I've recently got a pair of Apistogramma MacMaster Gold and have been conditioning them for breeding. Today, the female has shown some interest in the male and started rolling/tilting over to show her belly to the male, flaring and shaking her fins, and wiggling her tail in the male's face. The problem is the male would chase her away whenever she would show that she wanted to breed. I've never read anything about a female Apistogramma wanting to breed and the male being disinterested. I have the temp set to 82 F, moderately soft water, the tank is heavily leaf littered and planted, and has multiple line of sight breaks and hiding spots. Thanks for the help in advance!
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Apistogramma Macmasteri Gold Breeding Problems
- Thread starter bluegrass
- Start date
The behaviour is not unheard of. I had that happen between two A. hongsloi
Can you post a picture of both fish in question and the tank? Maybe something else shows up.
Also what do you feed?
Temp may actually be a bit high.
Can you post a picture of both fish in question and the tank? Maybe something else shows up.
Also what do you feed?
The male and female look pretty normal and I'm quite confident that the female isn't a subdominant male. As for the tank, I really just copied Dean from Aquarium Co-op's set up except I added an additional cave and some Indian almond leaves which covers much of the bottom.
I feed them Frozen Mysis Shrimp, Frozen Bloodworms (only twice a week), Frozen Brine Shrimp, Frozen Spirulina Shrimp, or Live Baby brine shrimp 3-4 times a day in small quantities.
I just want to rule out every possible factor. I don't doubt your assessment, but it's not even about sexing. It's about the fishes general status, also healthwise. And about maybe seeing small factors you may have missed. There is no shame in that, everybody starts somewhere. I had a lot of rift lake cichlid experience when I started with Apistogramma but that did not prepare me, at all.
I had to rewatch the video... Dean has tons of experience, but also a fishroom and the option to separate his fish at any time. His tank in the video is not really suitable. Did some things right, but by far not all. Caves do not replace proper cover like driftwood. They are mainly used for cover from predators (not from conspecifics) and spawning. I have offered Apistos in display tanks caves, they were never used and only took away space.
When I look at the tank Dean put up for the video and your description this doesn't add up. Plus for you, though, thinking of adding leaf litter.
Except the bloodworms not a bad diet. Replace them with black or white mosquito larvae and maybe offer microworms or similar small worms from time to time. You could also add liquid vitamins once or twice a week.
So if you should be willing to post some pictures something can be done eventually.
Oh, and... do you have your water parameters in numbers?
Again, no disrespect, you want to give the fish the best care, then please understand that a picture of the tank says much more than any words.
I had a female that for months i thought was a male. She was very large (1 1/2 larger than my other female). I posed a thread here somewhere; i only became convince she was a female when she started to lay eggs (which was many months after the first female).
