Apistogramma allpahuayo
Apistogramma allpahuayo is naturally found in the waters of South America. The fish can be found in the Amazon, Orinoco, Paraguay and Guyana river basins. The fish can be found in both clear and turbid water.
Apistogramma allpahuayo have a shape similar to Apistogramma cacatuoides. You can hardly find any difference between their females, although the black spot on the chin of Apistogramma allpahuayo is slightly larger. The same spot is also present in the males. The males are large, often twice the size of the females. Their anal and dorsal fins are filiform. The pelvic fins are transparent, with a slight whitish tint and red pointed ends, sometimes extending to the root of the caudal plumage. In addition, males have a black stripe on their body along the lateral line. Females reach a size of 5 cm and males grow to about 9 cm in length.
Keep the fish should be small harems, where 1 male has 3-4 females. Each female occupies a specific area, and the male fiercely guards their sites from the encroachment of other fish.
Preferably a spacious aquarium, the volume of 100 liters. At the bottom should be a large number of shelters in the form of large stones, snags and thickets of plants.
Water parameters: temperature 21-29° C, hardness dH 1-4°, acidity pH 4,5-7,0. Need a biological filtration, aeration and a weekly change of 1/3 of the aquarium water with fresh. The fish are very sensitive to water quality and therefore the water quality must be monitored closely. Also note that keeping the fish in harsher water considerably reduces their lifespan.
The fish's menu in the wild consists of small insect larvae and detritus. In the aquarium, the fish are fed live and frozen Artemia nauplii, daphnia and bloodworms. The fish also eat dry granular and flake food. They are fed in small portions twice a day.
Reproduction
The Apistogramma allpahuayo reaches sexual maturity at 4 months of age. By then, the fish are usually about 4 cm in size.
The pair of spawners is planted in a spawning tank with a capacity of 50 liters. The spawning tank should have numerous hiding places. Normally, the female lays eggs on the inner walls of the cave. Depending on her physical condition, the female spawns up to 200 eggs in total. The eggs incubate for 1.5-3 days, depending on water temperature.
The hatched larvae feed on nutrients located in their yolk sacs for the first few days of their lives, and after a week they start eating Artemia nauplii.
