A. Cacatouides pair having temperament issues

[apistonewbie]

I had a pair of apistogramma cacatouides, Tony and Pebble. They had successfully bred, but a few weeks later, Tony, the male, got an infection, and I did what I could, but he passed away. I had someone watching my fish a few days later, and they didn't feed the fish enough, and all the babies died as well. After this, I waited a while and eventually introduced a new male, Tigger. The female Pebble was very aggressive, waving her tail at him and then chasing after him as often as she could. I have a tank prepared to separate them, but the second night they were with each other in the same tank, they must've slept under the same log. For context, this log is where Pebble laid her last set of eggs and where she is most defensive. After I noticed this, Pebble stays in her cave, the spot under the log, much more often. This has made me think they might have bred, but she still chases him whenever she isn't in her cave. He has also shown interest in that log and swum around it when she is in there, but then retreats to the other side of the tank when chased. Do they need to be separated, or are they in the process of working it out?

Side note: The male I bought is much smaller than Pebble's previous mate, and Pebble and Tigger are about the same size; Pebble may be a tiny bit bigger.

 

[agassizii luv4ever]

I had the same issue with my agassiziis, where the female would be nipping my male and left some notable damage. But in the end, the female was only trying to get him to guard the outer territory of their cave and they were fine after that really. In general, I think pebble hasn't moved on from Tony so just let them bond for a bit but come in if this are getting worse.

 

[Mike Wise]

Your female has apparently spawned again. It is normal for a female cacatuoides to not want a male anywhere near her breeding cave. This only attracts predators in the wild. Much really depends on the size and how the tank is decorated. If you have a spare tank and can remove the male without disturbing the female, then I think it best to move him.