Re: nijsseni - spawning problems

[Frauley/Elson <fraulels@minet.ca>]

Hello,
I'll go out on a limb and say I figure the njisseni problem is njisseni.
It's not long since I saw a reference to the fish in an aquarium mag as
a 'mythical' apisto. I saw some wilds for a year or so, then captive
specimens usually from Czechslovakia, then nothing, at least locally. In
the last six months, I've picked up two wild morphs - a dull blue male
with good caudal colour with a female with no green spot, which was
mixed with some panduro, and (yesterday), a traditional njisseni with a
green spotted female and a stunning little male with bright yellow fins
and a lovely caudal. In breeding the first form, I found enough problems
to convince me njisseni will always be a problem apisto.
I don't have RO, and won't til I redo all the plumbing in my old house.
Right off, that makes njisseni tough, in maintenance of water quality.
Nothing happened except in very soft acid water. I then faced a steady
fry mortality as I had to add tap (pH 7.4, 140ppm). I did so gradually,
but. I now have a little group of squabbling juveniles (nine), with a
good sex ratio. The mother raised them for 2 weeks. 
It's snowing like crazy here, so I'll have all the soft water I need for
a month or two, but these fish are a lot more work than cacatuoides or
borelli. They're worth it, but they'll always be a problematic creature.
When I first saw 'live' njisseni, I was told "breed them quickly before
they die of a bacterial disease". Unfortunately, when I've had breeding
pairs (three times), they've never lived more than 2 spawns, and the one
pair that made it to the second were captive bred.
I think we get spoiled by the bursts of availability of apistos like
njisseni. We're eventually going to have to become like the killie
crowd, and hunker down to keep our fish going for generations. That'll
be difficult...
-Gary
Ps Helen, what does "to a band playing" mean? I think I like it, but I
haven't heard the expression before.

Helen Burns wrote:
> 
> I have a friend who can get his Nijsseni to breed and successfully rear fry
> to a band playing.  He does not artificially hatch the spawns but he removes
> the male after spawning, reason for that is he uses small tanks.  He is
> meticulous with his water conditions which is the secret to any of our
> successes with Apistos.
> I tend to agree with you that some hobbyists all too quickly remove spawns
> which I think is a vital link when these fry reach adulthood they don't know
> what parental care is.
> When I acquired a wild pair of Panduro they spawned successfully after 10
> days in my care, despite being happy and healthy they never had success
> again, why is a mystery to me.
> Helen


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