Apistogramma Cacatuoides Question

rlr jhl

I got a male and female Apistogramma cacatuoides at 1 inch today for my 20 gallon. The male I got for a steal at $2 and he's a triple red. But he has yellow fins instead of red. Is this beacause he's so young? The female I got for $5. And at what size do these apistos start breeding (if they're compatible with each other)? And what's their growth rate (I mean like ex: 1day:X, 1week:X, 2weeks:X, 1 month, 2months:X all the way to 1 year.

Byron

Apistogramma cacatuoides is one of the few dwarf cichlids from South America than does well in basic, harder water. It's natural habit is the Rio Ucayali basin in Peru, in waters that have a pH between 7 and 8 with a moderate hardness of 12 dGH. An easy spawner if conditioned with good food and in a relaxed aquarium environment. Standing branches and floating plants will help to calm the fish, and dither fish should be present. [Dither fish are small fish like shoaling tetras that suit the same water parameters and will also provide a sense of security for the cichlids which otherwise could be shy and retiring.]

Males reach 8 cm (just over 3 inches), females 5 cm (2 inches). The attached photo is the Triple Red male. "Red" can mean many things from reddish-orange to red. Colours may be dependent on the locality of the fish, and can also be contingent on foods, so a good diet of nourishing prepared foods and frozen will probably help.

More info here: http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/Apistogr...acatuoides.php

Attached Images

Apistogramma cacatuoides triple red male.jpg (24.9 KB, 22 views)

beetlebz

I had apistos in my 29g before it crashed (for the billionth time :P ) and I can say from experience the colors from fish to fish can vary radically. the colors can change some from juvie to full grown, but its entirely possible he was bred to be a triple red and just... has some yeller in him :)

i never had any that I kept from fry, but mine seemed to grow relatively slow. Id guess about a year from 1.25 to full grown is what I would call average in my experiences, maybe a little less.

oh and i almost forgot, I had a pair (that i think we determined to be resticulosa) that didnt breed till just about full grown. after breeding my male promptly harassed my female to death. actually, it was JUST after i shipped all the fry to herefishy :P grumble grumble.