Re: Rupunini Fry

[Mike & Diane Wise <apistowise@fgn.net>]

Colin,

A. rupununi is one of the easier apistos to breed. They come from clear water
streams in the Guianas Highlands of Brazil/Guyana. Mine came from the upper
Rio Branco around Boa Vista. The streams where they live have slightly acid
(~6.5) and moderately hard (4º dGH / 2º dKH) water conditions. They can,
however, breed in water similar to that of A. cacatuoides. I breed mine in
straight dechlorinated tap water (slightly softer than listed above). The
male is highly polygamous and will bother lone females mercilessly. It is
best to keep 2 females in a suitable size tank with the male. Otherwise you
can do as I do: keep the male in a separate tank until the female is full of
eggs. Introduce the male and once they spawn, again remove the male. This is
a steindachneri-group species, and like A. steindachneri & A. hippolytae, can
have very large broods - 200 or more, so large tanks are best. They are a
very pretty fish. They remind be of the beautiful blue & gold "A. wickleri"
form of A. steindachneri (but without the caudal extensions) that we used to
have back in the 1980s.

I don't know why Linke & Staeck or Mayland & Bork don't discuss this fish in
their books. The fish was originally introduced into the hobby in the late
1970s as A. sp. Zweifleck/Two-patch. In the early 1980s some German aquarists
started calling A. sp. Zweifleck "A. ortmanni", which we now know was
incorrect. In 1985 Koslowski stated that Zweifleck was most probably the same
as A. rupununi. This assumption appears correct & still holds true today.

Mike Wise

colingorton@eurosport.com wrote:

> Has anybody got any experience with Rupunini
> breeding?
> I was able to get some in August (thanks Pete!) and
> saw some fry with them on Saturday. I'm pretty well
> extatic as they've rapidly become one of my
> favourites :). I saw about 10 or so fry, I presume
> the other fish in the tank got the rest before I
> could pull them out.
> I'm particularly pleased as I wasn't trying to breed
> them, just keeping them until I could get them into a
> proper breeding setup. They seem to be surviving on
> food they can glean  around the tank (there's quite
> alot as it's a 250Lt fully planted and now there's
> just Mum, Dad and some ottos in there), should I pull
> the Ottos as well?
> I've had a look in all the literature and cannot find
> any reference to breeding, Mayland and Bork (I
> think)just said that there was no known cases of
> breeding. I don't suppose that I'm the first, any
> comments?
> I'll let you know the water parameters if anybody
> wants them, I'm a bit pressed for time at the moment.
> See you soon
> C:)lin
>
> C:-)lin
>
> They said "Smile, things could be worse." So I smiled and sure enough...
>
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