# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Cichlids >  Apistogramma hongsloi II

## Cacatuoides

JUst to share my recent addition from biotope....

Sorry for the blurry pic....the fish is still stressed in my spare tank for acclimatising, the colors are just superb!!

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## Wackytpt

Look like you gotten yourself a gem too.

Good to see all you guys getting quality fishes.

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## Cacatuoides

Thanks Nicholas....I'm sure you'll also get yourself a gem too

This guy has excellent coloration at this moment, I'm sure it will improve greatly after pumping him up with more good stuff  :Razz:  seldom see a hongsloi with so much redness in it, plus a yellow face too....will give it more time to settle down in its new home  :Wink:

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## Wackytpt

Nope. I didn't get anything.  :Smile: 

Still haven't had the chance to the fishes.

Wait for your fish to settle down in the tank then take a better picture.

Where the female picture?

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## illumnae

> Thanks Nicholas....I'm sure you'll also get yourself a gem too
> 
> This guy has excellent coloration at this moment, I'm sure it will improve greatly after pumping him up with more good stuff  seldom see a hongsloi with so much redness in it, plus a yellow face too....will give it more time to settle down in its new home


eman, let's go get cyclopeeze for our new purchases...astaxathin = very red fish naturally enhanced  :Grin:  wish i could use the raw astaxathin i have sitting in my fridge, but i don't want to feed beefheart to my apistos

P.S. I claim partial responsibility for eman's new gem! i encouraged him *strongly* to get it while he was ogling at it  :Laughing:

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## Cacatuoides

Oh yes, thanks to Yi Xiang who has put in so much good words otherwise I would have missed the "GEM" and left the shop!!

I've used cyclopeeze before, it hardly sinks, maybe I should take it out and use it again....I bought a small bottle at Sera Centre....or perhaps get the cyclopeeze flakes?  :Grin:

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## trident

eman,
congrats on your good buy, real beauty.
hope he some left this weekend.

richard

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## illumnae

the viejitas and macmasteri were still in the tanks when i left yesterday...they're beauties too, maybe you can get those richard  :Smile:

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## genes

Nice specimen eman. Reminds me of my previous Ap. Hongsloi.

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## leeruisheng

Looking good. Yup lots of redness. I liked.

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## leeruisheng

What's the difference between hongsloi II, I and just honglsoi?

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## Cacatuoides

More pictures...
Trying my best to get a good shot with a point and shoot camera  :Grin:

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## trident

eman, 
looks like it's quite stable now, venturing out in the open.

Richard

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## Aquaculture

Handsome looking male... Making me really itchy to venture into Apisto  :Grin:

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## Cacatuoides

An advance welcome to the Apisto Club!!!

You'll never regret your membership!!  :Razz:

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## leeruisheng

I must say that the female looks excellent.

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## iwishweallcouldwin

looks good eman, whats the rectangular cave like things inside your tank? you planning to breed them in those?

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## Cacatuoides

Thats a rectangular ceramic cave besides the other types of ceramic caves available for them to breed in  :Wink:  more choices for them

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## iwishweallcouldwin

haha i see, where did you get them? do those retangular caves have one or two openings? you succeeded in breeding apistos in them before?

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## sheng

I saw C328 selling them before

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## Cacatuoides

I got them from my neighbourhood lfs in the past, apistos have bred in there a few times....only has one opening at the front....

There is actually a few of such fancy ceramic caves by UP-Aqua but I don't know if they carry them in Singapore.....

Anyone knows the distributor of UP-Aqua in Singapore?

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## iwishweallcouldwin

hmmm not sure about UP-Aqua, thanks sheng for the info though, will check 328 out sometime soon.

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## Cacatuoides

Some pictures I manage to capture using a pns camera  :Wink: 
Male is still chasing the female around, although she has recovered and eating well now
Coloration is getting stronger as well as finnage is extending too!!  :Grin:

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## leeruisheng

Growing up nicely. Colouration good enough for me. But hope that there's a lot more room for the fins development.

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## illumnae

hey Eman, time to change your nick to Hongsloi  :Laughing:

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## Cacatuoides

wilson: yea, its still a young male, a lot more time to grow to its full potential...  :Grin: 

illumnae: your should change to elizabethae  :Wink:

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## trident

Eman,
The hongsloi didn't catch my eyes at first, but the more I looked at it, the more I like it. Congrats on your purchase.
Richard

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## illumnae

> wilson: yea, its still a young male, a lot more time to grow to its full potential... 
> 
> illumnae: your should change to elizabethae


elizabitaeniata you mean  :Laughing: 

Richard: Eman brought the hongsloi home before the outing, so you may not have managed to get a look at it. maybe that's why it didn't register as one of the nice fishes you saw that day  :Smile:

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## Cacatuoides

Thanks Richard. I must really thank YiXiang for pushing the Hongsloi to me that day, i didn't quite have a liking for it then, till I brought it home and realised its true beauty!!  :Grin: 

When compared to the Ap. Hongsloi in the RVA website, i think mine looks better  :Razz:  
Its just so red and yellow!!! very good contrast

http://www.rva.ne.jp/apisto/ap_hongsloi.htm

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## genes

Nice specimen eman. Young specimen and finnage is sure to grow larger as it matures. Your female seems ready to breed, ventrals are very black.  :Smug: 

Actually, your Ap. hongsloi is more closely related to the classic Ap. hongsloi "Rotstrich/Red Streak" form. The one in the RVA picture would be a Ap. hongsloi II. Ap. hongsloi II are classified by the large amount of red on their face. 

