Apisto Abacaxi and dead male Borelli

[DaS54]

Hello everybody, I guess I’ll start with the bad news. This past weekend I took a trip down to Miami to watch some football games. No big deal, just 2 days and one night. I’ve got 2 tanks right now, a fluval flex 15 with my Borelli pair as well as a group of 10 Red beckfords Pencilfish, as well as a 40 breeder, set up with my 2 male abacaxi, 10 rummynose and 8 diamond tetras.

I returned home to both tanks in absolutely perfect condition, and when I turned the lights to my room on, all was normal, and the male Borelli came up to the glass to greet me, as usual. After that, I have no clue what happened, as I woke up this morning to my male wedged between an intake grate and a piece of wood, absolutely stiff dead. Water parameters are fine, temp is set with no fluctuation, and all other fish are perfectly fine. I just have no clue what happened and it’s hitting hard because that was probably my favorite fish that I’ve ever kept.


On the other hand, the 40 is fine, and water parameters there are beautiful. 6.5 ph, 0,0,15 ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. Only issue I have there is that I have 2 make abacaxi. I’ve been wanting abacaxi for a while, and I’m just looking for a source to get a female, or 2-3 ideally. Thanks guys and gals.

 

[DaS54]

Hello everybody, I guess I’ll start with the bad news. This past weekend I took a trip down to Miami to watch some football games. No big deal, just 2 days and one night. I’ve got 2 tanks right now, a fluval flex 15 with my Borelli pair as well as a group of 10 Red beckfords Pencilfish, as well as a 40 breeder, set up with my 2 male abacaxi, 10 rummynose and 8 diamond tetras.

I returned home to both tanks in absolutely perfect condition, and when I turned the lights to my room on, all was normal, and the male Borelli came up to the glass to greet me, as usual. After that, I have no clue what happened, as I woke up this morning to my male wedged between an intake grate and a piece of wood, absolutely stiff dead. Water parameters are fine, temp is set with no fluctuation, and all other fish are perfectly fine. I just have no clue what happened and it’s hitting hard because that was probably my favorite fish that I’ve ever kept.


On the other hand, the 40 is fine, and water parameters there are beautiful. 6.5 ph, 0,0,15 ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. Only issue I have there is that I have 2 make abacaxi. I’ve been wanting abacaxi for a while, and I’m just looking for a source to get a female, or 2-3 ideally. Thanks guys and gals.

Well, the male Borelli left me a present before he passed, females completely yellow and has about 50-70 eggs in her cave that I have set up. That begs the question, is this behavior, where a male spawns and dies, kind of common?

 

[Apistoguy52]

Well, the male Borelli left me a present before he passed, females completely yellow and has about 50-70 eggs in her cave that I have set up. That begs the question, is this behavior, where a male spawns and dies, kind of common?

The more appropriate question would probably be something along the lines of how often does a female kill the male once she’s on eggs

 

[anewbie]

Well, the male Borelli left me a present before he passed, females completely yellow and has about 50-70 eggs in her cave that I have set up. That begs the question, is this behavior, where a male spawns and dies, kind of common?

A 10 or 15 is borderline too small for borelli not because of the fish size or activity level but because the female can be quite aggressive towards the male (and all other fishes) when she is caring for eggs. Some people remove the male when the female is on eggs in such a small aquarium. Of course individual fishes behave differently and scapeing the tank makes a huge difference. I can't tell you how often one fish signal aggression and the other dashes under a leaf to become 'invisible'. Anyway while frequently people will insist it works you now know better first hand.