut contents as it was like finding a biuld up of fibre glass in there.

Not one of the avid apisto keepers here feed bloodworm any more. You will also find many people on Apistogramma Forums dislike bloodworms. But they also dislike blackworms, while everyone here in Oz uses them.

Here's a good link for best food for apistos?.


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

DeadFishFloating said:


> ... and took the bodies to a vet friend of his for autopsy. The vet described the gut contents as it was like finding a biuld up of fibre glass in there.


You guys have vets that are fish instead of people down there? Coolbeans!!! How do you get past the language barrier? 

Interesting on the bloodworms though. Would make that apisto/dwarf pike tank much more difficult though to feed though ... hmmm ...


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

What are you smoking *dwarfpike*? :? I don't follow your interpretation.


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## firetiger (Mar 3, 2010)

:lol: I don't see it either.


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## Cvurb (Apr 12, 2010)

Lol Dwarf Pike... Amazing imagination!

*DeadFishFloating* so should I stop feeding my fish bloodworms, and try to get blackworms?


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## apistolover2010 (Apr 18, 2010)

Also the male is now chasing the female away and she is hiding behind the powerhead of my external filter is this normal


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

What you feed is up to you. Check out the link I provided, plenty of information there.

You may need some more structures and plants in your tank for your female to be able to avoid the attention of the male. Fish hiding high up behind aquarium equipment is usually a sign of not enough hiding spots in the tank. As has been mentioned, a couple of small caves really should be added.


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

*chuckles* Sorry, tis my english wordplay coming into effect.

A human preforms a necropsy on animals, autopsy on a human. For it to be a 'fish autopsy', the vet would have had to been a fish.

All autopsies are necropsies, but not all necropsies are autopsies. :thumb:


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## apistolover2010 (Apr 18, 2010)

I'm not sure I can fit anymore caves in there,there are 6 coconut shells and various rockwork structures I built up ready for their arrival,room for more plants though any suggestions anyone


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## Cvurb (Apr 12, 2010)

6 Coconut Caves is really good! You should try to squeeze a couple plants in there, maybe a amazon sword, they don't take up that much ground space, but fluff out.


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## apistolover2010 (Apr 18, 2010)

Yeah went to lfs today and got 4 amazon swords and purchased some riccia off ebay just for a bit of coverage on the ground my amano shrimp will be happier that's for sure,


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## Cvurb (Apr 12, 2010)

So when are you getting them?


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## apistolover2010 (Apr 18, 2010)

within 10-15 days,i know its a long time but no retailers near where i live sell it,thank god for the internet


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## Cvurb (Apr 12, 2010)

So are your buying them online? Or your fish store?


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## apistolover2010 (Apr 18, 2010)

I'm getting them from a shop on ebay


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## apistolover2010 (Apr 18, 2010)

Woo hoo my apisto flame reds have spawned after being in my tank a week,out of all the places they could have laid the eggs they decided on a luxury crack in a big piece of bogwood,would it be ok to feed fry newly hatched brineshrimp yeeeaaahhhh good times


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## Cvurb (Apr 12, 2010)

Nice! And yes you can feed them baby brine shrimp. 
Wait? Are these the ones you just got? I thought you would not be getting them for 10-15 days...


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## mlancaster (Jul 24, 2009)

*Cvurb*, I think *apistolover2010* was referring to his Ricca plants for the 10-15 days of shipping. The apistos were already in the tank. Correct me if i am wrong *apistolover2010*.

Thanks,
Matt


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## apistolover2010 (Apr 18, 2010)

Yeah that's right ,its the riccia I'm waiting for. Matt,got the brineshrimp on the go gos somore coconut caves and some bogwood off there earlier in the week


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## Cvurb (Apr 12, 2010)

Oh ok... That was confusing...  Are they wigglers yet?


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## apistolover2010 (Apr 18, 2010)

****, the female and the male are swimming around the tank again with no sign of the fry whats gone wrong!!!! i bet my bristlenose has ate the eggs,possiblities any1?


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## Cvurb (Apr 12, 2010)

Or maybe the parents ate them...


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## middlearth (Dec 30, 2009)

dwarfpike said:


> A human preforms a necropsy on animals, autopsy on a human. For it to be a 'fish autopsy', the vet would have had to been a fish.
> 
> All autopsies are necropsies, but not all necropsies are autopsies. :thumb:


That's hilarious, dwarfpike! Good one! :lol:


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