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Black Stripe Dwarf Cichlid (Taeniacara candidi) fight

miorinsnake

New Member
Messages
4
I have a pair of Taeniacara candidi and they have been living peacefully with each other and other 8 Spotted blue-eye in a 5 gallon small tank.
Today I noticed my male Taeniacara candidi was attacked by the female and then I notice she laid many eggs under the leaf.

I was not expecting to see such aggressive behaviors from the female towards the male, I thought they will raise fry together? They used to share the same space and now the male is not allowed to get closer to eggs.

I divided my fish tank so the female can get a quiet space.

My question is do female Taeniacara always that aggressive towards the male? And it seems like the male wants to get closer the protect eggs from other fish but the female is really aggressive towards any fish. One of my ghost shrimp died and I really think it was the female who did this.
 

Mike Wise

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It appears that you didn't research information on this species. Otherwise you would know that they both are showing typical behavior. The female's brood behavior will not change until the fry are removed or driven away.
 

miorinsnake

New Member
Messages
4
It appears that you didn't research information on this species. Otherwise you would know that they both are showing typical behavior. The female's brood behavior will not change until the fry are removed or driven away.

Most of my research are relates to the living condition and I haven't modified the water condition to try to stimulate them for breeding. So it really surprises me。 Something new to learn I guess
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
5 gallon is really too small for most dwarf cichlids unless you have the option to separate them at any given time.
I'd always research the behaviour very thoroughly before getting a species. In case of south american dwarf cichlids this makes up 50% of the reasoning for the right tank dimensions and structure.
 

GuppyNamedOscar

New Member
Messages
2
How stressful! It's exciting to see the eggs, but what a way to find them! And now what??

I don't know a ton about apistos (yet), but I'll share what I know so far. Some fish claim a surprisingly large breeding territory compared to how small they are. And their behavior definitely changes when they have babies to protect (as a mama, I can relate!)' Ive read that since they are expecting to have to protect their fry, if there isn't an outside threat, even a bonded pair can turn on each other.

The suggestion I read was to have target fish to let them blow off that steam-- fish that are tough enough to handle getting chased away from the territory over and over and mild enough not to really fight back. If you don't have that option figured out, a divider is a great idea. They can fuss at each other through the divider and not get hurt. Mom and eggs should probably be alone on their side of the divider, dad and the other fish on the other side.

Not all eggs hatch, especially for first time parents. If they hatch, it might be in about a week. Mom takes care of the fry while dad guards the territory. Watch dad for aggression toward your other fish... Not sure how that will work out.

Newly hatched fry will probably need special food and eat several times a day. You can get brine shrimp eggs to hatch for them, or I think there are ready-made fry foods.

You must be doing a good job keeping a small tank clean, or they probably wouldn't have spawned. Feeding babies several times a day is going to make it more challenging to keep it clean. I'm not honestly sure how to clean around tiny fry!
Do you have a local fish store (not a general pet store) where you could ask for advice about what to feed and how to clean?

Sounds like you're going to need a bigger tank or else separate space for these guys in future. For now, if you're not ready for all this, removing the eggs will probably restore the peace (until next time).

Also, for those who've replied already and anyone else who might read this, I'd like to share my perspective about doing research. As someone new to this hobby, I'm worried about making mistakes that cost my pets their lives. I have a master's degree and used to be an English teacher, so I have good reading comprehension and research skills. And still... there's a steep learning curve with this hobby! There's a TON of superficial, low quality, or just plain wrong information online that feels overwhelming to sift through.

I've read a number of books, and they are hit or miss. Some are outdated. Some are more like a catalog of species than an in-depth care guide. Really, the only truly helpful book I've read so far was written in the '80s and reads like a doctoral thesis... lots of big words like bellicose and fecund, lol. That won't help many people.

Forums have been the *best* source of info for me. So it makes me sad to read "clearly, you didn't do your research" as a response. I get it. These are living creatures, and it must be hard to read the same noob mistakes over and over (and over). But I can't help but notice a pattern: a lot of threads (on several different forums, not just this one) start with someone asking for help, then people chastise them for making rookie mistakes, and then the thread ends abruptly when the OP stops responding.

I'm hoping that sharing my perspective will help us do better to support each other. Remember why we're here... to support each other in the hobby, to protect the fish, and to share our real observations and experience. People ask questions because they're TRYING to do the research. Y'all, we ARE the research.
 

miorinsnake

New Member
Messages
4
How stressful! It's exciting to see the eggs, but what a way to find them! And now what??

I don't know a ton about apistos (yet), but I'll share what I know so far. Some fish claim a surprisingly large breeding territory compared to how small they are. And their behavior definitely changes when they have babies to protect (as a mama, I can relate!)' Ive read that since they are expecting to have to protect their fry, if there isn't an outside threat, even a bonded pair can turn on each other.

