Jump to content

Apistogramma's in Sydney region


kapp

Recommended Posts

Hi all,

Not sure if I should put this in the marketplace section under WTB or not but am putting it here as my questions are more general.

Anyhoo, are there any Apistogramma fanatics left in Sydney? What's the Apistogramma scene like nowadays? 

I used to keep a lot of them a few years ago but since then it seems like a lot of enthusiasts have dropped them and LFS's are no longer importing or stocking, other than maybe cacatuoides and agassizi's.

I know a couple shops stock them from time to time but selection is thin and usually not the greatest specimens.

Would love to put a pair or two A. Hongsloi into my new discus tank, so keen to find any breeders / shops who stock could quality types of these.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@s1l3nt is a fan of apistos but he too lament on the lack of them in the hobby nowadays.

He should be pretty cluey where to get some in Sydney.

Edited by jc12
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My LFS - Auburn Aquarium, still stocks a good number of apistos. They will take orders for specific types as well if they don't have them on display.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

19 hours ago, jayc said:

My LFS - Auburn Aquarium, still stocks a good number of apistos. They will take orders for specific types as well if they don't have them on display.

 

Thanks. Yeah, they're one of the consistent places that stock apistos even if only one or two at a time. Didn't know they take orders for specific species, so good to know, thanks. I assume they'll get the from the usual wholesaler many of the LFS's source fish from.

Hmm, might give them a ring to see what they have in stock atm.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, kapp said:

I assume they'll get the from the usual wholesaler many of the LFS's source fish from

Yes, I'm sure they would source from the usual wholesalers. 

I have sold them some of my killifish as well, so I know they purchase stock from private sellers.

In fact, I have a couple of dozen Fundulopanchax gardneri 'Nsukka' that I need to offload to them soon. My tank is overloaded with baby killifish.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@jayc thanks mate. Good to see private breeders and LFS's working together.

 

Still very strange apisto enthusiasm died out. They're an unusual species and really beautiful with a lot of personality. Not the easiest fish to look after, often needing very low pH and softwater but still, awesome fish. I guess the extremely high costs of importing new specimens and difficulty doing that when they can be fragile hence lots of dead loss, meant unless a strong breeder / hobbyist base took hold, it was always destined to die off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry I am quite delayed here!! :) 

Apistogramma keepers in NSW have never been huge in numbers to be honest, not as long as i've been in the hobby anyway (going on 10 years now I think...). There has maybe been 2-3 big keepers at a time (if that), all of which have now moved on from the hobby as far as I am aware. Currently I don't know of any private breeders for apistos in NSW unfortunately. Since the new laws came in regarding imports and testing I have definitely noticed less species available through wholesale suppliers.

Currently the best source of Apistogramma is New Life Aquariums in Melbourne. Shipping is a little steep at ~$50 but they have a huge range of apistos that they breed and import from their own farm (I believe in Malaysia, but my memory is a little shonky....). I've had good experience with them and they have always shipped me fish in pairs/trios as requested. Usually they have 20+ species in stock at a time so it's quite nice to be able to have them all in one shipment. Prices are pretty decent too in my experience. 

Other then that there is a few private breeders in Qld but mostly they keep quiet, there is also one guy in Adelaide and one lady in Perth (Both of which don't frequent any forums that I know of, but are semi-active on Apistogramma and Aussie facebook groups).

Most LFS will order them in for you, cheapest IMO will most likely be Allfish2u or Nano Tanks Australia (NTA is not far from Auburn if that helps). Auburn is way to expensive IMO, though they do have some nice fish in store usually! They all order from Aquarium Industries, and (much less often ) Bayfish/Premier Pet. You can check both of these stock lists online via their respective websites (there is no prices attached)

Personally I have never had issues keeping apistogramma in any reasonable PH (have kept most species in ranges of 4pH to low 7pH). Optimal IMO for most is around 6pH, however breeding some is very difficult (if possible at all) unless you get much lower in the pH scale. Most apistos will happily live 4-5 years, but will mostly stop spawning around 2-3 years old.

They are by far my favourite fish and I am planning on sourcing a few species that I really like and keeping them on my breeding rack with hopes of growing out fry, etc. This is the plan in the near future :) Hope to see you with a few (or more) species soon! Hope this helps :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, s1l3nt said:

Nano Tanks Australia (NTA is not far from Auburn if that helps). Auburn is way to expensive IMO, though they do have some nice fish in store usually!

Didn't know about NTA. Thanks for that @s1l3nt.

NTA's website is pretty bare, everything seems to be "no products available". So it looks like I'll have to visit in person. ?

Gotta agree with you Auburn Aquarium can be a bit expensive.

 

Say, do you have any apistos you'd like to trade for killies?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah I dont think they are using the website to be honest. He was a bloke I used to use for my fish in the past but he opened up a shop i think a little over a year ago? Has same access as Auburn but cheaper :) Check out the store i'd say. (Haven't been in a while but he usually brings in anything I ask for via aquarium industries, etc).

