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i brought what was labelled as
Apistogramma cacatuoides "Half-Orange" (male) about 2/3 weeks ago - the LFS said they are no longer stocking them so i never got a female.

i have since found a LFS stocking Apistogramma cacatuoides, but they are different to mine, the females are bright yellow in appearance, the males are twice the size mine is (mine about 1.5inches) they have bright red and black fins and tails, dark bodies with a line through middle
mine has dark colour body with line across middle with orange tail.

would it matter if i got a female from the LFS, or have they got a differet fish - don't want to risk it as they are £11 each.

i only paid £5 for my male.

Cheers shekoi

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

hi shekoi,

absolutely ok to go with a different female, assuming you're not interested in line-breeding. the males can get huge when well-looked after, my males are around the 3inch mark while the females are rarely half that size. and yellow is good - it means she's in breeding mode and therefore healthy. best to get 2 females per male if u can.

cheers for that - just making sure!

i'll try and get two females then, hopefully they will still be in the LFS.

anything need in tank to help breed them, all i have at the momment is lots of bogwood planted with java fern, and moss plus some anubias.

how long does it take for the males to reach the 3inch mark.

mine is about 1.5/2 inches at most, eating well both flake and live foods.


thanks again,

shekoi.

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

my males get huge pretty quick - say 2 months from purchase size, (around 1.5 inches). they get heaps of live food (at least once a day) and they're in a 6 foot tank...

re: breeding, i've had great success breeding them using camera film containers. that's right, the little black containers u buy film in... i just dip the containers in boiling water to sterilise them, puncture the base to let water flow through (just a few millimetres wide, not as an entry point for the fish) then set them up at about a 30 degree angle (mouth down) among the rocks so you can't even see them. the females can easily enter and protect that size container, and the male can squeeze in if he wants to, but is more likely to just fan his milt into the container with his fins anyway. i've had batch after batch hatch in these circumstances.

good luck!