# Apistogramma Cacatuoides Triple Red



## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

hi all, i purchased a group of these from a fellow hobbyist at the GWAPA march meeting (2009) and when i got them they were around 2 cm long. well, is been almost a year and half and these guys might be around inch and a half tops...am i doing anything wrong? i seen some around 3-4 inches long so it worries me a little. i feed them pretty well: frozen bloodworms, pellets, frozen brine, worm flakes, other misc foods...comments, experience welcome!


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## ukamikazu (Jun 4, 2010)

ddavila06 said:


> hi all, i purchased a group of these from a fellow hobbyist at the GWAPA march meeting (2009) and when i got them they were around 2 cm long. well, is been almost a year and half and these guys might be around inch and a half tops...am i doing anything wrong? i seen some around 3-4 inches long so it worries me a little. i feed them pretty well: frozen bloodworms, pellets, frozen brine, worm flakes, other misc foods...comments, experience welcome!


You're doing quite well, actually. Apistogrammas grow quickly at first from fry to sub adult, then the slow down a bit. Yours will probably becoming young, fully reproductive adults by early to mid December. In general, Apistos take between 9 months and a year before being fully mature. Occasionally you'll have a male and maybe a couple of females in a batch that are way ahead of the curve. The male will be an alpha and the females that seem to be maturing quicker than the others are either sneaker males or will be precocious breeders.

I'd say you're actually ahead of schedule.


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

thats good to know, i was actually worrying that i might have been doing something wrong. i was somewhat comparing my apistos to the nanacara that i got, that fish went to twice its size in like a month!!! but if they are a slower growing fish i am happy then !


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

I always thought of A. cacatuoides as a smaller species. Davemonkey had some that were very small compared to the larger A. macmasteri that I bought at a similar time.


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

I had a male that was perhaps 2 1/2" long full grown while the female was about an inch.


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## ukamikazu (Jun 4, 2010)

vancat said:


> I had a male that was perhaps 2 1/2" long full grown while the female was about an inch.


I have a pair of Apistogramma A68 Peruvian color morph and the male is 3 inches and the female is only 1 inch. But when she is in breeding dress, she has twice his attitude .

She is an exceptionally good mother. Her first spawn was in February and it is almost August and I still can't tell for sure if mine are male or female except for maybe 3 that grew really fast though they are still smaller than their mother. I suspect I have mostly females.


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## geeks_15 (Dec 9, 2006)

The apisto cacatuoides that I raise seem to grow much more quickly than yours. My last spawn was in Jan or Feb 2010 and the young ones are 1.5", sexable, and showing good color and finnage. I even found a little female guarding free swimmers.

Some possible causes of delayed growth:
Not enough water changes or too much nitrate in the tanks (ammonia and nitrite would also be bad)
Too much CO2 can stunt apisto growth (this would only be possibly if you add pressurized CO2 or a lot of DIY CO2)

I feed mine flakes, occasional pellets, and everyday live baby brine

I don't feed bloodworms to my apistos. I have read that bloodworms can cause intestinal "binding" in apistos. Not sure if that is true, but that is my reasoning.

My largest male apisto cacatuoides is 3.5". Females top out at around 1.5".


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

Jeremy, i do 50-60% water changes every 10-15-days and do not dose. maybe mine are all girls...

i see your links and that you have pelvicachromis taeniatus moliwe, hows their temperament? i recently put together my 20L biotope and i see one female chasing everyone away all the time  that had never happened in the 125 though or with regular kribs


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## DavidZ (Jan 22, 2009)

agree with geek 15!


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## geeks_15 (Dec 9, 2006)

> i do 50-60% water changes every 10-15-days and do not dose.


That should be adequate unless the tank is overstocked or overfed.

Males and females should be easy to tell apart. Check this link for some more info and pics:
http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/Apistogramma_cacatuoides.php

Regarding the pelvicachromis taeniatus. They are usually peaceful if given the right amount of space. I would keep one pair in a 20 gallon. If you try to put other dwarf cichlids in the tank you will need many plants, decorations, caves, etc to break up the lines of sight. This might work, but I still prefer one pair of dwarf cichlids in a 20 gallon tank. Other pelvicachromis species will probably chased the most. If the female is chasing non-cichlids she could be guarding fry or she could just be a mean one. If she has no fry you could move her to another tank for a while and then try to reintroduce her. Or you could rearrange the tank decor to try to get her to claim a smaller territory.

Overall, I have found the P. taeniatus temperament to be the same as regular kribs.


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

geeks_15 said:


> That should be adequate unless the tank is overstocked or overfed.
> 
> Males and females should be easy to tell apart. Check this link for some more info and pics:
> http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/Apistogramma_cacatuoides.php
> ...


awesome! i will move her to the 125 for a little bit until the others get bigger the kribs are only 4 now and unsexable except for that one female. the other cichlids are mixed in the big tank. thanks for all the help!


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