Currently I don't have many apistos (no pairs), I have a large male Baenschi Inka, a female Bitaeniata 'Tefe' and a female Cactuoides 'orange flash' if your keen on those? :) What killies are you keeping? I know a bloke who has a bunch of rare killis if your keen, shoot me a pm :) @jayc

A little more on topic - Second Nature Aquariums posted a facebook post yesterday (i only saw it now) that they have a bunch of apistos available. Of note (for me) and a little rarer then usual, they have Wilhelmi (Which is actually now Abacaxis I believe), and Mendezi.

For anyone interested in IDs and some info, one of the best sites ive seen is: apisto.sites.no
There is also a facebook group Apistogramma International or something along those lines and the apisto forum. All of the 3 are run by some of the biggest hobbyists/breeders/importers in the world of apistos IMO. Reserachers of apistos! :)

Edited by s1l3nt
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Join Our Community!

    Register today, ask questions and share your shrimp and fish tank experiences with us!

  • Must Read SKF Articles

  • Posts

    • beanbag
      Update to say that after a few gravel vacs, front wall scrub, moss / floating plant trim, that the condition seems to have improved.  My current theory is that it is due to waste / debris management, where "stuff" like that brown mulm accumulates in the substrate and behind the HMF filters.  Maybe some tanks can somehow deal with it, but mine can't.  Also another experienced shrimper suggested that maybe those "shell bugs" don't just live on the shrimps but also in this debris.  Maybe this is the reason some tanks fail due to "old tank syndrome" where all they need is a good gravel vac? Also, I am guessing that plant trim helps too because now more of the nutrients and light go into growing algae instead of more plants? Well anyway for this tank I will try weekly water change and monthly gravel vac / plant trim.  For my next tank, I'm thinking of something like an under-gravel system where this mulm can fall down and I vac it out.
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Good to have an update and good to hear you are getting shrimplets, so hopefully your colony will continue and you may not get to the point where you have to cull some to stop over population. These type of shrimp only live 12 - 18 months so the adult deaths may be natural? If you have the time I would do weekly 25% water changes, adding the new water via a drip system and do some vacuuming clean of the substrate each week, even if only a different bit each week! See if that helps in a few months and if it does then stick with that regime? It should help reduce any build-ups that may be occuring!
    • beanbag
      Hello again, much belated update: The tank still has "cycles" of 1-2 month "good streaks" where everybody seems to be doing well, and then a bad streak where the short antenna problem shows up again, and a shrimp dies once every few days.  I am not sure what causes things to go bad, but usually over the course of a few days I will start to see more shrimp quietly standing on the HMF filter, and so I know something is wrong.  Since I am not "doing anything" besides the regular 1-2 week water changes, I just assume that something bad is building up.  Here's a list of things that I've tried that are supposed to be "can't hurt" but didn't prevent the problem either: Dose every other day with Shrimp Fit (very small dose, and the shrimp seem to like it) Sotching Oxydator Seachem Purigen to keep the nitrates lower Keeping the pH below 5.5 with peat Things that I don't do often, so could possibly "reset" the tank back to a good streak, are gravel vac and plant trim, so maybe time to try those again. One other problem I used to have was that sometimes a shrimp would suddenly stop eating with a full or partially full digestive tract that doesn't clear out, and then the shrimp will die within a few days.  I suspected it was one of the foods in my rotation - Shrimp Nature Infection, which contains a bunch of herbal plant things.  I've had this in my food rotation for a few years now and generally didn't seem to cause problems, but I removed it from the rotation anyway.  I don't have a lot of adult Golden Bees at this point so I can't really tell if it worked or not. Overall the tank is not too bad - during the good streaks occasionally a shrimp will get berried and hatch babies with a 33-50% survival rate.  So while there are fewer adults now, there are also a bunch of babies roaming around.  I guess this tank will stagger on, but I really do need to take the time to start up a new tank.  (or figure out the problem)
    • jayc
      If that is the offspring, then the parents are unlikely to be PRL. I tend to agree with you. There are very few PRLs in Australia. And any that claim to be needs to show proof. PRL genes have to start as PRL. CRS that breed true after x generations doesn't turn it into a PRL. Neither can a Taiwan bee shrimp turn into a PRL despite how ever many generations. I've never seen a PRL with that sort of red colour. I have on Red Wines and Red Shadows - Taiwan bee shrimps. So somewhere down the line one of your shrimp might have been mixed with Taiwan bees and is no longer PRL. It just tanks one shrimp to mess up the genes of a whole colony. 
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Sorry, missed this one somehow! The PRL look fantastic and the odd ones look part PRL and part Red wine/Red shadow in the colour. They are still very beautiful but ideally should be seperated to help keep the PRL clean if you can do that.  Nice clear photos!
×
×
  • Create New...