Apistogramma Agassizii Fire Red

[Apistolyfe]

I have a pair of these in a 10 G tank heavily planted and the male is showing lots of aggression towards the female. He sleeps inside the breeder caves and the female is usually towards the top of the tank or somewhere behind some plants. Is this something that will work itself out with time?I would love to get some fry out of them.

 

[Mike Wise]

Sadly, the female's behavior is typical of one not ready to breed. The male knows it and is trying to drive her out of his territory - the entire tank - in hopes that another female will appear who is ready to breed. An apisto at the top of the tank is a stressed apisto. I suggest you remove her before something bad happens. Also, a 10 is just too small for breeding a polygamous species like A. agassizii. Is it possible? Yes, I used to use them. I also lost a lot of apistos to aggression or disease caused by stress.

 

[Apistolyfe]

They do get along sometimes but others she is being pushed out. Would you recommend adding another female and moving them in a 20L or something along those lines?

 

[Apistolyfe]

Do you have any resources where I can learn more about different apisto behavior Mike? I am also considering a pair of Apistogramma Rio negro bretbinden. Do you have any suggestions for those?

 

[Hellfishguy]

You might want to try a breeding cave with an entrance too small for the male to enter.

 

[Mike Wise]

I think you would be better off with a trio in a 20L. The best reference I've seen is the chapter on behavior in Koslowski's 2002 book Die I Buntbarsche Amerikas: Apistogramma & Co. It's only available in German.