The Krib Apistogramma/Dwarf Cichlids	[E-mail]

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by Tomcat <tomcat/quantum.net.au>
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997
To: eriko/elmer.wrq.com

Erik 
Hi, this is Tomcat.  I am just returning your letter and I think that I
have a solution to our problebs with these fish.  Just a few days ago I
put three upside-down catfish in the tank with the P. humilis and they
have seem to liven up the fish.  
They are becoming more social they are a lot more interested in fighting
for the food and they have become a lot more wild.  They must get their
food before the catfish do. This creats a great deal of competition in
the fish tank.  The females are becoming more fat and in a much better
condition then before.
Just thought I might help.  Thanks for your advice.

Affrican Cichlid fan,

			Tomcat!

recent purchase of p. humilis

by CYKong <CYKong/aol.com>
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1998
To: apisto/majordomo.pobox.com

hi folks,

i just picked up a pair of fish labelled "pelvicachromis humilis banji II".  i
understand they were imported from a breeder in germany.  these fish are new
to me and i was wondering if anyone had any experience or advice on them.

as far as appearance, they have the typical humilis body shapes, but the
colors are different from any humilis form i have seen, read or heard about.
both male and female change colors very quickly, depending upon mood.  the
male has blue vertical facial markings.  male may appear to be no different
from type "kasewe" at times and then suddenly can become a deep maroon/purple.
typically, the male is a light maroon with dark vertical stripes.  the female
is beautiful, and can look just like an oversize p. taeniatus/pulcher female
(except for a dark greenish-yellow head), but when courting, she is stunning -
with a greenish-yellow head and white body with iridescent yellows, violets,
greens and purples.

presently, i am keeping the pair (who are surprisingly very gentle with each
other) in a 30 gallon tank (pH 6.6, 1dKH, 1dGH) with four hasemania nana.

i bought the pair even though the male was breathing somewhat heavily, and he
is still doing so in my tank.  of course, if i had any self-restraint
whatsoever, i would have waited until i knew the breathing was not a problem
or at least until i knew more about this particular species, but.... what if
someone else had bought them first??  :)

thanks for any help,

-mk.


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humilis

by Mike Downey <windwalker/uky.campuscw.net>
Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998
To: apisto/majordomo.pobox.com

>In a message dated 98-11-27 23:01:32 EST, windwalker writes:
>
><< humilis, that is quite a name and reputation to hang on these little guys!
>>>
>
>i have never kept Pelvicachromis humilis (west african) but i think the name
>humilis refers to their less-than-knockout colors (compared to other
>Pelvicachromis).
>
>tsuh yang

They are also the meanest sob's that ever crossed the big lake. They are
tough critters to keep paired up without severe spouse abuse.
Just my opinion!
MikeD

humilis

by Mike Downey <windwalker/uky.campuscw.net>
Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998
To: apisto/majordomo.pobox.com

 In fact, I walked by a tankful last week - beautiful Guinea
>humilis, yellow and red and purple - a morph I'd never tried. I looked,
>I admired, I left. I'm proud...
>I've had the same poor luck with atahulpa, although I gave up after two
>tries. From now on, if for some strange reason I want to see carnage,
>I'll watch cartoons.
>-Gary

The Guinea are my passion and have cost me small fortunes in shipping and
purchasing. They can kill faster and easier than a croc. As for color the
males are the most beautiful plum purple with yellow fins and the females
are accented with silvery white on the tail and irridesent hot pink and
lime green on the flanks. Not to mention the glowing pink to red belly!!

I will not but them again! X 100 ----------------------------maybe
MikeD

humilis

by Charles Ray <raychah/auburn.campus.mci.net>
Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998
To: apisto/majordomo.pobox.com

I have also gone through the "watch the male kill the females" with
humilis.  I have a pair I've had now for well over six months.  I designed
their tank as one would for the large south americans that don't cohabit
well.  They're in a 55, the bottom is littered with broken flower pots and
lots of pieces of PVC that are too small for the male to enter but large
enough for the female to do so.  For a while they shared the tank with a
large female Hemichromis who kept both at bay.  I replaced her with 8
Thysochromis ansorgii which gives the male something to chase.  There are
enough of them that the aggression seems to be adequately dispersed.  I do
have to ensure that the female gets an opportunity to eat.  The female has
been courting the male but he has responded by, at best, simply tolerating
the female. Although Linke and Staeck mention spawning, has anyone on the
list had any luck?  Is there a spawning trigger?

