Re: Husbandry of A. panduro

[Frauley/Elson <fraulels@minet.ca>]

R3K1@aol.com wrote:
> 
> Hello all.  If this topic has already been recently discussed, please forgive
> me.
> 
> My LFS called me last week to say that he'd just received 25 A. panduro.
> Upon inspection, they are indeed drop dead gorgeous one inch panduro pairs.
> I took home five (two males and three females), and put them in a well
> planted 20g tank with numerous cave formations with three Pristella riddlei
> as dithers.
> 
> On days one and two, my "dithers" chased the panduros.  On day three until
> the present, a dominant male emerged and is exibiting much aggression toward
> the other panduros.  Unfortunately, on day three, one of the females didn't
> make it, and is now in heaven, leaving me with four.
> 
> It's been nearly a week now, and my panduros' coloration is not good, all
> fish appear to be "panting," the dominant male has become the devil
> reincarnate and I'm at a loss as what to do.  The water parameters follow:

I think it's a social, and not a water problem. From keeping a fair
number of njisseni and panduro in the past, I would never keep more than
one adult pair in a 20. I've grown out groups of njisseni in 20s, but
once they matured and a male became dominant, the deaths began.
I find that the rule of one adult male per tank is an essential one for
apisto keeping. I have a group of iniridae-type apistos together, and so
far so good, but with the heavy bodied apistos, things go wrong fast.
-Gary



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