Here is another picture of a Ap. hongsloi II from Wilhelm posted by ApistoworldHK sometime back in the forum.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...29255001-2.jpg

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## Cacatuoides

Thanks genes, you have way more gems in your tanks for me to drool at  :Wink: 
the female isn't ready to breed yet, keeps running away whenever the male comes near her....I'm focusing on feeding them well for now  :Smile:

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## genes

Feed them live brine shrimps and with plenty of water change, should incite them to breed soon. Oh, another information for you guys regarding the Ap. hongsloi "Rotstrich". It was said that the Rotstrich forms are the wild forms of Ap. hongsloi before they are being specially bred to produce intense colouration (Hongsloi II = aquarium strain) till they look artificial.

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## Cacatuoides

thanks eugene, I will try your advice.... :Wink:

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## Cacatuoides

Good news!! After a week since the female went into hiding in a coconut cave, she has finally brought out her fries of the cave for the first time today!! So happy to see fries (Is been long time since I raise fries  :Razz: ) The fries are so small compared to Ap Cacatuoides fries whch I bred before....happily feeding them live bbs now  :Laughing: 

The male is swimming at other parts of the tank, got chased by the female whenever he comes near....good mother protecting her fries  :Smile:

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## illumnae

congrats bro...hope you manage to raise this batch of fry successfully

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## leeruisheng

Great to hear that Eman. Good luck.

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## illumnae

seems that the rainy weather lately has brought down temperatures islandwide and triggered a breeding frenzy in apistos...lots of spawn reports these couple of weeks. my 2 pairs are also breeding non-stop

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## leeruisheng

Maybe it depends on location. Im living in Jurong and it was blistering hot, think the whole of this and last month not more then 5 days of rain. 

But anyway, ya been seeing lots of spawning recently.

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## trident

Eman,
Congrats! How many fries for this brood?
Richard

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## Cacatuoides

Not sure if its the change of temperature thats the factor for spawning....

Who else had their apisto breeding too?

I can't really see the fries as they are so tiny and this is their 1st spawn...
maybe about 10? got to wait for the fries to grow a little to confirm numbers....  :Grin:

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## genes

Congrats eman! Remove the male or the fries to ensure higher survival rate. Don't let the fries go to waste.  :Smile: 

So its back to hatching bbs again huh?  :Grin:

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## Cacatuoides

Thanks Eugene, really miss those days of hatching bbs everyday to feed fries....will definitely do what it takes to make sure these fries survive and grow up!!  :Laughing: 
Luckily there's the hatchery dish in hand, gone were the days of constantly bubbling sounds and salty feel...

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## iwishweallcouldwin

congrats eman! you must be feeling super happy now huh? take good care of the fries and do update us constantly about their progress! Well done!!

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## Cacatuoides

Thanks Clinton! Darn happy to be able to successfully breed this pair as a lot of things happened....

The female was not well and almost died but manage to cure her.....then the male kept chasing her till she turn black, luckily she survived through all this and eventually became a very good mother....I'm happy for her too!  :Jump for joy: 


Fries too small, can't see them....but the female's colors look superb!!

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## iwishweallcouldwin

haha guess sometimes certain female pieces need to be toughened up first before they can spawn! well, glad to hear your success story, and check out her super black ventrals!

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## Cacatuoides

I was rather afraid that she might not make it after so much harassing and chasing by the male, glad she made it and even bred.....

So far she's been herding and protecting the fries very well....i left the male in the same tank as he was nice and quiet on his own at the far corner of the tank, no need to scoop him out....  :Wink:  fries has been growing very slowly, at least they're taking a few bbs....i guess they are one of the slower growing apistos? Anyone have any experience raising this species of fries?

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## leeruisheng

I do. I also discovered the same thing as you did about not removing the male. The male did not harass the fries. But there was an incident. At that time the fries were independent and 8mmTL. I was feeding the hongsloi family and the male was the most aggressive and fast in snatching food. His actions were so fast that he gulpped a fry by mistake. Thought that he will spit out but no.

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## illumnae

i remove males for 2 reasons..firstly because after awhile he may harass the female to breed again and thus stress her to the point of eating the fry. secondly because with the increased aggression shown by the female, the male's beautiful fins and tail may get ripped, which is something i want to avoid

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## Cacatuoides

Guess I'm going to remove the male for the above reasons, never what might happen overnight....better protect this batch of fries!!  :Grin:  thanks guys!

