Re: Ap. steindachneri

[Mike & Diane Wise <apistowise@bewellnet.com>]

Gareth,

Your apistos are behaving normally. In a species breeding tank, once the female has bred with the male she does not need the male in the tank. Just remove him or he may suffer a worse fate than a messed up tail. In my experience A. steindachneri females are excellent mothers and the fry are easy to raise.

A. steindachneri has been in the hobby for almost 100 years under many names. A. ornatipinnis & A. wickleri are junior synonyms. A. ornatipinnis was described from material that had well developed lyre tails on the males (The original specimens of A. steindachneri had beat up tails and the lyrate extensions couldn't be seen, so they were thought to be a different species.). In the 70s, A. macmasteri also came in as A. ornatipinnis. A. wickleri was described
from large, highly developed, domestic specimens. A. steindachneri (Wickleri) is a mostly blue fish (close to the body color of male A. nijsseni) with bright red-orange edging on the dorsal fin and top and bottom of the caudal fin. A. steindachneri also came in under the name A. ortmanni. A. ortmanni is a very different species. Get a good dwarf cichlid book and compare your fish to theirs.

Mike Wise

Gareth Bradbury wrote:

> I have one male and one female which were sold to me under the above name. I have since had a lot of confusion over their identity as some dealers I have visited have had what can only be described as different fish under this name - one even trying to fob off what was obviously a RAM !
> However on investigating the Apistogramma mailing lists I have seen reference to the all blue Wickleri .. this would seem the most appropriate fish to the ones I have. Iam trying to source a digital camera to allow the sending of pictures.
>
> The problem.. the male displayed very well to the female when she was not in breeding colours, she then coloured up and laid a batch of eggs - the male lost interest - being chased and harried by the female. This pattern has repeated numerous times. The male has now taken to hiding almost constantly with the female in what seems permanent breeding colouration. I suspect he has damaged his tail area during this aggressive behaviour. To say I'm confused !
>
> One thing I have thought about is introducing another female or females.. however it is the correct sourcing of the fish that is proving a problem
>
> Any advice would be gratefully received to enable the breeding of this most alluring and interesting fish.
>
> Gareth Bradbury
> Bristol England
>
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