A."pandurini"

[SanfordD@liberty.issaquah.wednet.edu]

Hi everyone,  I've had pandurini since Aug.  They were about 2/3 
grown when i got them. The female has the black throat and ventrals
but nothing on the caudal peduncle.  The male had a prominent black
"diamond" blotch on the c.peduncle extending into the tail, with 
the red margin, but the red had a gap in the center of the tail.
He has just about lost the black blotch now. Sky blue is a good 
description of his body color.
They spawned within a week of adding Waters of the World, SA formula
which lowered the pH to about 5.5. My water is very soft, no carbonates,
or buffers, about 7.5 out of the tap. 1st spawn was about 10 fry, 
which they ate and spawned again, same number, which lasted about
2 weeks then they ate them and spawned again. One month ago they 
spawned and had about 30 fry, of which 10 are 3/8 in in size now.
Last week i noticed about 50 red eggs just lying on the glass 
bottom.  Thinking that they would just fungus, or be eaten i waited
for them to disappear. This week i saw a cloud of 30 fry being
hearded by the female, with the older fry intermixed! This is common
with lake Tanganyika cichlids but i've never observed it with Apistos.
I think size of spawn is mostly related to maturity, and less related
to diet as long as they are adequetly fed.  Mine will not even look
at flake so they get baby brine shrimp, adult bs, and when weather
permits live daphnia and mosquito larvae.
Pandurini has become one of my favorite dwarfs, and i'm glad
that several of you are raising them.

                                            Dave