Cockatoo Apistos at west end BA

[Lurch1]

Has anyone noticed the tank full of cockatoo apistos there? They are to the right when you walk into the fish room. Are they all females? Or are they just juveniles that haven't coloured up yet?

[bizfromqc]

Yep, I've seen the tank and I have to say I wasn't really impressed with what they had in there. Definitely some males in there although not a whole lot of colors showing. I think they are big enough for them to color up though so maybe they're just stressed out or it's too crowded in there.

I was wondering why they we're only 8-9$ a piece though since I've seen them for twice the price (for double reds though).

Things to look for:
- Male first third of dorsal fins should be longer than rest of the fins, female will be the same length
- Female pelvic fins will most likely be black

You can usually tell them apart with the overall size of the fish and fins differences. To be safe, buy a couple more and keep an eye on pairs forming. When they do, take the others out so they don't take too much of a beating.

Attached are pics of my male and female A. cacatuoides. They are probably older than the ones in the tank at BA's but you can see the fins differences.

[bizfromqc]

If you want, check out this video here of my pair, you can see the fins better as the male will flare them up in an attempt to court the female. You can really see the difference then (easier than when they're closer to the body)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQom6Juz9xg

Eric

[exv152]

My experience with any fish from any fish store is all their colours tend to be faded at first. Once placed in stable water conditions, with proper feeding, lower stress, crowding, and maturity, all fish tend to perk up considerably colour-wise.  I bought a school of cardinals there about a month or two ago and their colours were horribly faded. It took about 2-3 weeks before they began showing incredible intense colours in my quarantine tank, and cardinals are notoriously sensitive fish. This isn't a slight on BA or any retailer for that matter, as much as it is a statement about the nature of the business - high fish turnover.

[bizfromqc]

My experience with any fish from any fish store is all their colours tend to be faded at first. Once placed in stable water conditions, with proper feeding, lower stress, crowding, and maturity, all fish tend to perk up considerably colour-wise.  I bought a school of cardinals there about a month or two ago and their colours were horribly faded. It took about 2-3 weeks before they began showing incredible intense colours in my quarantine tank, and cardinals are notoriously sensitive fish. This isn't a slight on BA or any retailer for that matter, as much as it is a statement about the nature of the business - high fish turnover.

My previous statement wasn't meant to come across as a shot to BA, it was a general opinion on the stock in the tank compared to what I've seen before, from the same store.

We all understand that these fish won't ever look as good in a LFS tank than they will in your own tank with the right parameters. While I do know it's the nature of the business, I've seen some fish sold in many of the LFS around here (NCR) that should have never been sold but culled a long time ago  (I'm not saying its the case here).

Eric

[Lurch1]

I don't see anything wrong with the statements made. Thanks for learning me!. Hopefully there will be a staff member there who will be able to assist me in sexing them also.

[bizfromqc]

I don't see anything wrong with the statements made. Thanks for learning me!. Hopefully there will be a staff member there who will be able to assist me in sexing them also.

Staff at both BA's are great. It took about half an hour and taking a tank apart one time to get a fish I wanted and they were cool with it 

[exv152]

Has anyone noticed the tank full of cockatoo apistos there? They are to the right when you walk into the fish room. Are they all females? Or are they just juveniles that haven't coloured up yet?

I say, if you want them, buy them, chances are they'll definitely colour up better in your tank. And, yes I also feel they will colour up more as they mature.

[exv152]

I just got back from BAs and saw the tank you're talking about, I know what you mean now about drab colours...yikes. Picked up some colombian tetras and sterbae cories, nice selection of fish today. 

[Lurch1]

Yeah, I don't know if it is worth buying them or waiting for my agassizi's. I guess east end renamed the apistos they had to agassizi's, but only have 1 left. 

[bizfromqc]

Yeah, I don't know if it is worth buying them or waiting for my agassizi's. I guess east end renamed the apistos they had to agassizi's, but only have 1 left. 

Well if you can wait a couple more months (the hardest thing in the world, I know), I'll have some nice cacatuoides up for grabs (very nice colors, just look at the picture of daddy in my avatar). They are 2 months old now and developing nicely.

Eric

[Lurch1]

I think I will do that  I will try and get my cardinals, hatchets and cories all in and by that time you should be ready!

[mseguin]

The cacatuoides I saw at BA west looked closer to wild type than the double or triple reds you usually see.