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## Cacatuoides

Some Updates: 
- Fries from 1st batch are left alone in their tank
- Eggs from 2nd batch have just turned wrigglers yesterday, brood size seem larger this time.....male and female are in same tank by divided by a transparent partition, both are growing healthy and colors are getting nicer & nicer!!  :Wink:

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## iwishweallcouldwin

wow a second batch already? well done!

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## Cacatuoides

Actually not so healthy to have the next batch so fast....its a 2 week cycle
Going to put the female on holiday after this batch....
Now I just keep pumping her up and feeding her well...  :Grin: 

only spotted 2 fries from the 1st batch

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## iwishweallcouldwin

This may be a dumb question but why is it not good for them to breed so soon again? Please enlighten me... Thanks...

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## illumnae

breeding takes alot of energy  :Wink:

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## iwishweallcouldwin

oh ok. in that case i think common sense will suggest that the pair needs to be beefed up again before they spawn once more.. :Laughing:  :Opps:  :Embarassed:  thanks for the info.

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## Cacatuoides

Yupz, agree with YiXIang...

you will also notice that the belly of the female will get sunken after she laid her eggs,
thats why it is important to beef her up nicely before the next spawn  :Wink: 

Crossing my fingers to see free-swimming fries in the next 2 days!!  :Laughing:

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## illumnae

all the best bro!

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## Cacatuoides

Thanks bro, I stole a quick peek into the cave just now, saw the wrigglers with their cute little tails....they're still small, so i think it'll take them another 2 more days to talk a walk out with their mom  :Wink:

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## Cacatuoides

Good news is that the pair is starting to take the decap. BS eggs  :Smile:  good because the female is a picky eater who doesn't take flakes while the male does....

Did a major overhaul of the fries tank today to make way for a bigger tank....managed to scoop out 5 healthy fries from the first batch...have transferred them into a 1.5ft tank for them to grow out  :Smile:  

Quite excited over the new tank, although just half feet more in width, the whole tank looks so big!! awaiting to put in new apistos in it!! Did a partition, each is 30cm x 45cm, planning to put in 1 pair in each partition  :Grin:  pictures coming soon!

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## illumnae

congrats!  :Smile: 

strange that your fish took so long to start taking decapsulated BS eggs. all my fish from discus to apistos to tetras and even apisto fry have always fed greedily on the eggs even the first time they see it in their lives  :Huh?:  but whatever the case, good thing she's eating it now  :Smile:  it's one of the more nutritious forms of staple food available, and semi-natural too!

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## Cacatuoides

Here's my new tank!!!

2ft x 1.5 x 1.5

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## genes

Good setup for growing up fries eman. But i feel its abit too sparse if you are intending to use it for breeding.

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## Cacatuoides

I have a few more narrow leave java fern tied on DW, will be putting it in soon....
Thanks Eugene.

Now that the "house" is done, now is to wait for the arrival of its occupants!!  :Laughing: 

Update of the 2nd Batch of Ap. Hongsloi Fries: Surprisingly, there were a big bunch of fries, about 50, swimming out with their mom....they're taking bbs now!! very happy with this batch and will take the best care of it!! hope to get some decent pictures  :Wink:

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## leeruisheng

Can tell that you're really dedicating lots of care and effort for this A. hongsloi fries. Maybe few months time might want to get a good pair from you.

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## trident

Eman,
The tank looks so neat.  :Smile: 
Congrats on the fries.
Richard

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## Cacatuoides

Thanks wilson & richard....

Feeding the fries bbs twice a day, hoping they'll grow faster  :Wink:  I believe they belong to the slower growing species of apisto....

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## Cacatuoides

Some Updates:
Fries from 1st batch are about 1 month old and 1cm...5 of them survived

Fries from 2nd batch are currently with their mother....still very small, about 50plus 
They seem to belong to the slower growing species of apistos..

Some pictures to share, using my "pns" camera  :Wink:

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## trident

Eman,
They look damn cute. So tempted to get some from you when they grow up.
Any picture of the first batch?
Richard

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## Cacatuoides

Quite difficult to take a decent picture of the 1st batch as they are in a grow out tank which isn't very "clean" and they're camouflaged in my africana which makes it even more challenging!!

I'll try to see what I can do  :Wink:

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## illumnae

nice and well fed fry!  :Smile:

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## Cacatuoides

Yea! Its quite fun calculating the time for the next batch of bbs to harvest.....
so there will be an endless supply of bbs everyday!!
they still refuse to feed on the decap BS eggs....only the bigger fishes are ok with it

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## illumnae

haha how odd...my cry are all orange bellied with the decap bs eggs

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## Cacatuoides

I guess fishes do have their own preferences as well  :Wink:

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## shrimp999

They are so cute~~~!!!!!
Hopefully this will happen in my tank! :Grin:

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## Cacatuoides

> They are so cute~~~!!!!!
> Hopefully this will happen in my tank!


I'm sure your turn will come very soon if your tank conditions are right  :Laughing: 
Breeding and raising fries are the highlights of this wonderful hobby!!

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