A. piauiensis

[wrisch@mendel.berkeley.edu]

Mike,
Many thank you's for the help. My two largest piau's are only about
1 1/4", but there is the hint of a difference in the ventral fins.
I'll check the other 3 more carefully, and pay more attention to the
anal fins as well.

In regards to apisto species I've had luck with, I've managed to get
viable fry from A. borelli (though she quickly stopped taking care of them),
A. resticulosa, A "rotpunkt", A. steindachneri, A. cacatuoides (for
2 days-she was too busy killing her 3rd male to care for them),
A. macmasteri, A. nijsseni, and A. "pandurini" (whose fry disappeared
over X-mas 'cause I could'nt feed them for 3 days). All the spawns have
been pretty small, though (less than 2 dozen fry).

Right now I'm keeping (forgive the spelling errors, please):
A. "pandurini", A. nijsseni, A. "smaraged", A. pasciquamis, A. "4-stripe",
A. commbrae, and the A. piauiensis. As for other dwarfs, I also have
D. filamentosus, T. candidi (she ate her 1st fry after 1 week),
Laetacara thayeri (thanks to Pete J.),
Gymnogeophagus "Bahia Red", Nannacara anomala, and N. taenia (which
are neat little fish, but extremely shy).

(Oooo, and I keep West Africans, too. Kathy K-O is partly
responsible for this. My friend David says I should just flush
them all to make room for more apistos! They are awfully mean.)

Does anyone on the list have any ideas as to what affects the size of
a spawn? I would think that the age of the female would be a factor,
and maybe type of food (live vs. flake, etc.),
but what other conditions have people noticed that affect brood size?
I would certainly like to do better in this regard (a friend of mine
just got about 5 doz. A. norberti fry, and I'm jealous!).

Thanks,
Lisa