Dwarf Pictures

[bantamweight1911]

Some recent pics of new additions to my fish house. Sorry that some are repeated from other threads


Candidi pair


'Dutch' Rams breeding


Apistogramma - Male no 2 (beta male)


Apistogramma - Male no 1 , purchased as same species as male no 2. Comments please.


Apistogramma Hongsloi male, in a cloudy tank (sand)


Apistogramma sp Rio Mamore

[Lab]

Hi Richard,

Gorgeous fish

You seem to have two different species there, although closely related. Male no. 1is Apistogramma agassizii.
No. 2 could be A. gephyra based on the number of spots and more narrow white margin in the tail. I have never seen it with a two coloured tail though.
I will try and look it up tomorrow. If,by any chance, these fish are wildcaught, do you happen to know the locality?

[bantamweight1911]

Hi Lars,

I purchased a total of 5 fish. They were sold to me as Apist. Gephyra. Wild caught.

The main reason for sowing these 2 males was that they are clearly not the same fish. I have 1 male of the ??Agassizi?? and 2 of the Gephyra.

I have no doubt that the 2 males are Gephyra, and in fact the odd male does look a lot like a colour variant of Gephyra I see in Band 2.
I have 2 females, too small to breed at the moment. It may be easier to determine the species once I get them to breeding size.
I dont know the catch locality. I could maybe find out,, eventually, but I doubt it would be accurate enough to add anything to the identification of geographically close species

[langosh]

Hallo Richard,

No. 2 is definitely Ap. gephyra http://www.israquarium.co.il/Fish/Apist ... phyra.html . No. 1 looks like Ap. agassizii "blue-white" to me http://www.israquarium.co.il/Fish/Apist ... sizii.html .

Roman

[bantamweight1911]

Hi Roman,

Yes, I have no doubt about 2 of the males being Gephyra.

the 1st male however, does not have a pointed caudal,,,,,,

I dont really mind which they are, but I owuld like to know what the females are lol,,, so what I may do, is let the females put on some size, then put them all together in a large tank, and then let the females choose which are their males

I can of course then confirm the species of the females by their brood colouration.

I hope,,
lol

[Lisachromis]

I dont really mind which they are, but I owuld like to know what the females are lol,,, so what I may do, is let the females put on some size, then put them all together in a large tank, and then let the females choose which are their males

And what if the females are a totally different (but related) species? They may choose a male that's available rather than the correct one for them.

[Lab]

And what if the females are a totally different (but related) species? They may choose a male that's available rather than the correct one for them.

It is possible to tell the females apart between these 2 species. Females of gephyra in threat display will show the lateral band in its full length while on females of agassizii the band will be reduced more or less to a lateral spot.

There is a some what similar but more discrete difference between the males of the two species. The males of gephyra threaten with a full length lateral band while agassizii males will become paler in the lateral band between the lateral spot and the caudal peduncle.

As I understand the two species there is almost a gradual transition between them. These are definitely not the easiest to tell apart. The polymorphic males doesn't help with that either.

All experiments with apistos has shown that even if they are virtually undistinguishable for the human eye, the fish has no problem telling each other apart. But of course they can settle for less if a mate of their own kind is not available.

As I remember it (please correct me if I'm wrong) the first breeding experiences with A. sp. "Tefé" differed very much. Some people found it medium demanding and made it breed quite easily, but others found it almost impossible to breed. As it turned out the other group had gotten fish from a shipment that contained "Tefé" males, but unfortunately agassizii females. I think some of them was below pH 4 in their attempts to breed it

[bantamweight1911]

Re: Dwarf Pictures
by Lab on Mon Sep 10, 2007 5:53 pm

Lisachromis wrote:
And what if the females are a totally different (but related) species? They may choose a male that's available rather than the correct one for them.


It is possible to tell the females apart between these 2 species. Females of gephyra in threat display will show the lateral band in its full length while on females of agassizii the band will be reduced more or less to a lateral spot.

Thats exactly what I meant.

I will put the 3 males, in with the 2 females. When they breed, if the female shows a complete lateral band (which they should) then that confirms they are Gephyra.

It also confirms the male they have bred with isGephyra. In any case I know at least 2 of the males are Gephyra.

