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<H1>Dwarf convert</H1><DIV id=Qtextbox><P><STRONG>Author: reddstagg</STRONG><BR><BR>Hey there board.

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Ive got the dwaft bug. Currently trying to get my hand on some cheap tanks down here in melbourne, so if you have any let me know :D

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The Dwarf cichlids seem amazing, more interesting then then what ive been keeping. I would love to get some pratical ideas and pointers about keeping and breeding.

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Like water change regimes, filtration(UG? or more high tech) and how to get/maintain water parameters.

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I currently have a 3ft, which ill silicone a wall in the middle so i then have 2 tanks (1.5ftx14"x18"). Probally going to get another 3ft'r and do the same. so i have 4 tanks to keep dwarfs in. or would it be better to keep the 2 tanks as 3ft's so theres more water and more a water buffer.

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And trying to get a 4ftX2ftX2ft to move my plants into and to plant it up... and help out other hobbiests that need plants for there tanks, so many melbournians want java fern and java moss and swords... just not willing to buy it from shops :D.

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I have been doing reasearch, and what ive read scares me alittle. Males dieing after spawns, small hatchs/minimal survival. Sensitive to amonia.

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Any advice from the experienced would be greatly appreciated.

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Dean

</DIV><H2>Replies »</H2><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: collaroy</STRONG><BR><BR>Dean,

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I thought you would have got a reply by now, but the experienced dwarf keepers must be on holidays. I would suggest not seperating the 3 ft tank in half for a whole lot of reasons, ie. you loose the buffer and seperate filtration would be required for both tanks. I use a fly screen to seperate my tanks, and it works very well. I just have to make sure I use gravel cleaner on each section.

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In a well matured filter system, you will get no Ammonia and nitrate and dwarf keeping shouldnt be a problem. I think you will find that the reason the male dies after a spawn (which is not that common) is because they do not remove the male after a spawn (due to aggression by the female) when using a small tank. This mainly applies to Appistogrammas & checkerboards I think, and is not a problem with others such as rams which share in p[arental duties.

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Now that my filters are mature on all my tanks, I get virtually no nitrate and now find that I can easily do with minimal &

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small water changes. For eg, I am now doing 20% per fortnight, and I might even decrease this amount. Good luck.

<p></P></DIV><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: Melbourne Bill</STRONG><BR><BR>Hi

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Welcome to the world of dwarf cichlids. As an unbiased person I do not think you can go past Pelvicachromis species (aka kribensis) and a pair will happily live and breed in a 2ft tank.

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Like Apistogramma, male Pelvicachromis are generally in deep trouble when fry are free swimming. The more intelligent males find themselves a cave where they stay for a couple of weeks.

<p></P></DIV><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: reddstagg</STRONG><BR><BR>oh tanks

guys.

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Yeah thought i might of got a replay before then but thanks for your reasponse.

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I spent all arvo reading at the krib (website not fish) after i posted this and then all the next day aswell.... never realised the great articles they have there.

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Melbourne bill.... kribs dont excite me that much... i dont know why. Apisto's excite me... its like they where made for my tastes.

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Collaroy.... ive currently got an ehiem 2213 running my 3ft. I sorta thought i was shooting myself in the foot when i suggested dividing the tanks... even more water hassels. Just trying to think of ways to better use my tank space.

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And i might not be getting a 4x2x2 lol checked there around the $420 mark new :S thought they would be $160ish

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so yeah now i may just settle with 2 3fts.

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Some questions i havnt been able to get answered throught the reading ive done... common observation things you guys would know.... do they dig? and uproot plants?

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Would A. Caca be a good starter Apisto? how many would you put in a 3ft to breed... just a trio... or 2 trios(ive got no idea)? and dither fish? any recommendations/worth having dithers?

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Thanks guys.

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Dean

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Sorry another long post hahahaha ill try keeping them shorter :D

</DIV><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: MattyB</STRONG><BR><BR>Reddstagg,

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As to dither fish, I have Cardinal tetras [smaller tetras - i'd say the larger species say Congos would be a no no] in with my dwarfs. The blue and red of these guys looks awesome against the green of my heavily planted 4 footer.

