• Hello guest! Are you an Apistogramma enthusiast? If so we invite you to join our community and see what it has to offer. Our site is specifically designed for you and it's a great place for Apisto enthusiasts to meet online. Once you join you'll be able to post messages, upload pictures of your fish and tanks and have a great time with other Apisto enthusiasts. Sign up today!

Male chasing female, female chasing male. What should I do?

mrjbacon

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
72
Location
Ohio
So I have two pairs of A. rositae from wetspot. In tank #1, the male is harassing the much smaller female. In tank #2, what I believe to be a female is harassing another, which I believe to be male. These two are roughly the same size, and much smaller than my definite male. I'm relatively certain of the sexing but for discussion on this particular topic see my thread in the I.D. forum.

What should I do, should I switch the females? should I switch the males? It seems rather violent, especially that this occurs around feeding time.
 

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,202
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
A. rositae is a nijsseni-group species. Species in this group can be rather choosy about their breeding partners. If they don't like each other, the dominant fish tries to drive the other out of its territory - usually the entire tank - in hopes that another partner more to its liking will appear. With nijsseni-group species I usually pick a nice male and add 2 - 3 females from which he can choose his preferred breeding partner. This is a dangerous time for the females he doesn't choose. They will be attacked unmercifully - and often killed - if they are not removed from the tank. Once you see an apisto hiding at the top of the tank you know it's time to move it. I keep pieces of black PBS pipe (it floats) at the top of the tank as temporary hiding places for these fish.
 

mrjbacon

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
72
Location
Ohio
This particular pair had been getting along just fine until about 3 days ago, do you think the reason it changed is because the female didn't want to spawn?

The only other explanation I can come up with the contention between the two medium sized apistos is that perhaps they are different species. The female of that pair does not have the same shape caudal spot as the female with the bigger male.
 

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,202
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
Is it possible that the pair had an unsuccessful spawn? As I wrote before breeding pairs are different from mated pairs. If a breeding pair is unsuccessful it often breaks up and the 2 fish look for more compatible partners. The dominant fish will try to drive the other out of its territory.
 

mrjbacon

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
72
Location
Ohio
It's possible I guess, but they've only been in the tank together for a couple weeks. It's hard to see all the goings-on in that particular tank because it's the middle tank in a row of 10g tanks end-out.
 

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,202
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
Is there any chance that you have larger tanks than 10s for them? A. rositae has a reputation for being fairly aggressive. Just because a fish is small doesn't mean that it can be kept in a small tank without problems.
 

mrjbacon

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
72
Location
Ohio
I have a 20g long and a 40g breeder but neither one is currently set up. The 20g is easy enough, but I don't have a stand for the bigger one
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
17,916
Messages
116,204
Members
13,028
Latest member
JaconieMalonie

Latest profile posts

Josh wrote on anewbie's profile.
Testing
EDO
Longtime fish enthusiast for over 70years......keen on Apistos now. How do I post videos?
Looking for some help with fighting electric blue rams :(
Partial updated Peruvian list have more than this. Please PM FOR ANY QUESTIONS so hard to post with all the ads poping up every 2 seconds….
Top