Male unwilling to mate? Please help

[Kazarak]

I have had a pair of A. Baenschi together since early August. I have had the male since May. They have made one legitimate attempt at breeding shortly after the female was added. Since then the male doesn't want to participate and ignores the females attempts to get him to come to the cave. It has gotten to the point where the female has started to display aggression I think because she can't get him to come. He now has a wound/illness visible on his side that I'm not sure but I think is from her aggression. What should I do about this. Has he rejected her as a mate? He shows no aggression toward her and honestly he seems to be very distracted/maybe stressed out. I caught him at the top of the tank earlier this evening sitting dead still and I though he was dead but he has been swimming around fine since then for the most part. For the record they are in a 20 long by themselves currently with a sponge filter. I haven't tested the water recently but I do approximately 25% water change weekly with 50/50 RODI to tap water. TDS is ~90. Any advice is appreciated. I have attached a couple of pictures of his thing on his side.

 

[yukondog]

Myself, I would separate them for about six to eight weeks, do plenty of water changes let the male heal and then put them in the new rearranged tank, good luck.

 

[Kazarak]

Myself, I would separate them for about six to eight weeks, do plenty of water changes let the male heal and then put them in the new rearranged tank, good luck.

In your opinion what are the chances that this will ultimately get them to pair properly?

 

[Mike Wise]

A. baenschi is a nijsseni-group species, all of which tend to be more 'choosy' than most apistos regarding breeding mates. Often if a breeding attempt fails the 2 fish will look for other partners. I think that Kazara has the best option. If it does not work, you might consider a different male.

 

[nandemonai]

Just to add to what the others have said here, I bred Baenschi for a few years and found them to be extremely picky with their mates, you really need a very large tank and a small colony going to have decent results in my experience. Be vary cautious now with that male, I've had female Baenschi decimate multiple males even in an 8ft tank before. I would separate them if you can and good luck!

 

[Kazarak]

Just to add to what the others have said here, I bred Baenschi for a few years and found them to be extremely picky with their mates, you really need a very large tank and a small colony going to have decent results in my experience. Be vary cautious now with that male, I've had female Baenschi decimate multiple males even in an 8ft tank before. I would separate them if you can and good luck

What would you define as a small colony? I can really on have a 20 long dedicated to them. I will separate them tomorrow. After I wrote the first post I thought they might have actually bred but the female has emerged alone today so I am thinking that was a failed attempt. I really like this fish but I would like to find a better way to keep them with less aggression. Thanks!

 

[nandemonai]

Hi Kazarak, I was running roughly 4-5 breeding pairs in an 8 ft, I had a 5 ft I started with that held 2-3 breeding pairs. Dithers can help, I used Hyphessobrycon amandae mostly. It's do-able for a pair in a smaller tank like most Apisto breeding but I went through too many specimens for my liking, generally due to the females, unlike other Apistos I've kept, the ladies are the mean ones. Also make sure you STUFF the tank with hiding places, to the point you can even section off almost entire sections, give them places to hide.

Here's a quick vid of my 5ft from a long while back.

And a mother with fry: