Behaviour of Nigerian Red

[Adam - Sydney]

I recently purchased a pair of Nigerian Reds taenetius (sp). They had about 4 days of fighting over territory as fish do, and then they decided to get on and swim together everywhere. As of 3 days ago the female has been hiding, not in the coconut i have put in for her, but under a log at the back of the tank. She rarely comes out and when she does the male chases her or displays to her. My question is, Is this likely to suggest shes laid eggs or just getting beaten up too much? In the case of her laying i dont want to upset her by moving the stuff around. So what would you guys suggest i do? (these are the first pelvicachromis ive kept, so im unfamiliar with their behaviour)
Cheers Adam

 

[Terje]

Usually when the females are ready to spawn, they look like they've swallowed a red grape. After the spawn they obviously aren't that big anymore. I've also seen that the purpel color tend to fade, and gets less intense.

I think you should leave them for a couple of days, and see what happens. Anyway: If its a spawn and you mess it up (which I don't think you'll do if you're careful), it's very likely that they will spawn again in some weeks.

 

[Adam - Sydney]

I ended up moving things around in the tank, as i had some more stuff to put in. They hadnt bred. What seems to happen between them is from my guess, the male seems ready to spawn and shakes and displays in front of her, she swims away and he chases after her. To me it looks like he's ready, she's not and he gets upset. She is eating now. But she never comes out of her hiding place. Is this normal cichlid or krib behaviour? I once again realise how little i know about fish.

Thank you for your reply

 

[Randall]

Pelvicachromis taeniatus

Hello Adam,

Adding a few small dither fish to the mix may diffuse aggression between your Pelvicachromis taeniatus pair.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn

 

[westafrica]

Hi!

One more time, I totally agree with Randall (by the way, Randall, now I know who F. de Gaspersis is, even though we never met : I wish I could have such rare fish in my tanks! Could you please give me his e-mail adress - if he agrees of course!). In my tanks, dither fish have very often triggered the formation of a stable pair of Pelvicachromis when the male (or the female)tended to get agressive (taeniatus lobe, kienke, nigeria, ...). But a few times it didn't work, and I've found another solution, quite unusual : I took a picture of the male, printed it, cut the fish in the sheet of paper, stuck it on a stick, and put it against the pane of the tank, moving it slowly. This stimulus triggered a very agressive reaction of the male against this strange "incomer". He might have thought that it was a rival. Two days after (and one week after in the case of the second pair I tryed this solution with), they spawned!

It doesn't always work (2 attempts, 1 failure), but you can try it, if the dither fish don't change the behaviour of the female (you can take a picture of the male, so that he pays more attention to the female).

Please forgive me for my english, it's hard for me to explain things clearly!

Good luck with your pair!

Westafrica

 

[Adam - Sydney]

dithers

Funny, i just bought 6 dithers yesterday. Little harlequin rasboras. The female has been out a little more, comes out for food etc. I'll see how thye go then i might try the picture trick. Thanks for the help, i hope it all works out cos id love to be able to breed these beautiful fish.
Adam