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Although, in saying that, in a heavily planted tank, they seem to be pretty outgoing [would depend on species]. Just have enough hidey-holes for them to escape into.

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Maybe you could try some subdued lighting. I have a double 4ft light on my tank, and it is probably a bit much for what the fish would require, but the plants love it. Once again though, in the wild dwarfs are found in shallower water [more experienced keepers confirm/deny?] so lighting would be reasonably bright?

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Mine haven't uprooted any plants as yet, though they also haven't tried breeding either, so no pits or anything have been dug.

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I started with Bolivian Rams - cool fish !! Apparently easier to keep than most Apistos. Probably not the extent of colour diversity as A. caca... but hey, you could always have both !!

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HTH

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Matt

</DIV><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: 23Skidoo</STRONG><BR><BR>Welcome to Dwarfs, a few of mine have died lately, rendering my attempts to breed impossible. But dwarfs are great becasue they are among the least aggresive of all cichlids. I've had A.cacu and Gold rams in a 3ft together for a couple of months. No probs between them.

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And that sounds like alot for a 4x2x2, keep your eye on the classifieds and you might find a cheapy!

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</DIV><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: reddstagg</STRONG><BR><BR>Thankz guys great to see a small community of dedicated people here.

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MattyB... from the reading ive done, People who have visited the amazon said... they do live in shallow water... but the water has about a foot of leaf litter...so they would live pretty much in the dark under the leafs.

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In one of the articles i read someone collecting in the wild ran a net through the leafs and scoped up about 30 fish. (only talking a small area (12in square)

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In the aquarium tho we obveriously cant have as many fish and probally that much leaf litter would clog filters as it decomposed. However the reason i was asking about number of fish in a tank i was reading of an american lady created a 2ft cube.. with 1ft of leaf litter.. and mangrove roots. Which housed about 20 fish. she said it was the most enjoyable tank, because of social interactions,breeding,hiding in leaves..ect She also there was some tension trying to hold territory but because of the amount of leaves and hiding places they where pretty much happy.

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Still another long post tongue.gif

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Dean

<p></P></DIV><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: Melbourne Bill</STRONG><BR><BR>Hi Dean

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Yes leaf litter does definitely work with Apistogrammas. I used dried oak leaves jammed into a 2ft tank with two pairs of Apistos. I confess that it took a huge leap of faith to include leaf litter in the tank after we have been generally brought up to keep our tanks pretty sterile.

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Apistogramma cacatuoides are one of the easier ones to keep and breed. However be careful of the fish that you purchase - there are too many fish now with spinal deformities arising from mass breeding of this fish.

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I think we would have more Apisto fanatics around if we could get more species imported into Australia - after all they are all legal imports. (No, dont start Bill....)

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Bill

</DIV><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: collaroy</STRONG><BR><BR>Reddstagg,

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In my opinion, nothing looks as good as a planted community tank with whatever fish you wish to put in there (well nothing short of a reef tank anyway). Obviously if you want to have cichlids with a planted tank, you must take the dwarf cichlid route, ie, rams, appistos, kribs etc. And within this group, the kribs are among the most spectacular coloured of the lot, not to mention hardy and easy to breed. (just backing up Melbourne Bill's recommendation). Dont worry about the strength of the lighting, as nearly all the dwarf cichlids we get in Aust have been acclimatised to variable conditions (ie, higher ph water, stronger lighting etc). Don't be afraid to put pieces of driftwood in the tank, as this will create a better looking landscape than the rotten leaves, and will also include places for the dwarves to hide. You can count on approx 10 litres per dwarf cichlid, if the width is = or > height. If not, then perhaps 12-14 litres per dwarf as per 14w x 18h. You can include some small tetras and cory's in addition, but do not overload with the cories & other bottom feeders.

