Apistogramma agassizii "Alanquer"

[Discus Man]

Well I had wrigglers...
I picked up some Apistogramma agassizii "Alanquer" and was quite pleased when they spawned and the eggs were hatching.
Problem.. the female attacked the male with a visciousness I never dreamt of. Thanks to this site I had been warned that this was a down side to a ten gallon breeding setup. Out he came.
Problem is the female then proceeded (probably due to my disruption of the tank) to eat the spawn, unhatched eggs, wrigglers etc.

Male went back in, three days to settle down again, now they are dancing again.. I assume they will breed again.
10g tank, pH of 6.2 KH 0, GH 0 Oak leaves.
When should the male get pulled then, as soon as eggs are laid? Do I stick to my plan and just hope she won't get so spooked this time? Help!

 

[Randall]

Breeding Apistogramma agasazii

Dear Discus Man,

If it makes you feel any better, I couldn't keep a picture of a fish alive in a 10-gallon tank. I'd move the pair to larger quarters, but others have had much success with small aquaria.

You might try adding some additional cover (plants) and dither fish to your 10-gallon tank. Any of the smaller tetras or pencil fish should do it.

I'd be reluctant to remove the male. His involvement is important. Hopefully, the dither fish will diffuse some of the female's aggression, and your male will fare better the second go round.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn

 

[aspen]

if she ate the eggs etc the first time, why not try to pull HER next time. putting her into an adjacent tank for a couple of days might be just the thing to get her to take better care of the little ones.

having a dither or target fish that is not likely to have a taste for the eggs or fry has worked for me, to get the parents both in defensive mode. i had a pair of rams that would attack each other when eggs or fry were in the tank unless a single oto was in the tank making them a bit nervous and protective.

having another pair in an adjacent tank which gives good parental care might be an idea. this has worked for me with different species, esp discus. the parents will 'guard' the fish from the 'predators' in the next tank and the ones which your are training might get the idea of how to care for them. this is also an excellent way to get fish that will not spawn for you to go for it, ime. viewing spawning fish can get an otherwise dud pair to go for it.

rick

 

[Discus Man]

thanks guys... I think dither fish may be necessary. She laid again, so this time I put a clear plastic divider in place instead of pulling the male.

That worked, the female now has wrigglers again in her pot.

Still the little viper occasionaly flings herself at the plastic to get the male... makes me think a few more targets and maybe a 20g may be in order to keep this pair long term. Still, my 10g setup isn't totally wrong as I have wrigglers....

Thanks for the opinions...

 

[Discus Man]

I am happy to report that I have free swimming fry today!

You won't believe what happened to the pair on Saturday though.
The male tries to get over the divide. On Saturday he must have made it.
The male and female fish were both fish jerky on the floor! The only gap on the lid of the tank is on the females side where the hang on filter used to be. The male must have made it over the wall, then been chased out of the tank . His tail was shredded, both fish on the floor! They must have locked jaws or something and been flung out.

I tossed them both back into the water just in case they were alive and to my amazement they came back from the dead about two minutes later!
They took a day to recover... and then today mommy has a batch of free swimming fry and dad's tail slowly begins to heal...

Anyhow, gap closed, water level lowered two inches, female aggie has been named after my wife, for obvious reasons... :twisted:

Lesson learned, these little Apistos are an unbelievable fish...