Apisto. Bitaeniata

[freshfishies]

Does anyone have any advice on getting these guys to breed? I picked up a pair from BA innes, they are looking good, but haven't shown any interest in each other yet. Mind you I think they are young.
I have them in a quiet, low populated, heavily planted 30 gallon.
Any suggestions on cave preferences. etc?
Thanks!

[fischkopp]

Shouldn't be too hard. Just let them and keep up with the water changes, and they will do their thing. Anything that looks like a cave will be used. In most cases any cavities created by wood arrangements wil be used. Cool is also if you see them spawn in leaf litter, a very natural thing.

A. bitaeniatea are really nice ones, show lots of colour. Which colour strain did you get?

[bizfromqc]

Those are really neat Apistos. You should post pictures of them 

Do you know if BA got them from a local breeder?

[freshfishies]

Okay sounds simple enough!...kind of like Kribensis. Thanks Robert!

I'm not 100% on what strain they are, but Rob tells me they are wild caught from Peru.

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Apistogramma&species=bitaeniata&id=686

The pics on this website look similar to the colors I've seen on mine, but my male has more orange on the top fin close to the body.
They are still sneaky, so I haven't been able to get a non-blurry photo yet, but working on it.
Going to set up a couple spots for them to hopefully meet up and "show me the money" hehe

[fredmir]

Apisto. Bitaeniata is one the Apisto that breed when there  almost full grown
Which BA  did you get them from and what price

Good luck

George

[freshfishies]

Apisto. Bitaeniata is one the Apisto that breed when there  almost full grown
Which BA  did you get them from and what price

Good luck

George

Innes location still has a bunch for only $5.99. I picked up another female today, I couldn't resist..she was beautiful :p
I put in a cave for them, and the male started guarding it instantly..buuuut the male bushynose was clearly just waiting for somewhere to start a family and forced out the little apistos...have to go buy another cave now :p lol.

[bizfromqc]

Innes location still has a bunch for only $5.99. I picked up another female today, I couldn't resist..she was beautiful :p
I put in a cave for them, and the male started guarding it instantly..buuuut the male bushynose was clearly just waiting for somewhere to start a family and forced out the little apistos...have to go buy another cave now :p lol.

How about some coconut caves? Cheap, look good and my apistos LOVE them 
http://ovas.ca/forum/index.php?topic=52958.0;all

[freshfishies]

How about some coconut caves? Cheap, look good and my apistos LOVE them 
http://ovas.ca/forum/index.php?topic=52958.0;all

I was debating (for all of like 10 minutes) and decided...off to the store I go!! I'll let you know how they work out! Thanks for the link to 'how to' !

[bizfromqc]

I was debating (for all of like 10 minutes) and decided...off to the store I go!! I'll let you know how they work out! Thanks for the link to 'how to' !

Nice, another coco-convert 

[freshfishies]

Here's a pic of the male (Robert was asking the color morph).

[mseguin]

I could be wrong, but the fish in your pic looks more like an  A. agassizi to me. The ones I saw at the store looked like A. bitaeniata "yellow"

[freshfishies]

I could be wrong, but the fish in your pic looks more like an  A. agassizi to me. The ones I saw at the store looked like A. bitaeniata "yellow"

I dunno! I picked them all from the same tank/batch. My females are very yellow. I'll have to look into it some more :s

[mseguin]

If they're from Peru, they're notorious for mixing or mislabelling, especially apistos
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_Apistogramma_bitaeniata.php
That's what a male bitaeniata looks like. Are they from the tank on the middle far left of the cichlid aisle? Most of them definitely look like bitaeniata, but there looked to be a few mismatched ones in there.

[fischkopp]

I am with Matt on this one, looks like an A. agassizi to me as well. I hope the female you got is an agassizi as well, but it will be hard to tell as they do look very similar. Agassizi females tend to only show a black spot on their body, whereas biteaniata girls do show a bit of the stripes along he body as well (they are also called two-striped apisto). Problem is that the black markings change with the mood of the fish, so you will only be able to tell for sure if you see them breed or not.

[freshfishies]

If they're from Peru, they're notorious for mixing or mislabelling, especially apistos
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_Apistogramma_bitaeniata.php
That's what a male bitaeniata looks like. Are they from the tank on the middle far left of the cichlid aisle? Most of them definitely look like bitaeniata, but there looked to be a few mismatched ones in there.

They were in the middle aisle (the one with live bearers I think), last tank in the middle row....grr...I'll have to go back and try again! At least they aren't that expensive...

[freshfishies]

I am with Matt on this one, looks like an A. agassizi to me as well. I hope the female you got is an agassizi as well, but it will be hard to tell as they do look very similar. Agassizi females tend to only show a black spot on their body, whereas biteaniata girls do show a bit of the stripes along he body as well (they are also called two-striped apisto). Problem is that the black markings change with the mood of the fish, so you will only be able to tell for sure if you see them breed or not.

The females I got then should be biteaniata..they have very dominate black stripes, but no spots. Le siiiigh....when you are picking out apistos from the store...do you look at the finnage?

[mseguin]

What do you mean by picking them out?

[freshfishies]

Like what should I look for when I go to pick out an actual a. binteaniata male?
I know their fins are usually longer, but is there something else I should look for?
How do you know the difference between the agassizi and the biteaniata males?

[mseguin]

Well the things that tipped it off for me, are the rounded or pointed tail: bitaeniata should have more of a lyretail to them. As well, the first few dorsal rays are extended in bitaeniata, but the whole dorsal is even in agassizi.