agassizii agression

**kubrich** · 23rd Oct 2002, 01:39

currently have a pair of agassizii double reds in a 1ft setup...i've noticed tt the male is extremely agressive towards the female, at first it was just pecking when she crossed into his territory,now it seems he's trying to move into hers. he would chase her around sometimes and really harass her.the tank has lotsa hiding places,i've put in one java fern and made 2 caves for them and below the java fern is a lil burrow also.but seems no matter where the female hides,once the male gets bored he goes after her...could it be tt he is frustrated tt she doesn't want to mate? how can i curb this problem? i'm really interested in breeding them but a 1 ft tank is the best i can do for now.would adding dither fish help? currently i placed a mirror next to the tank and the males reflection does distract him for awhile. should i quarantine the male?i'm reluctant to put the both of them into my planted tank cos there are lotsa other fish and if they do breed i'm afraid tt they might eat the fry,and i dun wanna put the male in cos it'll be quite hard to get him out...any suggestions as to how i can make the male a more peaceful tank partner for the female?

**kubrich** · 23rd Oct 2002, 01:39

currently have a pair of agassizii double reds in a 1ft setup...i've noticed tt the male is extremely agressive towards the female, at first it was just pecking when she crossed into his territory,now it seems he's trying to move into hers. he would chase her around sometimes and really harass her.the tank has lotsa hiding places,i've put in one java fern and made 2 caves for them and below the java fern is a lil burrow also.but seems no matter where the female hides,once the male gets bored he goes after her...could it be tt he is frustrated tt she doesn't want to mate? how can i curb this problem? i'm really interested in breeding them but a 1 ft tank is the best i can do for now.would adding dither fish help? currently i placed a mirror next to the tank and the males reflection does distract him for awhile. should i quarantine the male?i'm reluctant to put the both of them into my planted tank cos there are lotsa other fish and if they do breed i'm afraid tt they might eat the fry,and i dun wanna put the male in cos it'll be quite hard to get him out...any suggestions as to how i can make the male a more peaceful tank partner for the female?

**kubrich** · 23rd Oct 2002, 01:39

currently have a pair of agassizii double reds in a 1ft setup...i've noticed tt the male is extremely agressive towards the female, at first it was just pecking when she crossed into his territory,now it seems he's trying to move into hers. he would chase her around sometimes and really harass her.the tank has lotsa hiding places,i've put in one java fern and made 2 caves for them and below the java fern is a lil burrow also.but seems no matter where the female hides,once the male gets bored he goes after her...could it be tt he is frustrated tt she doesn't want to mate? how can i curb this problem? i'm really interested in breeding them but a 1 ft tank is the best i can do for now.would adding dither fish help? currently i placed a mirror next to the tank and the males reflection does distract him for awhile. should i quarantine the male?i'm reluctant to put the both of them into my planted tank cos there are lotsa other fish and if they do breed i'm afraid tt they might eat the fry,and i dun wanna put the male in cos it'll be quite hard to get him out...any suggestions as to how i can make the male a more peaceful tank partner for the female?

**kubrich** · 23rd Oct 2002, 01:39

currently have a pair of agassizii double reds in a 1ft setup...i've noticed tt the male is extremely agressive towards the female, at first it was just pecking when she crossed into his territory,now it seems he's trying to move into hers. he would chase her around sometimes and really harass her.the tank has lotsa hiding places,i've put in one java fern and made 2 caves for them and below the java fern is a lil burrow also.but seems no matter where the female hides,once the male gets bored he goes after her...could it be tt he is frustrated tt she doesn't want to mate? how can i curb this problem? i'm really interested in breeding them but a 1 ft tank is the best i can do for now.would adding dither fish help? currently i placed a mirror next to the tank and the males reflection does distract him for awhile. should i quarantine the male?i'm reluctant to put the both of them into my planted tank cos there are lotsa other fish and if they do breed i'm afraid tt they might eat the fry,and i dun wanna put the male in cos it'll be quite hard to get him out...any suggestions as to how i can make the male a more peaceful tank partner for the female?

**kenzo** · 23rd Oct 2002, 09:05

can consider putting in 1 or 2 tetras.

**kubrich** · 23rd Oct 2002, 14:30

seems like the harassment has gotten worse,the new cave i made for the female, she liked it,then the male came along and evicted her,now the female's refuge seems to be among the leaves of the java fern...i'm worried for the female cos she seems not to have a permanant hide out...if i were a fish police officer or judge i'd charge the male for harassment.

**Trevor** · 23rd Oct 2002, 15:55

Sean mun, imo qurantine the male for sometime. And what u mean quite hard to get him out ?

Cheers

**kubrich** · 23rd Oct 2002, 15:59

hey trevor mun...hard to get out meaning to catch one fish frm my planted tank he'll run for cover in the plants then have to jungle bash to get him into the open what...

**Trevor** · 23rd Oct 2002, 16:23

Sup mun..Oh ya same case as mine when i wanted to fish out my SAE, my planted tank became like those forests havin deforestation in progres. So i suggest just qurantine him alone lor. Still u can check with other forummers for better ideas.

