Apistogramma - Three Stripped

Apistogramma sp three stripe hail from South America in the slow moving river basins of Rio Paraguay and Rio Guapore. Growing to around 5cm in length, the males are renowned for the three dark bands or stripes that run horizontally across their bodies along with an intense electric blue sheen. The females are smaller, yellow in colour but become more vibrant and their stripes more vivid when they are ready to breed. Apistogramma sp three stripe females are dominant and once the eggs are fertilised in her cave, the female will oust the male from the situation and will parent the fry solo from this point on. She becomes incredibly aggressive towards the male or any other fish who approach her or her fry. To mimic their natural environment, consider leaf litter and driftwood. Apistogramma sp three stripes will also require caves or similar for spawning. Apistogramma sp three stripe sift through substrate in search of food, provide a soft sandy substrate to enable them to do this without incurring injury.

At Wirral Aquatics we feed our Apistogramma sp three stripe EBO Pro soft artemia, mussel sticks and insect meal. We also feed live foods including brine shrimp, blood worm and daphnia.