jo1414 Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 (edited) I have fallen in love with these fish and am hoping to get one. None of my LFS or BigBox stores have or can order them. The online places that have them are either selling pairs or trios and I would rather have a single male as a centerpiece. I would also like just a male and most of the online places are selling them unsexed. I assume because they are so young. How common are these? I've signed up for notifications on various sites for when they are restocked but I am trying to figure out a timeline or whether I need to just look for other fish or is there another way to look for them Edited January 23 by jo1414 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 The color morph apistogrammas are often a hobbyist bred fish vs the big farms or imports. Check on BAND app for local hobbyists selling in local groups. Use ACO club finder to Locate clubs near you where hobbyists all know one another and know who breeds what. Also check Dans Fish. He buys from hobbyists so may have them at some point. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jo1414 Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 Thank you. I never knew that link was there. I'm going to a swap on Sunday and I'm hoping a breeder will be there. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 On 1/22/2024 at 9:18 PM, jo1414 said: Thank you. I never knew that link was there. I'm going to a swap on Sunday and I'm hoping a breeder will be there. Talk to the vendors. Most vendors here know each other or know a guy that knows a guy. Don’t just walk past if they are not on tables for sale. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jo1414 Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 OK, any other tips? It's my first one? I'm not looking for much, just the A.A. and a pea puffer. My tanks are finally ready for them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 On 1/23/2024 at 5:39 AM, jo1414 said: a pea puffer Pea puffers are schoaling species. I would highly encourage you to keep them as other schoaling/schooling species in a crowded group of at least 6(2m:4f) or more with the same gender ratio or more f with a good tank size. Having friends around with a balanced m:f ratio in a good tank size, lots of live food options, many decorations plants woods around is important here is them in nature: I have a group of 11 just completed the quarantine of a month and although they may look comfy doing their own thingy at a normal time they like to have each other around when their needs are met I believe. Just as an example, if there is a stress factor, like me doing a water change, they directly start to school tightly for some time until they feel comfortable again. When I introduced the the tank they were schooling quite tightly too for a couple days. I would highly recommend to read this guide below https://www.pufferfishenthusiastsworldwide.com/amp/c-travancoricus As a P.S: these guys are easy to find tank bred in comparisons to many other puffers. Highly recommend it as they are facing issues due to being collected in the wild and are under risk, and also tankbred fish can be easier to feed and a bit less likely to have parasites imo if fed sterile cultures. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anewbie Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 You can also ask sellers on ebay if they will sell a single male. A lot depends on if they have extra females. online stores tend to be less flexible than individuals. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jo1414 Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 @Lennie : Thank you for that info and the link! @anewbie : Good idea! thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knee Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 Have you checked on Aquabid? You can ask the sellers there to only sell you a male. I’m sure they would gladly sell to reduce their stock. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anewbie Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 I'd be a bit worried about mixing a. agassizii with pea puffers. Even a solo male can be territorial and if the puffer spends a lot of time near the bottom (hunting snails); there can be some conflicts with the a. agassizii poking at it. This of course create stress between the fishes with can lead to bad health. There is a chance things will work out esp if you have the puffers in the tank first but i can't predict these things. Every fish is different. As for the puffer no clue - don't know diddly about them so don't know if they understand territories or how they would react. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOLANANO Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 (edited) On 1/24/2024 at 7:35 AM, anewbie said: I'd be a bit worried about mixing a. agassizii with pea puffers. Even a solo male can be territorial and if the puffer spends a lot of time near the bottom (hunting snails); there can be some conflicts with the a. agassizii poking at it. This of course create stress between the fishes with can lead to bad health. There is a chance things will work out esp if you have the puffers in the tank first but i can't predict these things. Every fish is different. As for the puffer no clue - don't know diddly about them so don't know if they understand territories or how they would react. This could also go sideways from the pea puffers side of things as well. Pea Puffers are nicknamed something like murder beans or something crazy like that because what they lack in size they make up for in gusto. I have never owned them so I can't speak from experience but everything written online says they should be a species only tank. ALTHOUGH, I have seen people on Youtube have pea puffers in somewhat of a community tank. Like all things in this hobby, it will depend on the fish, the setup, and the patience/experience of the fish keeper. If you do try this mix, be sure to report back on how it goes! Edited January 24 by NOLANANO 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jo1414 Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 On 1/24/2024 at 8:35 AM, anewbie said: I'd be a bit worried about mixing a. agassizii with pea puffers. Even a solo male can be territorial and if the puffer spends a lot of time near the bottom (hunting snails); there can be some conflicts with the a. agassizii poking at it. This of course create stress between the fishes with can lead to bad health. There is a chance things will work out esp if you have the puffers in the tank first but i can't predict these things. Every fish is different. As for the puffer no clue - don't know diddly about them so don't know if they understand territories or how they would react. I'm sorry, that was confusing wasn't it? No, I'm looking for one each for 2 separate tanks. I just meant those are the only fish I'm looking for at the moment. