Yes or No Borelli harem

[Hooky]

Sadly I recently lost my male Borelli that was part of a pair that were housed in a community tank. I am not sure if it was coincidence but I lost the male at the time the female was protecting some fry (female wasn’t overly aggressive and the male did tend to stay away from the area of the tank where the female was) and I subsequently lost the fry a day later. I assume the female had eaten the fry, but obviously I cannot be sure as there are other fish within the tank.


My LFS has managed to source some more Borelli from the same breeder over in Czech Rep, so my question is should I just replace the lost male or also add an additional female to make an herm? The tank is an 125ltr with some harlequin rasbora and some Betta falx.

I forgot to point out that I am not currently intending to breed the Borelli, but am aware that they are likely to attempt to breed.

 

[Mike Wise]

Your tank should be large enough for a trio. My question is why? This is obviously intended to be a community tank, not a breeding tank. If you decide to add a new male and female, just remember that this is a cichlid and a territorial fish. Your original apisto may now consider the bottom of the tank as her territory. It would be best to remove the established female, re-arrange the decor to alter old territorial boundaries and then add all of the apistos at the same time.