Normal behaviour for A. Cacatuoides?

[Ringo]

OK - so first up I'm a complete newbie when it comes to Apistogramma so apologies if my question is naive!

I've kept most other types of tropical fish over the last 20 years and decided to have a change and just bought (2 weeks ago) my first pair of A. Cacatuoides; They are currently in my Q-Tank and I've enjoyed observing this inquisitive fish.

My question is really about the behaviour of the female fish.

She spends quite a-lot of time swimming around with her fins down; that said when feeding or while I'm doing some tank maintenance, she's interested with fins erect (looks great). Is that fairly typical behaviour for a female?

Other than my concern over 'normal' fin positions, she seems OK.

Her tail fin was a little pecked from time in tank at the shop with a-lot of other females, but that has grown back well over the last two weeks with no sign of finrot or any other type of infection.

The male swims around with his fins up most of the time and generally looks in great condition; he's been displaying to the female quite frequently with flicks of his tail and fins on full display.

 

[Mike Wise]

Seems normal for a submissive apisto. The male is just dominant in your tank. Does your quarantine tank have places where she can hide from the 'amorous' onslaught of the male?

 

[Ringo]

My Q-Tank has a flower pot and a half coconut shell as hiding places and is relatively sparsely planted; that said its not a massive tank (only 25L capacity) - I could look to move over some more plants from my main tank (needs a weed out anyway) to make things a bit more dense from a planting perspective which would give her a bit more cover.

 

[Ringo]

Picture of female uploaded (male is my profile pic btw). Unlike the male, she's not a fan of having her photo taken...

 

[Ringo]

Just for the record, I think my Q-Tank was a little small; adding some extra plants diffused things during quarantine and both fish are doing well in my main tank which is larger and heavily planted with lots of places to hide!

Lesson: I probably need a bigger Q-Tank...