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolstoy21 Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 (edited) @jo1414 I sell fire red males whenever I have more males than females. I'm in the process of trying to spawn more now. If you don't find one in the next few months, PM me and I'll send one your way. Edited January 28 by tolstoy21 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jo1414 Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 On 1/27/2024 at 10:33 PM, tolstoy21 said: @jo1414 I sell fire red males whenever I have more males than females. I'm in the process of trying to spawn more now. If you don't find one in the next few months, PM me and I'll send one your way. OMGosh, thank you!! I will definitely keep you in mind. I am going to a swap so I'm crossing my fingers!! Do you happen to have a care guide written up somewhere? I'm always looking for information. Especially on a new fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolstoy21 Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 (edited) Care is pretty simple. Water temps mid to upper 70s. Not overly hard water (I keep mine about 9dGH because this is my tap water's hardness water). Ph mid-6's to mid 7's. 6.5 - 7.0 is the best Ph range, but it's ok to keep the Ph a tad higher if that's the water you have. My personal feeling is anything over 7.6 is pushing it, but honestly, they are probably fine up to 8ph, but I have no real experience with water that alkaline. Apistos like to hang out near the bottom of an aquarium. So, as long as you don't have other overly territorial fish at the bottom, you'll be fine. Keep some plants for shelter. Too many plants and you'll never see the fish, too few and it's stressful for the fish. I tend to keep my breeding pairs in 20g tanks with a piece of driftwood propped up so they can hang out underneath it, but still be seen by me, and one or two decently bushy java ferns. An 'apisto hut' isn't necessary for a single male, but they do like something to go under. As for food, mine never like flakes, and prefer small sinking pellets. Hikari vibra bites are my personal go-to food for apistos, but it's not all that I feed them. I typically use a mixture of vibra bites, Fluval bug bites, Xtreme nano pellets, small blackwork pellets, ground up freeze dried white works and tubifex worms (I use a spice mill to break these up into bite sized pieces). You don't need to go to such an extreme as to make a mixture, but that is the staple mix for the majority of the fish in my fish room as it's easy,. varied and quick to feed. The basic gist is small, slowly sinking pellet foods. An apisto's preference is to pick stuff from the bottom at their own leisure. They won't rush out for food like some other greedy eaters unless there is a ton of competition for food. If there is competition, they will come to the top to snag a morsel, but that's not their preferred way of eating. Hope this helps. Again, these fish are on the easy end of the care spectrum. Edited January 28 by tolstoy21 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jo1414 Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 @tolstoy21 thank you so much for the info. I hate to bother you more but can I see a picture of your breeding tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolstoy21 Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 I'll take a quick snap when I'm in the fish room later this evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jo1414 Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 Thank you. It occurred to me it might be helpful for you to see how I've done my tank. I'm thinking about putting some pogo helferi in front of the coconut cave on the left side... or maybe something that gets a little taller like a bunch of micro sword. Maybe the right side too, or change that to a cave. The driftwood in the middle is several driftwoods put together to form a cave. There are 3 openings at the base and one on the back side. I have some more micro sword I can add as well as some anubias I can glue on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolstoy21 Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 These are pretty bad shots, and as you can see, I don't really scape my breeding tanks. So, they aren't the most attractive setups. But these setups -- to me at least -- balance sparseness (to keep them clean and make them easy to service) and have enough structures to make the fish feel safe and secure. My display tank in my home office is much nicer, but I don't have any apistos in it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jo1414 Posted January 29 Author Share Posted January 29 That's exactly what I wanted to see. Small gravel, wood. I really need to figure out Java Fern. I am no good with it. @tolstoy21 So here is my tank that I plan to use for my apisto(s) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolstoy21 Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 On 1/28/2024 at 7:47 PM, jo1414 said: I really need to figure out Java Fern. I am no good with it. Any plant will work. I use exclusively java fern in my fish room, but only because it grows like mad for me, is easy to move to a new tank when I need to, and kind of takes care of itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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