Hello, I’m new here and my reason for joining is I could use some advice on my new macmasteri’s as I’m getting a little worried my female isn’t happy.
I’ve had the pair around 3 months. I took my time observing them at the aquarium store and worked with the staff to make sure i got a good pair. Within the month of adding to my tank they had bred. The female led out around 10-12 fry but there numbers dwindled as the days went by until they were all gone within the week.
Then my male started to get a little bit more bossy with my female. I won’t say he was aggressive, he was being a bit bossy and chasing her into the plants where she’d kept her brood.
Not long after I saw him tail slapping with her and they seemed all loved up again and she then disappeared into the same planted area for a few days, only coming out to eat. I suspected she had laid some more eggs due to this behaviour but she didn’t lead out any fry this time.
The male seemed to be angry with her afterwards.
The same thing appears to have happened this last week and now my poor female has tucked herself inbetween the glass and an Amazon sword plant and she’s hiding out there.
My male appears to be looking for her occasionally before getting distracted by trying to find scraps of food or whatever!
I’ve read that apisto’s live as a harem in the wild and I’m wondering if this is where I’ve gone wrong. Is it a case of I need to add a second female to spread his attention out a little? I don’t want to lose my female but she is looking stressed and I am concerned.
My tank is a Jewel Vision 180. It’s well planted. I have two caves and other natural cave like areas. Would appreciate any advice anyone can give. TIA
I’ve had the pair around 3 months. I took my time observing them at the aquarium store and worked with the staff to make sure i got a good pair. Within the month of adding to my tank they had bred. The female led out around 10-12 fry but there numbers dwindled as the days went by until they were all gone within the week.
Then my male started to get a little bit more bossy with my female. I won’t say he was aggressive, he was being a bit bossy and chasing her into the plants where she’d kept her brood.
Not long after I saw him tail slapping with her and they seemed all loved up again and she then disappeared into the same planted area for a few days, only coming out to eat. I suspected she had laid some more eggs due to this behaviour but she didn’t lead out any fry this time.
The male seemed to be angry with her afterwards.
The same thing appears to have happened this last week and now my poor female has tucked herself inbetween the glass and an Amazon sword plant and she’s hiding out there.
My male appears to be looking for her occasionally before getting distracted by trying to find scraps of food or whatever!
I’ve read that apisto’s live as a harem in the wild and I’m wondering if this is where I’ve gone wrong. Is it a case of I need to add a second female to spread his attention out a little? I don’t want to lose my female but she is looking stressed and I am concerned.
My tank is a Jewel Vision 180. It’s well planted. I have two caves and other natural cave like areas. Would appreciate any advice anyone can give. TIA