I've had this pair of apistogramma cacatuoides for about 3 months now in a 15g with 4 bronze corydoras, soft and close-to-neutral water with some tannins and kept at 26°. I've got 2 hiding spots and I've noticed one of them was being guarded by the female for two times now. The male barely cares about her and whenever she starts guarding the cave, she'll swim up to him and whip him with her tail, but he at most will flare up and swim away 4 seconds later.
I think that they havent been able to sucessfully breed because of this, and I've come to the conclusion that something needs to change if I want them to breed. I've thought about getting another female with them (which I already have in another tank) but she would get bullied since she's smaller than the one that's already there and the tank's pretty much stocked. How would he get interested in her? Should I take the corydoras out and give it another go or swap the male for another one that I have?
I think that they havent been able to sucessfully breed because of this, and I've come to the conclusion that something needs to change if I want them to breed. I've thought about getting another female with them (which I already have in another tank) but she would get bullied since she's smaller than the one that's already there and the tank's pretty much stocked. How would he get interested in her? Should I take the corydoras out and give it another go or swap the male for another one that I have?