I actually think that they are all Gephyra. The male that is questionable looks like a picture in the Band 2 book, Gephyra. I notice 2 things
The male threatens with a solid black lateral band, and this even extends weel into his caudal.
The male's caudal is rounded, as is the band, which is in turn spotted inside the band,, al traits of Gephyra I think.

I'll get some more pics up,, its a very interesting topic I think,,, especially as they all came in together.

Richard

[langosh]

Well,
I made some inquiries and I think I got close - Ap. cf. gephyra (Rio Curuá) A232 according to Ingo Koslowski South American Dwarf Cichlids http://www.datz.de/Vorlagen/Webapp/Cach ... _30080.PDF
Roman

[bantamweight1911]

Hi,

When I said originally, it looked like a picture in Band 2,,, that is the exact same picture (only larger )

My problem is,,, I seem to have 2 regional variants of Gephyra,,,,,, so what are the 2 females I have ??

The females are very small,, and could even possiblly be males,, we will see.


btw - the female Hongsloi has buried herself inside a plant pot, completely closing the entrance. They shoud be hatching tonight.

[apistomaster]

Bantam,
Nice little "grab bag" of SA Dwarfs you bought.
Don't know if the T. candidi were part of the deal but the pair in your photo look good. I have to get some one of these days and see if I can raise any.

[bantamweight1911]

Grab bag??

Some of the pictures are old. some of the pictures are from an import I made recently.

Unfortunately we dont have fish like these in England

The Candidi actually came from 2 sources, as 1 only had males. So I have had the males longer.

[bantamweight1911]

I wanted to get a picture of the female Hongsloi in brood colour, but she isnt coming out, and has walled herself in. Her colour was amazing. I guess I'll have to wait a few more days.

I normally keep larger fish, but after adding some new tanks, I am using my gor out tanks for dwarfs at the moment.

A couple more,,

Apisto. Agassizi double red. Looks more like orange to me, but a nice fish if you dont mind the fact that it is a little man made.



A young male? Nannacara Adoketa



And a pair of Pseudocrenilabrus Nicholsi. They bred in a tank with a breeding group (7 inch) of Geophagus Pindare, and some wild altums.


I was really dissapointed, when I went to get my camera to photograph them breeding, I found my battery dead,,,,,, so I will have to wait till next time.

[apistomaster]

Grab bag??

Some of the pictures are old. some of the pictures are from an import I made recently.

Unfortunately we dont have fish like these in England

The Candidi actually came from 2 sources, as 1 only had males. So I have had the males longer.

OP: "Some recent pics of new additions to my fish house. Sorry that some are repeated from other threads"

I took your original post literally. You said, "recent pics of new additions to my fish house." Then displayed a variety of different species. I don't read minds so I go by what is written and shown. No photo said this is from long ago. Just that it may have been posted in another thread. It seems to me you were specific then turn around and say essentially I don't have these fish or they are from long ago etc. What do you expect us to do? Read between the lines and see what you meant but did not actually say in your OP? I guess I will consider your material to be a little cryptic and let it go. I only tried to pay you a compliment but I guess if you don't have these fish none is deserved.

[bantamweight1911]

what was that post all about????

LOL!!!!


They are all my pics, all my fish, from 3 different 'additions' all quite recent, but not 'grab bag',,, although I am still not sure what that meant. If you were suggesting I just grabbed a load of fish I can assure you that is not the case. I set up 2000 litres of new tanks, and decided to try a few dwarfs, as I am really a novice with dwarfs and have found them actually a lot more fun than I expected.


My comment that some are old, is a little misleading, some are weeks old, some are days old.

I only tried to pay you a compliment but I guess if you don't have these fish none is deserved.

the main reason for my post was following a request on another post for more pics, and also to seek advice on Gephyra, which has been well answered by other people more knowledgable than myself.

so please keep the comments relevent to the post, thanks.

[apistomaster]

"grab bag" is just an expression meaning "assortment" in the context. Not as a negative, Richard. Or as in "eclectic". I used it in conjunction with the word "nice" ie. Nice dwarf cichlids of different Genera, from different continents and having different breeding habits. That seemed to offend when it was originally meant as a compliment. Maybe it means something bad in England I am not aware of and was not being culturally sensitive enough out of ignorance. If so, I apologize.

[bantamweight1911]