Charles Ray

> In fact, I walked by a tankful last week - beautiful Guinea
>>humilis, yellow and red and purple - a morph I'd never tried. I looked,
>>I admired, I left. I'm proud...
>>I've had the same poor luck with atahulpa, although I gave up after two
>>tries. From now on, if for some strange reason I want to see carnage,
>>I'll watch cartoons.
>>-Gary
>
>The Guinea are my passion and have cost me small fortunes in shipping and
>purchasing. They can kill faster and easier than a croc. As for color the
>males are the most beautiful plum purple with yellow fins and the females
>are accented with silvery white on the tail and irridesent hot pink and
>lime green on the flanks. Not to mention the glowing pink to red belly!!
>
>I will not but them again! X 100 ----------------------------maybe
>MikeD
>
>
>
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>For instructions on how to subscribe or unsubscribe or get help,
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humilis

by Frauley/Elson <fraulels/minet.ca>
Date: Sun, 29 Nov 1998
To: apisto/majordomo.pobox.com

Mike Downey wrote:
> 
>  In fact, I walked by a tankful last week - beautiful Guinea
> >humilis, yellow and red and purple - a morph I'd never tried. I looked,
> >I admired, I left. I'm proud...
> >I've had the same poor luck with atahulpa, although I gave up after two
> >tries. From now on, if for some strange reason I want to see carnage,
> >I'll watch cartoons.
> >-Gary
> 
> The Guinea are my passion and have cost me small fortunes in shipping and
> purchasing. They can kill faster and easier than a croc. As for color the
> males are the most beautiful plum purple with yellow fins and the females
> are accented with silvery white on the tail and irridesent hot pink and
> lime green on the flanks. Not to mention the glowing pink to red belly!!
> 
> I will not but them again! X 100 ----------------------------maybe
> MikeD

Hi Mike, 
Just for the badness of it, I have to share this with you - these
weren't the lovely purple morph - they were something else...
Those purple fish are astonishing , but this was a more traditional
humilis. I still won't buy the ^%$^#$!
For Charles - I've had Liberian Red and Kasewe Forest where the females
courted endlessly. They even cohabited the same cave with dominant
males. Any other Pelvicachromis or nanochromis would have spawned with
such behaviour - they didn't. I think that's how they became such a
fascination for me - you can get very close and yet...
In soft, acid water, their colours intensified, but the behavior
remained the same as in local tap (pH 7.4, 140ppm). It didn't seem to
change much. Nor did diet or temperature. 
The males just want to kill things. The dithers may keep them busy, but
in the confines of a tank, eventually the female's going to swim into a
corner, he'll pass and boom. Give me a taeniatus any day.
I think we've already had a thread about atahualpa/sunset behavioral
atrocities...
-Gary


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humilis

by Mike Downey <windwalker/uky.campuscw.net>
Date: Sun, 29 Nov 1998
To: apisto/majordomo.pobox.com

>I have also gone through the "watch the male kill the females" with
>humilis.  I have a pair I've had now for well over six months.  I designed
>their tank as one would for the large south americans that don't cohabit
>well.  They're in a 55, the bottom is littered with broken flower pots and
>lots of pieces of PVC that are too small for the male to enter but large
>enough for the female to do so.  For a while they shared the tank with a
>large female Hemichromis who kept both at bay.  I replaced her with 8
>Thysochromis ansorgii which gives the male something to chase.  There are
>enough of them that the aggression seems to be adequately dispersed.  I do
>have to ensure that the female gets an opportunity to eat.  The female has
>been courting the male but he has responded by, at best, simply tolerating
>the female. Although Linke and Staeck mention spawning, has anyone on the
>list had any luck?  Is there a spawning trigger?
>
>Charles Ray

     My females would swell with eggs and court and take the abuse and the
males were only interested in abuse. The males incesently dig and I have
had several males develope a facial erosion the eats away all the flesh. I
beleive the substrate must be either sand or mud to avoid this. The males
never bother any of the dithers in the tank, large west African tetras etc.
I even keep some P. taeniatus and P. pulcher that spawned and raised some
fry in the 75 gal tank with them.
      The females were always provided with places to hide. The males were
longer but the females were wider and places to occupy that isolated them
were difficult to provide.
     David Soars said he had had some luck spawning humilis, but we somehow
never finished the conversation, I believe tequilla had something to do
with it. ;-o  I do know it was not the Guinea variety.

