Apistogramma's behaviour

[wks]

Hi, is it normal to have male apistos staying in caves most of the time except feeding? My male Apistogramma macmasteri and Apistogramma sp. "Algodon I" all behave in this manner.
Both female apistos are often swimming around the tank.

[illumnae]

are they newly introduced into the tank? mine displayed the same behaviour when just introduced together with the female...the male would hide except to eat and the female would swim around...took them half a week to a week to start becoming bolder

[wks]

Nope, Apistogramma sp. " Algodon I" pair already stayed in my tank for more than 6 months. Apistogramma macmasteri pair is around for more than a month.

[valice]

Nope. Only when mine is sick.

[Biotopeshop]

Hi, is it normal to have male apistos staying in caves most of the time except feeding? My male Apistogramma macmasteri and Apistogramma sp. "Algodon I" all behave in this manner.
Both female apistos are often swimming around the tank.

Do the males lose their colour? They may have felt threatened.

[wks]

Do the males lose their colour? They may have felt threatened.

I don't think the male Apistogramma sp. "Algodon I" felt threatened and yes, he actually lost colour, the body looks washed out. What could be the reason?
He used to be chasing the female fish around the tank. But ever since the second spawning, he seems to turn "lazy" and stays in his "den" most of the time. I normally feed the fish with tetra bits complete and decap brine shrimp eggs once a day. In the past, he will swim out from his den once I dropped the tetra bits, but in recent days, he takes a longer time to respond.
So far there is only a single surviving fry besides the pair.

My male Apistogramma macmasteri seems to be afraid of the female fish but so far no injury on his body. His body is actually dark in colour and he will spring to get his tetra bits once the female fish is out of the way. What can I do now?

[genes]

Sounds like some internal infection for your Ap. sp "Algodon I". Look out for sucken belly. They normally do not hide unless they are sick.

For your A. macmasteri. The female breeding? You should seperate the male or the female to let him settle down if the female gets overly aggressive.

[trident]

wks,
hi, thought i'll bump into you here.
richard

[wks]

Sounds like some internal infection for your Ap. sp "Algodon I". Look out for sucken belly. They normally do not hide unless they are sick.

For your A. macmasteri. The female breeding? You should seperate the male or the female to let him settle down if the female gets overly aggressive.

Thanks for your help, Eugene. I have already lost a male Apistogramma baenschi and my female fish is currently very ill.
If the Apistogramma sp. "Algodon I" is indeed sick, I may as well give them up.

wks,
hi, tot i'll bump into you here.
richard

Hi Richard, yep its me. Very tiring, with so many fishes falling sick...

[valice]

We usually lose them to that particular disease. Guess it is part and parcel of our apisto keeping. So don't be disheartened.

What have you been feeding? what's the frequency of your bloodworm feeds and substrate cleaning?

Their love of checking out the substrate require us to keep the substrate real clean to prevent internal bacteria or parasites. Worst still, they don't take medication well.

[trident]

Jason,
Sad to hear of your fish illness, it's all part and parcel of fish keeping (I guess). Happens to my discus too.
Richard

[wks]

Ok, only my female Apistogramma baenschi is not well. The rest are doing fine.

We usually lose them to that particular disease. Guess it is part and parcel of our apisto keeping. So don't be disheartened.

What have you been feeding? what's the frequency of your bloodworm feeds and substrate cleaning?

Their love of checking out the substrate require us to keep the substrate real clean to prevent internal bacteria or parasites. Worst still, they don't take medication well.

Vincent, I fed my Apistogramma baenschi with frozen bloodworm and it caused problem to my fishes. They recovered from taking medicine but not this time.
How do you clean the substrate effectively besides using those bell shaped flexible hose with blue hand pump?

[genes]

The bell shape gravel cleaner will not work if you are using ADA soil, you will get a milky tank if you use the cleaner... For me, i don't vacuum the gravel unnecessarily. Only do that using a normal hose to suck up the dirt when i feel the gravel surface is getting dirty.

[valice]

How do you clean the substrate effectively besides using those bell shaped flexible hose with blue hand pump?

I use a tube which I can control the flowrate to clean the gravel. Then I lightly go over the substrate sucking up all the stuff stuck in between the gravel.