Re: Reply to: My Apistography

[Pete Johnson <petej@tlg.net>]

>You'll have to excuse my enthusiasm......the only SA dwarfs I can find in 
>my area are Rams and nanacaras. Anything beyond that and the salespeople 
>look at me like I'm from Mars!!!

No reason to excuse enthusiasm -- that's what this list is for!

Alienist salespeople are pretty common. Apistos don't show well in 
dealer's tanks -- they're shy and many require prefer soft, acid water to 
look their best, plus they're often aggressive to each other, which means 
losses. It's also hard to identify many of the species. Apistos are not 
destined for mass popularity.

I'm fortunate to live in an area where I can find others with this same 
interest, which allows for trading and cooperative shipping from exotic 
sources. I've had lots of help in assembling that list of Apistos, but 
not too much from local dealers.

>What would you recommend as a good reference book on SA's? I have been 
>debating ording one, but don't want to do it blind.

The best current book on dwarf cichlids is Linke & Staeck's American 
CIchlids 1 (Tetra Press). A new arrival with many more new species is the 
Aqualog series, printed in Germany. For a more general reference, I like 
the Baensch Aquarium Atlas, which covers fish other than cichlids (Volume 
1 has the most popular fish in the hobby, but Vols. 2 and 3 are good, 
too). Also recommended: Paul Loiselle's "The Cichlid Aquarium," out in a 
new edition from Tetra. It's a great overview of cichlids, both American 
and African, with lots of good info.

>I've been considering turning my 75g into a SA biotope, but haven't known 
>where to start. My current PH is around 7.6 on a good day. I have heard 
>alot of people talk about using peat to lower the PH. Are there any 
>drawbacks to this? Better methods? 

Peat will turn the water slightly brown, but it will lower pH and soften 
the water. And the brown color is kind of nice -- like the Amazon. :-). 
You'll have to change the peat periodically -- every couple of weeks, at 
least. When I use peat, I just grab a chunk from the nursery bag, put it 
in a nylon stocking and put it into a filter. I know that some people 
boil peat, but the stuff I use claims it's sterilized, and boiling is 
messy and probably lessens the effect of the peat.

>Also, (lastly, I promise!!) (fingers crossed and breath held) are you in 
>the habit of selling/shipping fish? 

Yes, I sell and ship fish. Not quite a habit, but I've sent fish to 
Hawaii and to Oregon with no losses. I'm not sure about the rules of this 
mailing list. Some prohibit commercial transactions, so I won't post my 
phone number, but I'll send it to you in a separate email. I'm not in the 
business -- I am a hobbyist interested in widening the interest in dwarfs.

>PS. I'm not sure if there are any archives for this list, from what I 
>understand, it just started. Richard would be the one to ask though. 

Richard said that the list is too new to have an archive.

Thanks for the enthusiastic response. Are you interested in dwarfs only, 
or do you like bigger cichlids (and non-cichlids), too?


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     If wishes were fishes we'd all have ponds.

Pete Johnson        San Jose, CA       petej@tlg.net
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