Appisto "Blue Steel"

[Xtreme]

Hi all,

Just wondering who has them or knows of them being around lately

Cheers Wayne

[Th0mas]

Hi Wayne,

Not seen them around for a few years. These are suspected to be Asian made hybrid, and most specimen in the market are male (over 90%). So I really doubt if anyone is actively breeding them around.

Just curious - why the question?

Thomas.

[Xtreme]

Hey Thomas,

The reason i ask that is for that reason on the male/female ratio thing
A mate of mine has successfully bred them on a number of times and wants me to see if anyone was interested in them .
They have a fair bit of blue in them too Thomas ,nice little fish mate
I have a few at the shop atm too,not really sure what they r worth to sell either
HTH

Cheers Wayne

[Namn8r]

Can you post some pics pls Wayne. Thanks

[Xtreme]

No problem,

Should be able to get some tomorrow for you


Cheers Wayne

[flaggy]

I got one from a Sydney LFS some months ago. There were some left the last time I looked not too long ago.

[Th0mas]

Looks like they are still around then - I've just not paid attention to them.....

[Xtreme]

Hey Flaggy,

Just wondering if you have any pics of them for comparison

I will try for some pics later today

Wayne

[Reillin]

About the same price as blue or golden rams. Not a lot of value to the dedicated Apistogramma hobbyist since it "might" be a hybrid. It is also not as good looking as a blue ram or a gold ram.

I would guess $5-$10.

I hope that helps.

[flaggy]

Hi Wayne

I got mine for $13 if I remember correctly. It is dirt cheap in other countries (I heard). Bought mine in full knowledge that it was a hybrid (or very likely to be one), but got it anyway just out of curiosity.

Pretty disappointed in mine in terms of colour and general appearance, but haven't had the heart to dispose of it, so its lurking around in the community tank. Here are some pics.

http://flaggy.wemmit.net/steelblue.jpg
http://flaggy.wemmit.net/bluesteel2.jpg

Cheers

[Xtreme]

Hi all,

These r the best shots i could get for now
Sorry about the quality
I will try for some better pics tomorrow

[TW]

I have a trio I bought recently. I was disappointed LFS didn't tell me they were highly likely to be hybrids. I only found out about this possibility after googling them when I got home. Nothing was 100% confirmed in my on-line investigations, but it seems more likely than not that I have hybrids and that females are almost non existent - although not absolutely unheard of. I'd only be interested in buying a 100% confirmed female, but I guess that'd be hard to come by and I'm not sure I'd be willing to pay too much either, as the males were pretty cheap.

Congratulations on your friend breeding them. They are pretty, but are plainer than a lot of other apistos you could get.

[Robdog]

Personally I think there is too much bad press about these SteelBlue's, Blue Steels, Blue Heads or whatever they are called. I've seen them around occasionally but never in real good quality. I must admit they didn't look much like Flaggy's pics, more like something crossed with a borelli. Something like pic below.(Click on it to blow it up)
I don't believe in crossing apisto's with anything other than their own. They are too beautiful in their wild colourations.
http://thumb0.webshots.net/s/thumb4/4/7/51/103740751pJasCa_th.jpg (http://pets.webshots.com/photo/1103740751011385000pJasCa)

[TW]

Mine are quite similar to flaggy's & I think I paid a similar price. I still think they're kinda pretty, just not as pretty as a cac or aggy. More something I'd add to the community tank, instead of an apisto set-up. I like them better than say a Bolivian ram.

[Xtreme]

Hi all,
The ones that i got of a friend seem quiet colorful already even at the size of 3-4cms
Not sure about this hybrid thing as how did my friend breed them if theres no females around??
Will post more pics soon
HTH
Rob if you get a chance pop in and have a look at tell me what u think mate :wink:

Wayne

[Namn8r]

Heres a nice pic of steel blue with fry from the apisto forum.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Namn8r/steelblue.jpg (http://photobucket.com)

[Namn8r]

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Namn8r/steelblue.jpg

[Namn8r]

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Namn8r/steelblue.jpg

[Namn8r]

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Namn8r/steelblue.jpg

[Namn8r]

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/Namn8r/steelblue.jpg

[gingerbeer01]

The hybrid thing comes from the fact that they first appeared from Asia and no locality has ever been revealed.

The lack of females was given as further evidence. I think I read on the Apistogramma forum somewhere that when they do breed they do have mainly males.

The jury seems to still be out with a lot of suspicion towards the fish being a hybrid.

[Namn8r]

Ooops i thought my pc had frozen up..sorry. The pics show a male with fry. It maybe that ph plays a part in the sex ratio of fry. Maybe the broods become heavily male weighted in certain ph.?

[Xtreme]

Hi all,

Thankyou for all your comments appreciated :D

Still not 100% sure they r hybrids but hey they arnt a bad blue appisto if so :wink:
Wll put up some more pics later today if possible

Wayne