Breeding aggression and what to do?

[Victreal]

So I'm pretty new to apistogrammas and I managed to get my hand of a male and a female agassizzi. The male is pretty interested in mating albeit the female isn't as keen. I'm pretty sure they are of mating age and size. The male keeps fanning its tail against the female and but when the female turns away it gets chased viciously. I guess its because it wants to make space for a female that is more keen in mating. So where should I go from here, its hard to get let a lone find apistos where I am... so how would i go about breeding them?
Will they eventually cosy up or do I have to separate them for a period and reintroduce?

Thanks for any help I can get

 

[Mike Wise]

You're right when you wrote, "I guess its because it wants to make space for a female that is more keen in mating". Ideally adding extra females is the best option - if the tank is large enough and properly decorated. Otherwise you might want to separate the 2 and 'fatten up' the female in the breeding tank and then re-introduce the male. If the male isn't actually damaging the female or causing her stress, then just be patient. Also make sure the water, tank, etc. have optimum conditions for breeding.

 

[Victreal]

Mmm my tank is a 20g but even if I got a bigger tank apistogrammas are so rare in my area I went crazy when I found this pair.
The female looks about the same size as the male at the moment. About a good 5cm which I Think is a good size for an agassizzii female. I've made holes under drift wood and put a round pot I made a long time ago when I was in school (didn't think it would be useful then) and I'm trying to grow some high growing plants mainly rotalia colorata, green and macandra to break line of sight
I'm kind of new to this but what are optimum water conditions for breeding agassizziis? I've got the temperature about 28 to 30, ph about 6.3, gh 2 and kh 2
So it's soft acidic water... As I have either fish (honey blue eyes) I can't really do the thing that others do where they reduce the tank water to an inch and then slowly fill it up
I'll take a photo of my tank when I get home and the 2 fish

 

[Mike Wise]

Your water values are excellent for A. agassizii. If the male is not damaging the female then just wait. Also the proper food is important.

 

[Victreal]

the male isnt damaging the female. actually i feel like today they somethings up. During feeding the male totally ignored the food but the female ate. even when i dangled it right in front of him like i use to do before it swam away but still dances in front of the but the female still looks disinterested BUT he doesnt go crazy abusing her anymore.... seems weird
At the moment Im feeding them brine shrimp. and high quality flakes. but im not sure what else i can feed them because i have read that tubifex worms can carry bacteria and bloodworm doesnt agree with a.agassizzi's intestines very well.

 

[MickeM]

Actually it is not weird at all .. it is a thousand year old "tradition"... He is probably now getting some "vibes"/signals in her body-language that something good may occur, so now there is no reason for him to chase her away anymore...!! (and she is playing "hard to get" ???!!! "Nothing is new under the sun!! " )
.. so probably.. as you have observed.. maybe now the real courtship begins..!!!????

 

[Victreal]

huh... I'm pretty sure you are right...they are just chilling around each other today ate together and stuff. the female likes living under a driftwood at the moment, its like cleaning it or doing housekeeping or something xD
:O what does the courtship even look like haha I'm not sure what im looking for!
but thats good news nonetheless

 

[Mike Wise]

Don't worry about seeing courtship. It lasts less than 15 minutes at most. You will know they spawned when the female hides most of the time and drives the other fish (including the male) away from her hiding place.

 

[Victreal]

So they are pretty chill with each other now. But I dont think spawning is a thing yet. the male still flares his tail at the female but now instead of chasing it swims to a corner an sits there like disappointment or something LOL. But the female has found its territory under a piece of driftwood. Doesn't hide there often but it protects it a lot and doesnt venture far from it often.
I also heard the female will turn yellow when it is about to spawn but i don't think its yellow at the moment someone correct me if im wrong here is a photo
and i know some people aren't into the colour variations. But these were the only ones i could find :3

 

[Mike Wise]

Yellow color depends on mood and species. Females of some species don't turn yellow, ever. Some show yellow only after spawning. Others will show it as a dominance as well as brood pattern. When your agassizii appears with a highly contrasting black lateral spot and is aggressive to other fish in the tank, you can be fairly certain she has egg/larvae.

 

[MickeM]

So they are pretty chill with each other now. But I dont think spawning is a thing yet. the male still flares his tail at the female but now instead of chasing it swims to a corner an sits there like disappointment or something LOL. But the female has found its territory under a piece of driftwood. Doesn't hide there often but it protects it a lot and doesnt venture far from it often.
I also heard the female will turn yellow when it is about to spawn but i don't think its yellow at the moment someone correct me if im wrong here is a photo
and i know some people aren't into the colour variations. But these were the only ones i could find :3

They look very nice+ healthy!!

I have sometimes/quite often started a new Apisto-spawn by making a small waterchange(5-10% of total tank-volume)+ "hoovering"/"siphoning" some area of the sand(10-20% of the total bottom-area) !!
It might be worth a try..? .. since the female seems like ready for it.. and also behaves like she is ..
If it works.. result ought to show within 1-2 days..
But remember..if you have a cave with a large entry+ any kind of hungry catfish or others .. problems may interfere with a breeding-"plan" !!??

And also.. thriving plants(floating.!?).. often helps to keep a good water quality for successful breeding!!