Re: A. panduro ???'s

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

Steph & Dave wrote:
> 
> Hi Folks
> 
> As one of the resident Aussie lurkers I am really excited to say I
> recently acquired a pair of A. panduro (wild caught) This fish has only
> been available here for about 6 months and is still outrageously priced
> :(
> 
> Anyway I have a couple of questions regarding my pair.
> 
> a) at what sort of size are they likely to start spawning.  Mine are
> currently about 3cms in length.  They were only about 2 and bit cm when
> I got them and have grown quite slowly.  Current diet is tetra bits in
> the morning + either frozen bloodworm or live mosquito larvae in the
> evening.  (summer's arrived Ive got mossies breeding everywhere!)
> 
> I am currently keeping them in a 5ogal tank with a number of other SA
> dwarfs and juvenile angels.  I was wondering on their compatibility in a
> shallow 3ft tank (about 18gal voloume) with a pair of A. agassizi.  I am
> hoping to spawn them but dont have a completely separate tank at the
> moment.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Steph

It sounds like you are close to making my kind of mistake! I hate to say
this, but I think you need a tank for these fish. I've been known to
spend a lot on a pair of fish, then toast them with a cheap heater.
Calculate the cost of your fish vs the cost of an aquarium.
You don't need to be high tech. I have apistos spawning in tanks with
homemade sponge filters, playground sand substrates and room lighting.
The problem is aggression. I find both panduro and njisseni tough on
their neighbours if they decide to spawn. They are much rougher than
agas. There's also a tendency for males to get offed in smaller tanks.
Njisseni may be my favorite apisto, but they have their drawbacks at
times, and panduro are even worse.
I see a lot of list comments about multiple species in one tank. I put a
pair of cf gibbiceps in with a pair of  cf. juruensis yesterday, in a
metre tank, and they're slaughtering each other. It never seems to work
for me. I'm heading down to return them to their old tanks this morning.
Gary




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