Re: Spawning A. Hongsloi

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

I hate to disagree, but in my 25 years of breeding and working with apistos I
have never fed black worms or anything that requires a highly organic environment
for its subsistence. The chance of getting some nasty little "bug" tagging along
is just too great. I know many people use them for killies, corys, etc. with no
apparent harmful effects, but I can't count the number of times that people have
told me that they had beautiful apistos come down with some malady and die soon
after adding black worms to their fish's diet. This may not prove that these
worms are pathogen carriers, but it scares me away from them. There are so many
other easily available live & prepared foods you can use. If you just have to use
worms use baby earthworms instead.

Römer's studies on temperate vs. sex ratio show that 81.5% of each spawn kept at
pH6.5 and 29ºC (84ºF) (close to Michael's suggested temperature and Matt's pH)
turned out to be males. If you want a lot of males this is the way to do it. Then
again you could lower the tank temperature to 26ºC (79ºF) once the eggs are laid.
That should even out the sexes.

Personally I would suggest Matt keep the tank at 78-80º and keep doing what he is
already doing right now. I would recommend that he vary the diet if he uses only
frozen blood worms. They will spawn eventually; they aren't that difficult.
Patience works wonders.

Mike Wise

Michael Gray wrote:

> I am not an expert but here is my opinion.  You did not give the temp.  I
> would feed live black worms and raise the temp (to about 82 F)
>
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