limchongyu's Apistogramma baenschi

[doppelbanddwarf]

RIchard, one of the female Apistogramma baenschi is turning out very nice. But its also the more dominant among the 3 I got from NKS. The male and the other famel are getting chased around most of the time.
Also the other female may be a sneaker male.

[trident]

Vincent,
Thanks. Will follow up over at the new thread.

chong yu, oh no, not another sneaker male. Your inka funny leh, male got chase by female

[doppelbanddwarf]

Haha the female is a little bit bigger than the other 2, guess thats why it is more dominant.
Here's a pic of the dominant female.

[genes]

I'm thinking she is dominant not because she is bigger, but that she is ready to breed or have already bred. Yellow, black ventrals, black lateral lines, thats her breeding or brood caring colours.

[doppelbanddwarf]

Eugene thanks for moving the thread.
She has been dominant since I introduced them into the tank after buying them. But I think you're right, she could be ready to breed.

[trident]

yah, breeding color, hope the male did his job, I guess she is guarding her eggs hence the aggression, good luck !

[doppelbanddwarf]

Eh don't think they've bred yet. She's just swimming aound the whole tank, not chasing any of the pencilfishes. She's only aggressive to the other 2 Apistogramma baenschi, but no the other fishes. And the male is just hanging around by himself.

[tcy81]

The female is all ready to breed.
any picture of your male ?

[doppelbanddwarf]

I'll try to get a picture of the male too. I'm no good with the camera and it doesn't help that he is hiding behind plants and stuff most of the time. The trio are all around 3cm from head to tail, so they're still quite young.

[RHX]

Do they need to have caves or pots to breed in?

[doppelbanddwarf]

I believe they're a cave-spawning species, so some form of cave would be good. You can use driftwood or ceramic pots as caves. Using ketapang leaves also create a leaf litter which they may spawn in.
I've never had the experience of breeding this species before. These juveniles are from the NKS wild shipment.

[genes]

Generally, they like to spawn in caves because that is where they feel most confident in protecting the brood. Pots are make shift caves that we can provide. If no caves are available, they will find places where its most enclose to lay the eggs.