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Hola, I bought the apisto. pandurini on wednsday. (1 male 2 female) Let me start off by saying that they are AMAZING! They look so beautyfull. They are also have some of the most personality that I have ever seen in a fish. Every time i walk by the tank they come to say hello. Their colors have gotten brighter over the past two days, and seemed to adjust VERY easily. My only worry is that one of the females is getting bullied a substantial ammount. I see no eggs bieng guarded and its mostly the other female. The male will get nippy but mostly ignores her. Should I get another female to disperse the aggression or moove her?

Thanks for everything. [/img]

well
it can never hurt to put another female in the flock

or even
some more dither fish
such as guppys or tetras

at least
I suggest you add more plants and / or caves for hiding

apistos have 3 dimensional territories
so maybe some vertical structure

Its DENSLY planted, I also have a elevate area area in the tank (6-7" higher) and a LARGE ammount of hornwort floating at the top. They seem to be looking for her. Its wierd, and the completely ignore my tetras but i do only have 3 of them.

3 panduro
5 otto
4 amano shrimp
2 neon tetra
1 rummynose
3 golden wonder killi with fry
2 bushynose pleco

I thought it was prety well stocked should i get more tetras and another female?

sure !

2 neon and 1 rummy is hardly a school

Just out of curiosity what would be a good ammount as far as fish stocking would go? I dont want to overstock the tank but i dont realy know what overstocking would be. Ive heard one inch of fish per gallon but I am also aware that that phraze is EXTREMELY subjective. I guess my main concern is that I know that the pandas are fairly sensative and i dont realy want to push the envelope with them. Thanks again for all your help.

Just out of curiosity what would be a good ammount as far as fish stocking would go?
everything is relative, so it is a hard question

I dont want to overstock the tank but i dont realy know what overstocking would be. Ive heard one inch of fish per gallon but I am also aware that that phraze is EXTREMELY subjective.
well, there are 1 inch fish that weigh 1 ounce
and there are 1 inch fish that weigh 0.10 ounce
so I stock a tank by guessing the weight of the fish
not the length
so 4 adult eartheaters = maybe 200 cardinal tetras
...I would say a good Apistogramma set up might be 5 or 6 Apistos
and 24 tetras and 5 cory cats, in about a 25 gallon tank...
if you want to breed them and raise a good number of fry to sell,
it would be best after a pair forms, to move the pair to their own 15 gallon tank with no other fish, just lots of plants and caves

I guess my main concern is that I know that the pandas are fairly sensative and i dont realy want to push the envelope with them.
I wouldn't say sensitive
...for maintenance purposes
I'd just give them about pH 7 water, about 77 degrees, and frequent feedings of a wide variety of small foods...
for breeding purposes,
I'd seperate a pair or trio to their own small tank,
cut the tapwater with rainwater or RO water maybe 50% or more,
let the pH fall to 5 or 6, and feed lots of live foods

out of the blue last week my male pandurini looked sick. everyone else in the tank looked great. i noticed that the anal area of the fish looked red. not sure why, or what would do this. ive been feeding them frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp. i have had this happen before with a tripple red. they WILL NOT eat flake food. not even the omega stuff.
ph 6.5
nitrate 0
nitrite 0
gh 50-75 (thats what the strip says)
kh 40
weekly water changes so 30%
and i was wondering if its the food, the female looks great. i just dont want to keep buying fish nd not be giving them the propper care. Thanks Justin

hmmm
not sure
we are expecting some special parasite medication on friday if you want to try it

I am happy to say that one of the new males and female has sequestired a piece of driftwood. The male seems to be very laxadazie in his guarding of the wood but the female is VICIOUS! I have managed to get all the fish out of the tank but one sae (that punk is fast) and i have left 2 of the shrimp in the tank. I cant tell if there are actually eggs just because i dont want to disturb the log, but she is showing all the familiar signs. Her color is almos smiley face yellow, its the most amazing thing ive ever seen. Should I avoid water changes or just keep up with the norm of tank maintainence? Any other tips would be greatly appriciated. Thanks, Justin

in this case I would
NOT
change the water

are they like other apistos, meaning do they breed every 3-4 weeks or so?

possibly
every 4 weeks

Ned/Sam

Hi guys so the pandurin pair is now in a planted 20g tank with 1 ghost shrimp. I know you said that nothing should be in there but the male beats up the female if he has nothing else to chase. My main question is the have spawned 3 maby 4 times now and the fry have yet to be hatched? My question is what am i doing wrong? Could the male be unfertile, or do they just need alot of practice like bolivians, and blue rams? Every website says they are usually GREAT parents. Could it be the shrimp stressing them out? All the same water conditions
ph 6.5
nitrate 0
nitrite 0
gh 50-75 kh 40
weekly water changes 30%
Sorry for all the questions, thanks

try doing 50% - 80% water change
with RO, Distilled, or Rain water ...about 73 degrees F

set aquarium heater for 78 degrees F

...then change NO water for 8 weeks

(water changes are for growing young fish,
often changing water is not good for a breeding pair)

possible
but unlikely
male not fertile

what are you feeding?

your female is well nourished enough to lay eggs
but
is your male well nourished enough to fertilize eggs?

frozen bloodworms, frozen brine shrimp, every once in a while live brine, some flake but not often maby once a week. I mix it up alot the heater is at 80 cant get it to go any lower. its on low. you think that might be it?