MikeD










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humilis

by Frauley/Elson <fraulels/minet.ca>
Date: Sun, 29 Nov 1998
To: apisto/majordomo.pobox.com

Alysoun McLaughlin & Andrew Blumhagen wrote:
> 
> We don't keep humilis, although I'm sure Andrew would love a pair...
> 
> However, one thought did strike me from the recent discussion on how
> aggressive they are, and how difficult they've been to breed.
> 
> Might the "betta approach" work for you?  Separate male and female,
> fatten them both up, and then dump them together just before a storm
> comes through?
> 
> Alysoun McLaughlin
> 
Nope. Been there. Done that. Fat corpse.
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
-Gary


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humilis

by <kathy/thekrib.com>
Date: Sun, 29 Nov 1998
To: apisto/majordomo.pobox.com

Hi everyone,
I tried these guys too, same result, gave up.  Some of the best in Seattle
have....same results, beautiful fish.  They were two mean to do several
times, seeing two color varieties destroy themselves was enough for me
(Lib. red, and Kasewe).  The only person I know that I believe to have
spawned them is Kurt Zadnick....anyone have his email address??? Perhaps
we can get an answer from him.

Kathy


On Sat, 28 Nov 1998, Charles Ray wrote:

> I have also gone through the "watch the male kill the females" with
> humilis.  I have a pair I've had now for well over six months.  I designed
> their tank as one would for the large south americans that don't cohabit
> well.  They're in a 55, the bottom is littered with broken flower pots and
> lots of pieces of PVC that are too small for the male to enter but large
> enough for the female to do so.  For a while they shared the tank with a
> large female Hemichromis who kept both at bay.  I replaced her with 8
> Thysochromis ansorgii which gives the male something to chase.  There are
> enough of them that the aggression seems to be adequately dispersed.  I do
> have to ensure that the female gets an opportunity to eat.  The female has
> been courting the male but he has responded by, at best, simply tolerating
> the female. Although Linke and Staeck mention spawning, has anyone on the
> list had any luck?  Is there a spawning trigger?
> 
> Charles Ray
> 
> > In fact, I walked by a tankful last week - beautiful Guinea
> >>humilis, yellow and red and purple - a morph I'd never tried. I looked,
> >>I admired, I left. I'm proud...
> >>I've had the same poor luck with atahulpa, although I gave up after two
> >>tries. From now on, if for some strange reason I want to see carnage,
> >>I'll watch cartoons.
> >>-Gary
> >
> >The Guinea are my passion and have cost me small fortunes in shipping and
> >purchasing. They can kill faster and easier than a croc. As for color the
> >males are the most beautiful plum purple with yellow fins and the females
> >are accented with silvery white on the tail and irridesent hot pink and
> >lime green on the flanks. Not to mention the glowing pink to red belly!!
> >
> >I will not but them again! X 100 ----------------------------maybe
> >MikeD
> >
> >
> >
> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >This is the apistogramma mailing list, apisto@majordomo.pobox.com.
> >For instructions on how to subscribe or unsubscribe or get help,
> >email apisto-request@majordomo.pobox.com.
> >Search http://altavista.digital.com for "Apistogramma Mailing List Archives"!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> This is the apistogramma mailing list, apisto@majordomo.pobox.com.
> For instructions on how to subscribe or unsubscribe or get help,
> email apisto-request@majordomo.pobox.com.
> Search http://altavista.digital.com for "Apistogramma Mailing List Archives"!
> 


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humilis

by "Helen Burns" <hlnburns/thefree.net>
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998
To: <apisto/majordomo.pobox.com>

 I know of two members of the BCA who have bred Kasewe.  Nick Fletcher our
newsletter editor wrote recently in the NL:  Six young were purchased which,
turned out to be 1 male and 5 females they were housed in a 30x15x12
tank.    He found them to be the shyest species he had known.  18 months
down the road he removed two females to give to a friend.  By doing so the
tank was disrupted so he re-arranged the tank dicor (pots etc and removed a
substantial amount of java moss which was over grown).  One week later he
noticed in a half coconut shell one of the females with wrigglers.  As a
result of shedding two female Kasewe the tank turned around from nothing of
interest to a sudden population explosion.
Helen.



>I tried these guys too, same result, gave up.  Some of the best in Seattle
>have....same results, beautiful fish.  They were two mean to do several
>times, seeing two color varieties destroy themselves was enough for me
>(Lib. red, and Kasewe).  The only person I know that I believe to have
>spawned them is Kurt Zadnick....anyone have his email address??? Perhaps
>we can get an answer from him.
>
>Kathy
>

humilis

by Piabinha/aol.com
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998
To: apisto/majordomo.pobox.com

how about keeping male & female separated via eggcrate barrier?  that way they
can see, smell each other and the male can fertilize the eggs via the barrier
without either fish getting into contact with each other.  this has been done
for bigger and aggressive cichlids.

tsuh yang chen, nyc


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	Up to Apistogramma/Dwarf Cichlids The Krib	This page was last updated 20 December 1998