Good luck and let's bob sleigh again soon mun. Cheez

**Simon** · 23rd Oct 2002, 22:41

the terrority of a apisto shld be bigger than a 1ft.. therefore, when not in their breeding period, the male will dorminate the whole tank.. best way is to remove the male till the female is ready

**Trevor** · 23rd Oct 2002, 22:52

Yea.. The old bird of apistomania speaks.. lol.. no offence..

**kubrich** · 23rd Oct 2002, 22:55

would the use of dither fish be useful to divert the males attention away from the female? cos if i do take him out i have no where to put him...[

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**Simon** · 23rd Oct 2002, 23:06

tank too small, dither will occupy the male.. but the female will oso be his target too.. IMO, no diff.. put into a larger tank, much better.. from a breeding pt of view

**benetay** · 23rd Oct 2002, 23:34

Agree with what Simon said.
Put them into a bigger tank, for a 1ft tank adding dither fish doesn't make any difference , the female is still an easy reach for the male.

IMHO i don't think the male aga will divert his thoughts to the dither fishes since it's in a small tank. What the male aga wants is to breed with the female.

What you can do: Wait. Observe their behaviour and take note that not always the male will kill the female. Its just like bugging the female to spawn. Once the female is ready to spawn with eggs in her body, she will naturally spawn with the male.

Apisto are part of the cichlid family, cichlids are well known feirce fish where they will protect their area.

If the male apisto is a whim i don't think the female wants to even lay eggs for him cos she knows he can't even protect himself.

just and example.
Eg: two male aga with a single female aga in a 2ft tank.

When the female is ready to lay her eggs, she will choose either one of the male. Question:Which one to choose? In the nature , the stronger one will often be the one breeding with the female. It's the same logic with the apisto. The male will start tail lashing, wagging, in serious case &quot;jaw-lock&quot;(can be fatal most of é time). When one male lost in the fight, a dominant male arises and naturally he will be the one spawning with the female.

So don't worry too much until it's really uncontrollable. I don't think the male wants to lose his only spawning mate in the tank don't he =)

**kubrich** · 24th Oct 2002, 00:04

thanx ben...i'll probably just pay more attention to the male's level of harassment and check for any wounds on the female,right now she has juz slight slits in her caudal fin but dun think tt should be much of a prob...so what are some ways i can prime the female up for breed? i been feedin them fbw (daily but in moderation so dun pollute the water) and frozen brine shrimp(once in a while...ive notice the male has a darker yellow/gold tinge to his body now and seems to be more vibrant...female will vary from beige to slight yellow daily...the fins on the underside of her body has a black verticle stripe each,is tt their normal coloration or will she be putting on her mating suit soon? and if i set up a 2ft tank...is 1 pair of agas and 1 pair of cacas too many apistos in one tank?? thanx so much...[

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**benetay** · 24th Oct 2002, 01:25

Female will turn golden yellow once they start to lay eggs, i've seen them change from normal colour till they chase away the male.

The vectral fin is a tell tale sign about her readiness to breed. The blacker the vectral fin the more she is ready to spawn. It's just tell us that she has eggs in her body but not ready to spawn cos of the quantities.
Once she is fully ready, aga can lay up to more then a 100 eggs. Usually i've seen 80 or so eggs nothing more then a 100. Due to their size it's very difficult for them to produce so many eggs.

For me i prefer quality then to quantity.

a 2ft tank with 2 species is a no no for me. i really discourage people to put in more then 1species in a tank if it's small. unless you have a bigger tank like a 4ft upwards then its perfectly allright to put more species together.

I've success breeding caca in a 1ft tank. Once the female lay her eggs, i'll remove the male to a holding tank. until the fry is big enough to feed on food themselves then i'll remove the female, recondition her and introduce the male back to her. A 1ft tank is way way too small to have more spawns inside it.

Females are the ones that take good care of the fry while the male will guard the area. For a 1ft tank the female usually chase the male away and often results in fights. The best way to due with this is to remove it. Addind dither fish as i've mention earlier is not much of a use.

Do update us when your apisto spawns.Until then hope to hear more from your apisto =)[:0]

**kubrich** · 24th Oct 2002, 01:30

thanx alot ben...what about if i add the male to a 2ft tank with another breed of apistos inside?...is tt a no no also??

**benetay** · 24th Oct 2002, 01:32

I don't quite understand you by the term another &quot;breed&quot; you mean Sub-species or?

I often put only the same species of apisto inside a single tank, no other species or sub-species. Thats why some people call it a &quot;species tank&quot;

**kubrich** · 24th Oct 2002, 01:34

i mean if i keep cacas in a 2ft tank...and the agas pair mates...can i put the male into the cacas tank?...or would tt be risky? i gather from what u say tt is risky too?

**benetay** · 24th Oct 2002, 01:40

Apisto males are the nicer looking gender and most people like the look from them. Therefore making mistake of putting males together. Males doesn't tolerate each other , there are many stories about males fighting to death. If you really want to breed your apisto, putting in another species of male doesn't help but increase the chance of conflict,stress,death,etc.

It's often best to keep a certain species to their own tank where they can build their own &quot;home&quot; in there. It's always a lovely sight where you can see the male guarding the perimeter while the female fanning the eggs/fry.

The above increases the chance of survival for both the parents and the fry. Apisto fry grows very slowly you will not want them to be food for their parent's don't you.

It's a long process of upbringing the fry so give them quality conditions.

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