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Female being aggressive?

fyrefish

Member
Messages
54
As opposed to a post I made in the past about my male apistogramma panduro being aggressive towards the female, now the opposite is happening!?! The female chases the male and makes him hide behind the heater, the same way she did. Idk what to do, he is breathing heavily but looks fine otherwise. I heard this is a characteristic of when a female is guarding fry? There are definitely no fry in my tank, though. I feel really bad, they are growing a bit and the small tank is stressing them out. The only thing I've changed in the last few days was removing the big anubias and putting it in the bigger tank. I feel like the obvious solution is to move him or her to the big tank, but I've barely begun 'cycling' it, though there are signs of a bacteria colony. Yesterday, it had ammonia 0.25, nitrite 0.25 and I think nitrate 0.25 as well. Today, it seems about the same though there may be more ammonia and less nitrate. I'm actually doing a water change right now. What to do? When this happened before, it was breeding aggression from the male but then it went away after a few days and they started laying eggs. There haven't been any eggs for a few weeks though.
 

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,202
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
The behavior that you describe typically occurs when the female is guarding eggs/fry. If you don't feel confident moving a fish into the new tank, then I suggest using a partition for the tank.
 

ARK93

Member
Messages
39
Location
East Yorkshire - England - UK
The behavior that you describe typically occurs when the female is guarding eggs/fry. If you don't feel confident moving a fish into the new tank, then I suggest using a partition for the tank.
Hi Mike,

I'm considering creating a partition for my new tank so I'll have one ready if ever I need it. The tank is currently empty so it seems like a good opportunity to do this. Do you have any recommendations for suitable methods or materials?

If it's possible I'd like to create a partition that could be placed in the tank to separate a female and her fry from the male.
 

Ben Rhau

Apisto Club
Messages
566
Location
San Francisco
There are kits where you can size them yourself, but I just bought a simple screen that was sized for my tank, made by Lee's. Very small fish can still squeeze by the edges, but it mostly works just fine. Costs $10 or $20.

If you want to separate the male after breeding, it's better to pull him completely, as the fish can still breed through the screen.
 

fyrefish

Member
Messages
54
Ok, It's not bullying. I think it is dropsy! I'm really worried, he is a bit bloated and he is pineconing! I've never had this happen before, I don't have any fish medication! I also have nowhere else to put him. It wasn't there yesterday. I want to do a water change, but I don't want to stress him more! What do I do! I have nowhere else to put him, the new tanks' parameters are still way off! I think the female is still bullying him aswell, though she seems perfectly healthy. What do I do!
 

fyrefish

Member
Messages
54
I joined a fishkeeping discord, someone is guiding me though. I set up a qt tank, gonna order some furan 2 and give him some epsom salts. Hopefully he will be ok... he still swims around and retains a bit of colour so some good signs...
 

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