FW: Cacatuoides

[Thomas Mroz <tmroz@art-inc.com>]

>
>Kevin Goodman worte about A. cacatuoides a while ago.  A couple of
>things from my experience.
>
>1. At M1.5" and F1", these guys may be ready to breed.  Keep an eye on
>them.  I've had older "fry" in growout tanks spawn in corners at
>slightly smaller than this.
>
>2.  Cacatuoides is a great dwarf, in that it is not as sensitive to
>water conditions (pH and hardness) as some of the other, more exotic
>dwarfs.  I've spawned it both in soft, RO water as well as my tap water
>(also about 160 ppm) and in a range of pH's. My only problems have been
>large differences in sex ratio.  When I was breeding double and triple
>reds in 2/3 RO, 1/3 tap augmented with pH down (sorry, I don't make
>frequent measurements of hardness or pH), I was getting large numbers
>of females; ratios of nearly 6/1!  Now, I am spawning mostly doubles in
>tap water (harder and higher pH), and I have had entire batchs of males
>only!  I thought that low pH was supposed to result in more males, but
>I may have that wrong.  
>
>3.  I feed my apistos alot of baby brine, as they tend to eat these
>vigorously, and there is less chance for tank fouling.  My cacatuoides
>will also eat flake, so I will occasionally give them that.  You just
>have to watch that they eat it all, mine sometimes will not touch it if
>it has sat on the bottom for any length of time.  Frozen is good too -
>anything they will go after.  I would use bloodworms, but I am highly
>alergic to them!  I think one of the best things for Apistos (actually
>most fish) is variety and water cleanliness (ie, no uneaten food).
>
>4.  Cacatuoides are great because they tend to be relatively content
>with any water chemistry, they are prolific, and they are normally in
>demand at local pet shops.  Also, there are several different color and
>fin variations out, which is beginning to make keeping a collection of
>cacatuoides a many-tank endevour in itself!
>
>Good luck - keep us posted on your progress with these guys!
>
>Tom
>
>