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My appistos do not disturb plants at all, neither do my kribs, rams etc. Although, I have seen kribs disturb plants in the past, it is easy to change things around to avoid this. Stick with pairs (even though some appistos, checkerboard etc are polygomous ie one male breeds with several females) if you want to start breeding, as it keeps things simple.

</DIV><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: Th0mas</STRONG><BR><BR>Here's a bit of my experience....

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apisto generally don't dig that much. They prefers caves and crevices for breeding site.

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dicrossus (checkerboard) can dig a little if the female does not find a suitable spawn site. They generally prefers hard/stiff long leaf plant (spawn on leave surface), but sometime do spawn at odd places (once caught spawning against the vertical corner of the tank, while another time dug a shallow pit at the mouth of a pot).

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Rams and Bolivian Butterfly are open spawner. they sometime dig shallow pit or settle with a flat surface (rock/pot/etc).

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Krib will dig - and produces a massive pit just for the sake of trying to make a perfect spawn site. I've seen them dug up several places around the tank to work out what they prefer.

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If you intend to breed them, DO NOT keep corydora. They will happily clean out the nest for you in no time, so far I've only found krib to be able to defend against corydora's night raid (maybe due to the significantly larger krib fry).

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Some apistogramma can be very agressive (nijsseni/panduro are very agressive at young age). Make sure there's ample of hiding spot to allow the "looser" to runaway.

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Make sure there's enough retreats when breeding apistogramma, sometime the female don't appreciate the male's present and can really beat the daylight out of him.

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Thomas.

</DIV><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: reddstagg</STRONG><BR><BR>thanks guy i think i got everything worked out now.

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Ill let you know when i get the tank set up with pictures... and more pictures when i get fish. but ill keep lurking round here.

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Just got notified i got a job a sanity today... start next week.. which means new tank :D.

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One of the guys from boronia's forum in melb is about to get some more A. caca from brisbane.... i might talk to him and see if we can save costs by getting some sent down together.

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There pretty good blood apprently and he has 3 lines non related blood. So hopefully that should sort out the inbreeding and quality issues.

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collaroy ... Thanks for the tips on numbers and dithers :D

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Th0mas .... yeah i read at the krib that cory's where a problem thanks

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Someone please inspire me with kribs tho... i just reacon there a cichlids answers to a betta's... both live in mud puddles

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Dean

<p></P></DIV><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: collaroy</STRONG><BR><BR>Dean,

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Kribs are stunning looking, particularly the female (thanks Thomas!). They might not look too good in the shops, but if they are well bred, there colors just light up when you give them a nice home. And they are easy to get cheaply from breeders anywhere.

</DIV><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: Th0mas</STRONG><BR><BR>Daniel,

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Thanks for the kind word on the kribs.

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I was fortunate to obtain this bloodline that has such exceptional colour. The krib quality in LFS is quite disappointing and no wonder new comers don't find krib an attractive species to keep.

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If anyone out there with good colour/quality krib, please let others know so the bloodline can be mix a bit more to avoid the problem of quality degradation (mainly due to excessive in-breeding) and eventual disappearance in our hobby (due to lack of popularity).

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Thomas.

</DIV><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: collaroy</STRONG><BR><BR>Thomas,

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With such good bloodlines, you really ought to be selling some of those kribs through this forum, to spread their bloodlines a little. Their colours are exceptional, and thats without a male krib around. Growth rate is good too, the regular female is 6-7cm already. The albino is 5-6cm.

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By the way, those German rams are all around 3cm TL now. They still need another 0.5-1.0cm, which will not take much longer !

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Daniel

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</DIV><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: 23Skidoo</STRONG><BR><BR>Hey Thomas, id' love to hear from you if you have a Krib spawn! I have a m and f but they refure to breed, i've tried a few different tanks, setups etc, and i've come to the conclusion that she just doesn't like him!

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So down the track i might get some more and try my luck.

</DIV><DIV id=Atextbox><P><STRONG>Author: fiona ls</STRONG><BR><BR>Hi Thomas, me too, I have my sole female left now from Simon's bloodlines. I'm after a nice male if I can get one.

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