Je®vis' Apistogramma elizabethae "super red"

[Jervis]

Thank you all for the encouragements... will continue to keep learn

WKS here's the female



She is rather small compared to the KING!

[Jervis]

After the death of the male specimen... I have been keeping the female well hoping to find her a mate... out of my surprise I found a male specimen yesterday I must thank Illumnae for informing me the night before

Here's a pix of him moments after the release into a tank I prepared 2 weeks ago especially for the female specimen.



The female reacted immediately to him... she flared non-stop looking really fierce



Flaring female can be very pretty too She turned amber... now I think she is trying to tell 'us' (the males) something



For the first 30 minutes... the male didn't flare back... he seemed shy and unbold

I was so happy when he started flaring back







Love the bluish shine

Can see the blue from this shot... there's a red line along the tip of his dorsal fin

[leeruisheng]

You take very good photos.

On the fish, I felt the male is a little overweight comparing to the female. Try reducing feeding.

[EvolutionZ]

very beautiful male!

[Jervis]

You take very good photos.

On the fish, I felt the male is a little overweight comparing to the female. Try reducing feeding.

The new male is fat?

[leeruisheng]

That's my opinion la having kept some eliz over the years. It's still young so probably that explains the little overweight issue. Once he matures, body proportion will be longer and more slender then.

[Jervis]

Yeah it does look a bit rounded and underdeveloped... reminds me of an adolescent boy

I hope he doesn't find the female too old for his taste

[ranmasatome]

Watch the female... beginning to show signs of sunken belly..

[Jervis]

Oh dear what should I watch out for? I fed the wrong food?

[trident]

Hi Jervis,
Your picture tells a very nice story, from a ugly duckling to a beautiful swan
eh, I mean a beautiful eliz,
I just love it, well done.

[ranmasatome]

Don't think it is wrong food...and i'm not too sure myself if there is anything wrong about her...but it does seem like she either just gave birth or is not eating enough or is sick. I haven't been playing too much with apistos to know for sure..but because a few friends of mine are REALLY into it.. i've seen quite a few go this way, seems like it is a common thing with apistos... i'll let the more experienced people comment..but just saying it seems so to me..

[Jervis]

Here's a few shots more of the female taken at the same time as previous pics I am crossing my fingers now

[ranmasatome]

hmm... maybe not..haha...

[Jervis]

hmm... maybe not..haha...

Phew

[Jervis]

The female is eating normally... she likes frozen brine shrimp

But I don't think I have a mating pair yet

The male dug a cave (by the lava rock) to hide from the female... she keeps flaring outside the entrance of his cave

He probably finds her too old and grumpy

[Jervis]

OMG!!! The female bit the male's mouth... holding to it while the male was struggling to release himself

This can't possibly be part of foreplay

[illumnae]

maybe she's frustrated by his lack of libido. she's been too long without a man and wants to mate i've read that female apistos are usually the ones that initiate spawning

[Jervis]

I got a bad feeling about this

Any bros out there can share their experience? Will the male survive the onslaught?

[Jervis]

Or maybe the male is gay... that's why C328 sell the 2 males as a pair

[illumnae]

could they have already bred and the female is trying to keep the male away from the eggs? usually i find that when the female is aggressive towards the male, there is a batch of eggs/wrigglers/fry somewhere