Apistogramma baenschi “Inka”

July 19th, 2009

A couple months ago I ordered a pair of Apistogramma baenschi “Inka” off of Aquabid. This is one type of Apistogramma that I’ve wanted to keep for a long time, after seeing pictures of it online. I love the mohawk that the males have, as well as, their very pretty coloration.

Male Apistogramma baenschi

Just like Apistogramma panduro, they have a red ring on their tail fin, with a caudal spot on their body just before their tail fin. This particular fish is still a juevenille, but even so, you can see the brilliant irridescent coloration on his dorsal and pectoral fins. Blue, yellow, orange, and red are all represented on the same fish — who said freshwater fish aren’t colorful?

Male Apistogramma baenschi

I have a much larger male Apistogramma baenschi “Inka” in another tank without a mate, but I didn’t want to put these significantly smaller fish in with him. That male, however, has a mohawk that is much more feathery and while it can stand straight up, he often lets it ripple to the side in the current. It’s very unique looking, and if the guy ever sticks around for a picture, I’ll post it.

Male Apistogramma baenschi

For now, these fish are in my newly rescaped 20L, and pretty much have free reign of the aquarium. I have another pair of Botia sidthimunki loaches in there as well, but will try and fish them out when I can so that they don’t poach on any Apistogramma fry. So far, these fish seem rather straight-forward to keep, so hopefully they’ll breed for me. If anyone has any tips/experiences specific to this species, I’d love to hear them!

Apistogramma baenschi “Inka”

21 Responses to “Apistogramma baenschi “Inka””

  1. octopus.gallery Says:

    What gorgeous fish! I hope they breed for you! I’ve banned myself from buying any more apistos because they all seem to die on me.

  2. James Says:

    Beautiful fish! My wife wants Apisto’s. I just ordered 2 Long Fin German Blue Rams to breed. 😀 Good luck with those gorgeous fish!

  3. guitarfish Says:

    Thanks for the comments guys! OG, I’m surprised you haven’t had luck with Apistos. They’ve all tended to be relatively hardy for me without much extra effort. James, good luck with the German Rams — they’re beautiful fish as well!

  4. octopus.gallery Says:

    I’ve thus far lost a batch to general malaise, two (who had bred!) to camallus worms and one to ich (or possibly just the treatment. I think the heat got too high). I can’t keep rams either. Other fish that’s usually extremely hardy that we can’t keep: tiger barbs. Longest one has lived is like eight months.

  5. guitarfish Says:

    Sounds like really bad luck to me, OG. I’d say, throw them in a planted tank with CO2, and see if that makes any difference for you, as the plants should calm them down, and the CO2 will make the pH a bit more amenable to them.

  6. Matt Says:

    can i ask where you got the pair from, ive been after a nice pair for breeding for a little while and cant seem to get any. thanks

  7. guitarfish Says:

    Matt, I bought mine from apistodave on Aquabid. You’ll have to contact him to see if he still has any. Good luck!

  8. pal Says:

    Your pics have made me somewhat green with envy.
    I am awaiting arrival of some wild caught Inka 50 due to land in early December.
    Will have to treat them for parasites myself which is a bit of a concern. Any suggestions?

  9. guitarfish Says:

    Congrats on your purchase ‘Pal’! They’re great little cichlids. As for parasites, I don’t have any specific recommendations there, besides following the instructions for whatever parasite medication you have. Regardless, hopefully they’ll come in healthy, and that’ll just be a precautionary thing, as it’s certainly not a cure-all. Good luck!

  10. indyplanted Says:

    did you ever get these guys to breed? I keep stumbling on to your site from Google searches. We have a lot of the same fish and plant interests.

  11. guitarfish Says:

    indyplanted, I did have babies at one point, but unfortunately, they never made it up to adulthood, and right now, I’m left with only females. They’re great fish though!

  12. Gary Says:

    Guitarfish, I have two males and no females. Maybe a trade?

  13. Arlene W. Says:

    Hey Kris! Did you ever get another male and continue to breed them?

    If you have, I think I’d like to eventually get some from you!

    Arlene

  14. guitarfish Says:

    Hi Arlene — nope, I’ve still got a group of females. I’m hoping one of the vendors at the ACA will have some males.

  15. Bradley Says:

    did you get some of these at the ACA? I got a group and it looks like 4 males and 6 females. Mean fish! I still get excited every day when I feed their tank. Hope all is well, -Bradley, Indianapolis

  16. guitarfish Says:

    Bradley, yes I got a six pack from the ACA. They’ve merged into the rest of my colony of females pretty nicely, getting at least 2-3 males in the group. Now, I’m just waiting for the males to come of age.

    I haven’t noticed mine being particularly nasty, but I have their line of sight broken up pretty well with a lot of driftwood/plants.

  17. Gary Says:

    Hi Kris,

    Thanks for the link. I’ll keep you posted on the progress of the “Inka” trio. They are getting along very well. One of the females seems to be spending more time with the male. I’ll try to get a photo this weekend.

    Gary

  18. Kevin Says:

    Hi, I love Apistos, great photos, what Camera are you using? and please tell me what the settings are.

    Kev.

  19. guitarfish Says:

    Hi Kevin, these shots were taken using a Canon 40D with a 100m macro lens + Flash. You should be able to click through each picture to view the EXIF data in Flickr to see all of the settings for each shot.

    Thanks for the comment!

  20. Vlada Says:

    Hi I am from Serbia, I would like to buy Apistogramma Inca, and males and females, and to ask whether it can be sent to Serbia

  21. guitarfish Says:

    Sorry Vlada, I don’t sell fish. You should inquire at your local fish store to see if they can import these from South America.