Adding a female for my male?

[traciv0627]

I had a M/F pair of Macmasteri gold red shoulder, but sadly lost the female a few months ago. Would it be a problem adding another female at this point? Do I have to add another Macmasteri? I have been looking going another female Macmasteri gold red shoulder but can’t find any that are just females. Thanks for any help! They were my first Apistos and I love them! So sad my female passed away

 

[anewbie]

macs are not pair forming any suitable female that wonders into the male territory is fair game; the only catch is that if he will be aggressive towards her is she is not interested in breeding and this might be why your previous female 'passed away'.

 

[traciv0627]

macs are not pair forming any suitable female that wonders into the male territory is fair game; the only catch is that if he will be aggressive towards her is she is not interested in breeding and this might be why your previous female 'passed away'.

My husband suspected this is why she passed away Are all apistogrammas this way?

 

[anewbie]

My husband suspected this is why she passed away Are all apistogrammas this way?

No - and there are different level of aggression from different species. nijjensi are more or less pair forming in the aquarium. They are also relatively easy to keep but require acidic water with hardness below around 80 tds to breed. This is an old male i had:

Also I'm finding a. sp ipiranga to be more or less pair forming but they are a larger fish and less common. I've been told that a. sp blutkehl are sort of pair forming as well as related fishes the most common is a. uaupesi but they are going to be harder to keep and if you want them to breed you will need very soft water.
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a. panduro are commonly available but i've been told they are harder to pair up then nijjensi (i've always been happy with nijjensi so i've never kept panduro).
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a. ladisalo are generally a very gentle fish and i've found them quite a bit less aggressive then other species of apisto but they are hit and miss on availablility and again you will want acidic water. Also for whatever reason my ladisalo are not forgiving when i move them and will avoid me for years after i change their aquarium. Oh well.

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Of the commonly available and relatively robust fishes I think i would recommend nijjensi if your water is fairly soft also a bit depends on the size of your aquarium and such. There are tons of threads on layouts and similar for more aggressive species but if you just want a pretty fish that is easy to keep you could also look into the more colourful kribs - such as these:

They are less expensive then some of the apisto but not too commonly available but also more robust.
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For all these fishes you really want a minimum of a 20 long in terms of aquarium size. Layout depends a bit on species you keep et all.