The suggestion I read was to have target fish to let them blow off that steam-- fish that are tough enough to handle getting chased away from the territory over and over and mild enough not to really fight back. If you don't have that option figured out, a divider is a great idea. They can fuss at each other through the divider and not get hurt. Mom and eggs should probably be alone on their side of the divider, dad and the other fish on the other side.

Not all eggs hatch, especially for first time parents. If they hatch, it might be in about a week. Mom takes care of the fry while dad guards the territory. Watch dad for aggression toward your other fish... Not sure how that will work out.

Newly hatched fry will probably need special food and eat several times a day. You can get brine shrimp eggs to hatch for them, or I think there are ready-made fry foods.

You must be doing a good job keeping a small tank clean, or they probably wouldn't have spawned. Feeding babies several times a day is going to make it more challenging to keep it clean. I'm not honestly sure how to clean around tiny fry!
Do you have a local fish store (not a general pet store) where you could ask for advice about what to feed and how to clean?

Sounds like you're going to need a bigger tank or else separate space for these guys in future. For now, if you're not ready for all this, removing the eggs will probably restore the peace (until next time).

Also, for those who've replied already and anyone else who might read this, I'd like to share my perspective about doing research. As someone new to this hobby, I'm worried about making mistakes that cost my pets their lives. I have a master's degree and used to be an English teacher, so I have good reading comprehension and research skills. And still... there's a steep learning curve with this hobby! There's a TON of superficial, low quality, or just plain wrong information online that feels overwhelming to sift through.

I've read a number of books, and they are hit or miss. Some are outdated. Some are more like a catalog of species than an in-depth care guide. Really, the only truly helpful book I've read so far was written in the '80s and reads like a doctoral thesis... lots of big words like bellicose and fecund, lol. That won't help many people.

Forums have been the *best* source of info for me. So it makes me sad to read "clearly, you didn't do your research" as a response. I get it. These are living creatures, and it must be hard to read the same noob mistakes over and over (and over). But I can't help but notice a pattern: a lot of threads (on several different forums, not just this one) start with someone asking for help, then people chastise them for making rookie mistakes, and then the thread ends abruptly when the OP stops responding.

I'm hoping that sharing my perspective will help us do better to support each other. Remember why we're here... to support each other in the hobby, to protect the fish, and to share our real observations and experience. People ask questions because they're TRYING to do the research. Y'all, we ARE the research.

Hi! thank you so much for the replay!
It is defiantly my first time experience fish laying eggs and learned so many. The fish owner who I got my fish from described these dwarf cichlid as peaceful fish in his tank. I guess when there are many in the same tank, they must behave differently than only a pair in the tank.

So far non of the eggs was fertilized so the female ate them all. I made a divider for the female and removed it because there are no more eggs and the female is not really protective any more. Now the new issue is the male is become aggressive only towards female. I will keep eyes on them and will separate them as needed.

I am new to this hobby and did many research but still experienced something unexpected. At least I hope laying egg is a good sign of good environment~

Thank you so much for so many good information
 

GuppyNamedOscar

New Member
Messages
2
Hi! thank you so much for the replay!
It is defiantly my first time experience fish laying eggs and learned so many. The fish owner who I got my fish from described these dwarf cichlid as peaceful fish in his tank. I guess when there are many in the same tank, they must behave differently than only a pair in the tank.

So far non of the eggs was fertilized so the female ate them all. I made a divider for the female and removed it because there are no more eggs and the female is not really protective any more. Now the new issue is the male is become aggressive only towards female. I will keep eyes on them and will separate them as needed.

I am new to this hobby and did many research but still experienced something unexpected. At least I hope laying egg is a good sign of good environment~

Thank you so much for so many good information
No problem! I'm bumbling my way through my first African cichlid tank. I thought I prepared really well, but I keep being surprised by things and learning as I go.
Male might be trying to convince female to spawn again... Did the tank he came from have multiple females for each male? I don't know this species, but in some, a lone female can be harassed to death by a male who can't take a hint!
 

miorinsnake

New Member
Messages
4
No problem! I'm bumbling my way through my first African cichlid tank. I thought I prepared really well, but I keep being surprised by things and learning as I go.
Male might be trying to convince female to spawn again... Did the tank he came from have multiple females for each male? I don't know this species, but in some, a lone female can be harassed to death by a male who can't take a hint!
There are multiple males and females where they came from. But from the seller, he said those fish didn't show aggressive behavior towards each other. So I am guessing when the male noticed he is the only male in my tank, he starts to be more territorial protective.

So interesting my male and female were getting so well and being together all the time. Now suddenly after egg lying, the female became aggressive. And not after she ate all unfertilized eggs, the male is the aggressive. These little fish just have big personalities
 

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