Panduro apisto

Care at a glance

Overview

The simplest setup is a single bonded male and female pair on a tank footprint of at least 60 by 30 cm, in 75 liters or more. A 1 male to 2 or 3 female harem works but needs a noticeably larger tank. They are mostly peaceful bottom dwellers that pick along the sand, though a spawning female turns hyper-aggressive while guarding eggs and fry, and in smaller tanks you may need to pull the male out. Keep the water at 24 to 28 C, soft, and acidic from pH 5 to 6.5. Pair them with small, soft-water dither fish in the midwater and skip anything boisterous or hard-water loving. Feed small frozen and live foods like brine shrimp, daphnia, and bloodworms.

In the wild

Panduro apistos come from the Río Ucayali and Río Tahuayo drainages in the Loreto Region of northern Peru, where they live over soft sand in shaded, tannin-stained water full of leaf litter and submerged roots. To match that, give them a tank of at least 75 liters with a soft sand substrate they can sift, plenty of driftwood and roots forming caves, dried leaf litter for tannins, dim lighting, and low flow. Run the water warm, 24 to 28 C, soft, and acidic with a pH of 5 to 6.5. Captive-bred fish handle the upper end near 6.5 better than wild stock.

Good to know

This is a dwarf cichlid in the family Cichlidae, sometimes sold as the Blue Panda apisto. It is sexually dimorphic, with males reaching about 7.5 cm and females staying smaller at around 5.5 cm. It is a substrate and cave spawner, and the female does the guarding once eggs are laid. Most fish in the trade are commercially bred.

Did you know

The female runs the nursery. After she lays eggs in a cave or under cover, she takes over guarding duty and herds the fry around the tank, while the male patrols the wider territory. That split is why a female who is normally calm will suddenly chase a much larger tankmate, or even the father, away from her brood.

Related species

• 

  Hongsloi dwarf cichlid

  Apistogramma hongsloi

  3.1 in (8 cm)20 gal (75 L)73–84°F (23–29°C)

• 

  Viejita dwarf cichlid

  Apistogramma viejita

  2.8 in (7 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
• Inca dwarf cichlid

  Apistogramma baenschi

  2.8 in (7 cm)20 gal (75 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)

• 

  Agassiz's dwarf cichlid

  Apistogramma agassizii

  3.5 in (9 cm)20 gal (75 L)72–84°F (22–29°C)

• 

  Macmaster's dwarf cichlid

  Apistogramma macmasteri

  2.4 in (6 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
• Elizabeth's dwarf cichlid

  Apistogramma elizabethae

  2 in (5 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–84°F (24–29°C)