Trouble Breeding Apisto Cacatuoides (Double Red)

[.DoubleRed.]

Hey Everyone,

Newbie here (to this forum at least). I am in search for some help and I have asked on other general fish forums but I figured here might be a better place to look.

Tank Specs:
20 Gallon High
Mildly/Heavily Planted with 3 pieces of driftwood and 2 coconut huts
pH: 6.4
Temp: 82
Fish: 3 Neon Tetras, 3 Five Banded Barbs, 1 Female Wild Ram

Ok so, I have a pair of double reds 1 male and 1 female. I have had them for about a month now. The female is a little larger than the male and she seems to push him around a lot. If she spots him in the tank she will dart at him and continue on her way. The male rarely asserts himself in the tank. The female is displaying SOME yellow and has been for about 3 weeks. By some I mean the inner fringes of her fins and a little yellow tint to her body. I also feed them frozen foods about every three days.

So my question is: Is there anything I can do better to provide a mating environment? Is my female too dominant and unaccepting of the male? Anything I'm doing wrong?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Tea]

Your male may need some time to grow. Also try rearranging your tank. Sometimes this helps with aggression. Keep us posted with how things go.

 

[.DoubleRed.]

Thanks Tea! Will do. So does it matter if the male is smaller than the femlae when it comes to mating? For instance if both are of breeding age but the female is bigger than the male will this matter? I feel like fish couldn't be that picky if they wanted to preserve their species :tongue:

 

[Mike Wise]

First, are you positive that you have one of each sex? Domestic forms of A. cacatuoides can be hard to sex, especially at smaller sizes. When female cacs get yellow, they really get canary yellow: body and fins, and show a very black spot on the flank as well as black trim on some of the fins. Some males show yellow, too, just not as bright. Does your female ever chase the other fish away (especially bottom dwellers, like the Ram)?

Second, breeding often isn't successful in a community tank. Your tank is rather busy. Breeding is more successful in species tanks with a few top-dwelling dither fish.

Third, what are you feeding. The quality and types of food can be very important. Some things to think about.

BTW, why on earth do you keep the temp so high, for the Ram? Your barbs and neons would definitely prefer the them to be at least 5°F cooler, as would your cacs.

 

[.DoubleRed.]

Mike-
My temp is at 78, sorry for the wrong info. I was treating ich a while back and I guess that temp stuck in my head.
I'm pretty sure I have the sexing right..I can't upload my photos because they are too large. The male has the red coloring on his tail and slightly blue front fins. The famle is slightly yellow with black front fins? The "female" does seem to chase away ottos from her coconut hut. She doesn't really bother the ram so much maybe once in a while but I rarely have seen it.

As for feeding I give pellets and flakes most days and then bloodworms and brineshrimp/bloodworm mix every 3 days of so.(It's a freshwater variety pack).