Breeding Appisto Borelli

[dandaman]

anyone ever bred them?
Are they hard to breed?
Anyone have any tips?
Thanks in advance,
Dan

[BigDaddy]

They are a pretty easy apisto to breed, and once they do, they breed regularly.

If you've bred cacs... you can breed borellii.

[Woody]

The convicts of the Apisto world, that' the way I would describe them when it comes to breeding. Frequent water changes, a good diet, and they will take care of the rest.
I just use fresh dechlorinated tap water, no altering, or filtering over peat. It took them a few times to get it right, the first few batches of eggs were infertile, but now that they have the hang of it, my pair spawn every seven to ten days.  Clutch size varies, they are usually around 40 or so fry but I actually had one spawn that  counted out at 123. I was amazed for the female is tiny, around an inch.
The fry are very slow growing, and you have to keep culling them for size. I have 1/2" fry and their counterparts are only 1/4".
I found the fry are delicate for the first six weeks. They require small first food, and the tank to be kept clean with regular partial water changes with equal water temperature.
I have had success with a huge handful of java moss in the aquarium, they stake out their own little bit of it and it keeps their bellies full eating off the infusoria.
I hatch a lot of my eggs artificially, and use disposable plastic tupperware containers to hatch eggs until the fry are free swimming, and with some species longer.  Through trial and error I did find that once the borelli's hatch, I have to dump them right away into an aquarium otherwise they will all perish. This happens even though I perform daily water changes and clean the bottom regular.

Good luck with them, and I know you'll enjoy them as much as I do.

Woody

[zapisto]

as everybody say it is an easy apisto to breed and maintain.
the problem i found is found a relatively good genus other than wild.

beside that i think woody answer you well.

Personnally i am not doing artificial hatch , i am against that when the fish can do it.

[pegasus]

..............
Personnally i am not doing artificial hatch , i am against that when the fish can do it.

This would be a nice debate for the club' meeting discussion period.... or another thread...hint hint.
Care to elaborate on it concerning Apistos?
I know what the books says... what about experiments done by breeders?

[zapisto]

..............
Personnally i am not doing artificial hatch , i am against that when the fish can do it.

This would be a nice debate for the club' meeting discussion period.... or another thread...hint hint.
Care to elaborate on it concerning Apistos?
I know what the books says... what about experiments done by breeders?

start the thread i am ready.

[dandaman]

Ok, if I want to breed them, how many males, and how many females do I need in my tank>?

[BigDaddy]

Geez dan.. do we have to go over the birds and the bees again?

See if a mommy and a daddy really love each other......    :lol:


Seriouly though... a pair is enough for a 10 gallon.  If you want to do a trio, you can... but you'd need a bigger tank and you'd have to watch aggresssion so the "lone" female doesn't get picked on too much.

[pegasus]

.......

Seriouly though... a pair is enough for a 10 gallon.  If you want to do a trio, you can... but you'd need a bigger tank and you'd have to watch aggresssion so the "lone" female doesn't get picked on too much.

Call me chauvinist... I still prefer 2 or 3 females to THE male. I don't know the Apisto male's preference.

[BigDaddy]

Usually, you are breeding apistos in a 20 x 10 or 24 x 12 tank.

Anything more than a trio in a 24 x 12 will be way too much aggression.  You'd wind up with no spawns, dead fish, or both!

[pegasus]

Meaning , the females are aggressive as the males? Not like the Africans?

[BigDaddy]

My females in a community tank will fight fish twice there size if it tries to go near an egg site.  They will also keep the male a good distance away too.

[Woody]

In my Apisto tanks the males dominate the aquarium until the female is with eggs or fry, then watch out, he's hiding, and she is mean. Nothing comes between them and their spawn.

Woody

[dandaman]

Can I just go out and buy a male and a female, or does it hve to be a breeding pair?
Dan
ps: Michel, you wouldn't have Tims list of fish that he has curently would you(from Montreal)?
Thanks in advance.

[BigDaddy]

Borellii aren't choosy about mates.  You can get a male and a female and have a pretty good chance at success.

[dandaman]

Ok, thanks all for the info.
By the way, has anyone seen the ones at superpet barhaven?
Are they healthy, nice colors ect.?
Thanks

[BigDaddy]

A couple of us on the forums have borellii spawning right now.

If you aren't in a rush, you can wait until they are old enough to sell.

I'll warn you though, borellii fry take a while to grow out.  Even at 3 months, they are still TINY!