female apisto behavior

[mooman]

Well, for those of you who have not seen my previous threads, I am currently trying to spawn a stuborn pair of panduros. I have moved the pair into a 10g, and using ro water have brought hardness down to about 35ppm, and ph down to 6.4 (going to drop it down to 6.0 eventually).

Here's my question. When I first got them, there was tons of "fish slaps" and "shimies" between the two of them. This increased when I started feeding live bbs. Now however they have been in the 10g for two weeks now, and this behavior has completely dissapeared. Every now and then I will see a very halfhearted fishslap by the female, but nothing from the male.

The only consistant behavior I now see is a "presenting" of the females underside to the male, which he completely ignores. he will not even follow her to the cave now. To make things worse, it seems like the female is afraid to eat in front of the male. She gets a few gulps, and then does the submissive presentation thing. She is building up quite a pile of gravel outside her cave, but not spending any real time there.

I've been reading "The cichlid fishes" by Barlow, and was wondering if maybe I have a pair that isn't very compatible. At what point do you decide that a pair isn't working? Should I try to find a new male? I know breeding is a waiting game, but come on, 3 months now and no spawns?

ps do they make viagra for fish, I think my male is having labido problems.

 

[Apistt_ed]

I say drop in a dither fish or two. If that's not working, then sorry to say but just keep waiting.... best of luck and wishes..

 

[scott]

i have 2 pairs of a. baenschi, they seemed to be full grown when i got them but it still took almost 8 months for them to spawn. then both pairs(in separate tanks)spawned the same week! now i get a spawn almost every 2 weeks. it can be rather disheartening when it takes so long but what i am trying to say is don't give up on them yet. they can't be that incompatible, both are still alive in a ten gal, that's good for panduro. someone posted something about using instant coffee to induce a spawn not to long ago. do a search and read about it. i have never tried it but it sounds interesting. i actually might try it with a pair of eremenopyge that i have had for a while with no signs of spawning. good luck with the panduro's

 

[dorsigera]

Hallo mooman.
I have a trio of Nijsseni that I put in a 16 gal. tank to spawn. Nothing happened except for the females dividing the tank in two parts. The male had no interest in spawning at all. After a few weeks there was a sale at my LFS and at the same time I was treating the fish in my 38 gal. tank. So I had to put 1 pair of Borellii and 1 pair of Macmasteri in the spawning tank for a couple of days. The Nijsseni spawned at once. The eggs were eaten after a few days but it was there first try.

Mikael

 

[mooman]

Thanks for the replys everyone. It helps to know I'm not the only one who has had problems getting these guys to spawn. I will wait it out. Untill my clubs fall auction at least :biggrin:

 

[mooman]

Well, it seems I was a bit hasty in my assertion that they were not going to breed. Last night i came home to my girlfriend sitting in front of the tank (this in itself is a first) telling me "shhhhh, they're doin somthin". Indeed they were. after several hours of squeezing in and out of the cave, the male is now being firmly discouraged by the female from appoaching the cave. Bright red eggs are barely visible in the cave, but they are there.

There is no color change in the female yet. Does this usually occur upon laying the eggs, or the eggs hatching?

Take home message in the words of a man who knows all about waiting:

"Patience must you have, if apistos you wish to breed."
-Yoda

 

[Apistt_ed]

a CONGRATS MOOMAN!!! great to hear that they spawned... how's the eggs coming along? the female's spawning dress may come before to well after she laid the eggs, but it will come. congrats again!! keep us informed!!! I'm TRUELY EXCITED FOR YOU!!! I'm currently trying to get my A. cf cruzi to spawn... but it does seem like the female is slightly young and they're still shy in the tank as I've added some Crenuchus spilurus (sailfin tetras) into the tank with them to help stir up some things and add "mood" to the apistos so I can imagine where you were coming from. keep us posted on progress please! cheers and best wishes john

 

[mooman]

It seems I spoke too soon. The eggs have apparently been eaten for whatever reason (most likely inexperience on the females part). At least I know it is just a matter of time before they spawn again. Ohh well, back to waiting....and waiting.....and waiting.