can you keep just 1?

[Biogirl361]

...I don't really want to take the time to deal with raising and selling fry... will one male borelli be okay by himself in a tank? It's a planted tank with some tetras and other small fish.

 

[Cowboy]

That is just fine. I keep some of my males in solo tanks until I am ready to try breeding them with a female. The only disadvantage I can see is that they are really fun to watch when there is a female in the tank. Plus they exhibit more pronounced color when trying to impress a female.

 

[Biogirl361]

okay. right now i have two juveniles and although i can't tell the sexes apart they look the same to me and one of them is constantly harrassing the other one so i figure it is two males. so i was going to try to bring one of them back to the store tomorrow.
another thing for anyone experiences with borellis or apistos in general: the larger of my two identical looking juveniles likes to go up the the smaller one, turn yellow, and kind of wiggle its body at the other one. it usually ends up smacking the smaller one across the face with its tail. then when the little one swims away the big one chases it and nips his tail. what is this all about?? at first i thought it might be a female trying to mate with a male but i have always heard pairs are peaceful and only two males would fight.

 

[mooman]

I don't have any experience with juvi apistos, but I'm pretty sure the "fish slap" as I call it is pre-spawning behavior between a male and a female. The chasing doesn't mean much, i've seen both of my pairs chase each other. I think male on male, or female on female aggression is not usually preceded by anything other than fin and gill flares. I am by no means an expert however, and look forward to an opinion from some more experienced breeders.

 

[fishgeek]

i'd agree the 'fish slap' is a flirty thing in most instances performed by the female to the male

although it can be seen between two sparring females , who ever can push the most water is assumed stronger and wins , saves on any real damage in fighting
i would assume males might do this too though have never kept males together other than when crowded and growing out

andrew

 

[aspen]

does either of your fish show any black markings on the leading edge of their ventral fins? this will show a female for sure in borellii ime. it is present in 1/4" fish. when females go yellow, their black markings get very dark as well.

i think it is possible to keep 2 male borellii's together as long as there are no females present. but, if the agression gets too much, one will have to be removed. this type of agression is pretty standard with apistos. make sure there are hiding places. torn fins is too much, but they should sort out who's the boss and let things settle down. fish are different though ymmv.

atm i have a tank with different species of males together, and while there is a bit of agression, it s pretty calm. fish are all diferent sizes, with a small geophagus which is the undisputed boss of the tank at 2 1/2 ".

if you keep one cichlid in a tank, they seem to be much more interactive with the keeper. breeding has it's own agression problems which don't surface in singles as much ime.

rick

 

[Biogirl361]

well both of the fish have somewhat of a black mark on their ventral fins but the marks on the larger (more agressive) one are much more pronounced. i have to look very closely to see anything like that on the smaller one. i suppose i might have a pair after all,.. but since it is looking like the smaller (male?) is going to get killed pretty soon if i don't break it up i am taking the agressive one back to the store. maybe i can try adding a female back some day after he gets bigger. or maybe they are two females and i'll have to add a male later.
they both have pronounced blue spangles on their cheeks, does this mean anything?

 

[ervis]

well both of the fish have somewhat of a black mark on their ventral fins but the marks on the larger (more agressive) one are much more pronounced. i have to look very closely to see anything like that on the smaller one. i suppose i might have a pair after all,.. but since it is looking like the smaller (male?) is going to get killed pretty soon if i don't break it up i am taking the agressive one back to the store. maybe i can try adding a female back some day after he gets bigger. or maybe they are two females and i'll have to add a male later.
they both have pronounced blue spangles on their cheeks, does this mean anything?

How big are they? I've got some pictures of mine when they were about 3/4 inch long. Look here and see if this helps.

http://www.geocities.com/erviservy/Borellii_Breeding.html

steve

 

[Biogirl361]

hmm... well it definitly doesn't look anything like the alpha male... it looks quite a bit like the subdominant male or one of the non-breeding colors females. I wish I could tell more distinctly about the black on the ventrals, it seems to me it is there but very faint. now i think that the one i gave away was definitly a female, because that one definitly had the black on the ventrals. thanks for the pics!

ps. oops i forgot... it is probably about an inch long.