Breeding Ap. similis and/or trfasciata

[Dan Woodland]

Has anyone had experience breeding Apsitogramma similis or trifasciata? I brought some back with me from Bolivia a few eeks ago so I'm starting to do some breeding research. Thanks in advance or your help.

[bantamweight1911]

I have sp. Mamore, which is a variant of Trifasciata.

I had 2 pairs, in adjacent 20 gallon tanks. The males spent ALL their time displaying to each other, forgetting about the females. So I moved 1 pair, putting the female with the largest male, and putting the male in another tank, not in view of the largets male.

I believe they bred shortly after that change. Everything I have seen so far is completely typical for Apistogramma, although I would say the female is less aggressive with the male than some species I have kept.

[Lab]

Hi Dan.

A. trifasciata should be pretty straight forward to breed, probably even in slightly alkaline water. The male is highly polygamous, so if given the option I would put 2-4 females with 1 male. This should work our in about a 30 gallon tank.

I don't know about A. similis.

Richard,
I will have to disagree that A. sp. "Rio Mamoré" is just a variant of A. trifasciata. There are several distinct differences between them. Only A. trifasciata has the third diagonal stripe running from the front of the anal fin to the pectoral fin. It is not as deep bodied as A. sp. "Rio Mamoré", and the brood dress of the females differ. A. trifasciata females show a full length lateral stripe when guarding fry while A. sp. "Rio Mamoré" females have a lateral spot (pretty much like the difference between A. gephyra and A. agassizii). The coloration of the pelvic fins are not the same either. Females A. trifasciata have a black edge marking all along the pelvics as opposed to the small black marking in the top of the pelvics on A. sp. "Rio Mamoré".
Besides A. sp. "Rio Mamoré" is a little more demanding to breed IME when it comes to soft and acid water.

[bantamweight1911]

Hi Lars,

I do not doubt any of your comments. What I meant was that they are classified as Trifasciata group - please correct me if I am wrong, I am far from an expert on our little friends.
I am also a bit of a 'lumper' and consider many fish to be the same species, that others would classify as different. For this reason, I considered Mamore to be a variant of Trifasciata, in that it is decended from that line.


I should have said, that I have Mamore, which is in the Trifasciata group ?
Sorry for the confusion, but also raises an interesting subject on the classification of Apistos (I am still trying to believe that Gephyra and Agassizi are completely different species, when some Gephyra are more like Agassizi and vice versa )

I'll try to get some pics of the brooding female Mamore

[Dan Woodland]

Hi Dan.

A. trifasciata should be pretty straight forward to breed, probably even in slightly alkaline water. The male is highly polygamous, so if given the option I would put 2-4 females with 1 male. This should work our in about a 30 gallon tank.

I don't know about A. similis.

Thanks Lars.

For A. Trifasciata what would be the best water parameters or set up? We caught them in areas ranging from stagnant leaf litter filled puddles to clear water with leaf litter. I ask because unfortunately, we did not have a test meter to obtain water parameters on the trip.

[Lab]

Hi Lars,

I do not doubt any of your comments. What I meant was that they are classified as Trifasciata group - please correct me if I am wrong, I am far from an expert on our little friends.
I am also a bit of a 'lumper' and consider many fish to be the same species, that others would classify as different. For this reason, I considered Mamore to be a variant of Trifasciata, in that it is decended from that line.


I should have said, that I have Mamore, which is in the Trifasciata group ?
Sorry for the confusion, but also raises an interesting subject on the classification of Apistos (I am still trying to believe that Gephyra and Agassizi are completely different species, when some Gephyra are more like Agassizi and vice versa )

I'll try to get some pics of the brooding female Mamore

He, he you're right. I'm definitely a splitter The two species are probably each other closest relatives (until now). I think you know a lot more than you give yourself credit for

Thanks Lars.

For A. Trifasciata what would be the best water parameters or set up? We caught them in areas ranging from stagnant leaf litter filled puddles to clear water with leaf litter. I ask because unfortunately, we did not have a test meter to obtain water parameters on the trip.

A fine sand bottom with lots of caves is the best. You can use half coconuts or pots for caves, but I prefer to use driftwood and let the fish dig out a cave or just use the natural holes. You could also use leaves if you like the look. Oak or beech leaves work out fine. Temperature should be set around 79 F to obtain sex ratio of about 50/50 (no guarantee!).

I you provide medium soft water with a PH around 7, they should do fine. If you don't succed, just try and lower your hardness and pH gradually. If you don't have liquid rock coming out of the pipes, start with what you have, and see if it works. I know of a guy locally who succesfully spawned them in our tap water with values of around pH 8, KH 15 and GH 22. But that was not wild caught fish...

Ingo Koslowski writes in his book "Die Buntbarsche Amerikas - Band 2: Apistogramma & co." of water values where it is found in the wild as follows: pH 4.5-7.6, conductivity 15-100 microsiemens/cm, KH <1-4, GH <1-2.

[bantamweight1911]

He, he you're right. I'm definitely a splitter The two species are probably each other closest relatives (until now). I think you know a lot more than you give yourself credit for

I am really more of a Geophagus and co keeper. I am currently running a little experiment, instead of just growing my young on in small tanks, I am adding a pair of Apistos

I have never kept many Apistos, and so therefore never studied them much. I have seen already however, that in general apist-keepers are more splitters than lumpers

My Apistogramma Gephyra (i.e. the Agassizi variant ) are in a tank with young Geophagus sp. Tapajos Red Head




sorry to go off topic.

The thing I have found most striking about Mamore is the opercular spot/line. I have been trying to get a picture of a female that may be brooding and showing this very well, but she is spending more and more time in her cave.

[bantamweight1911]

Apistogramma sp. Mamore female in brood colouration

[Dan Woodland]

Lars, thanks for the great information.

[Lab]

You're welcome.

I hope you succeed in breeding this amazing little dwarf