Confused by my Vielflecks!!! :/

[Derbyian]

Hi all

I'm new to the forum - so Hello first of all!

Secondly, I'm really confused (and excited) by my Apisto Vielflecks. I bought 5 off a local fella when they were really small and unsexed. I've put them in a 3ft tank with guppies and platies with plenty of coconut shells and bogwood dotted strategically about. As they grew, I could see that 2 of them were female - a light yellow colour with a dashed line from head to tail and the familiar spotted effect, a further one is male - similar to the females without the stripe. The other 2 are quite different - one is larger, still with the same diagonal stripe under the eye, however it has a spot in the middle of it's body and on just before it's tail and the remaining one is patterned similar to the identified male, however a greenish khaki colour!

My first question, which hopefully is easy to answer is if the latter two are actually Vielflecks or another breed?

I noticed that the (identified) male and one of the (identified) females had paired up and claimed one of the coconut shells in the corner - she eventually retreated to the shell with him guarding outside. Yesterday when I got back from work I noticed them both out and vigourously keeping everything away from the shell. When I looked closer, I could see that they had spawned and lots of little fry were hopping around the sand - which is absoultely fantastic.

The really confusing thing is that the other identified female who has claimed another coconut shell in the opposite corner (a foot away) with the sight broken up with rocks and plants, also started showing defensive behaviour to any fish venturing near. When I looked closer - she is also hovering over quite a few wrigglers too!

I'm not sure if these are her fry and if so, who the male was as the "taken" male ignores her, even when she has on occasion displayed to him. Do Vielflecks have a "harem" approach? She appears to be defending them on her own.

Is it possible that some of the fry from pair "no 1" had managed to find their way over to the other female and that she is now defending them (including from pair "no 1").

Excited but really confused!

 

[Mike Wise]

First, welcome to the apisto forum! Next for your questions. You need to realize that A. sp. Vielfleck is just a population of A. sp. Xingu. There are many variations/populations in the species from the most heavily spotted Vielfleck form to the least spotted Xingu form. Without seeing photos of the fish, it's really hard to say what you have. It is possible that you have 2 females that have spawned. It is also not unusual for females - even of different species - to steal fry from other females. In an aquarium, where there are few fry predators, males of many of the more casually monogamous species will breed with 2 or more females at the same time.

 

[Derbyian]

First, welcome to the apisto forum! Next for your questions. You need to realize that A. sp. Vielfleck is just a population of A. sp. Xingu. There are many variations/populations in the species from the most heavily spotted Vielfleck form to the least spotted Xingu form. Without seeing photos of the fish, it's really hard to say what you have. It is possible that you have 2 females that have spawned. It is also not unusual for females - even of different species - to steal fry from other females. In an aquarium, where there are few fry predators, males of many of the more casually monogamous species will breed with 2 or more females at the same time.

Thanks Mike. they could be different variants I suppose - they're all stunning fish regardless. I'll try and pop a couple of photos up on here.

With regards to the second point - I did wonder if they'd been stolen. Fascinating really....

 

[Derbyian]

Hi Mike - I've popped a photo of the "unknown" fish in the "ID" forum.

Unfortunately all of the fry have disappeared. I've decided to remove all the other fish to leave the 2 male and 2 female Vielflecks, plus the Glolight Tetras that I will keep in there to act as dither fish. This should increase the chances of survival for future spawns.

I also wasn't overly happy about how close the territories were of the 2 females as they had a couple of punch ups, so I've moved one of the caves. Whilst this has separated them, it appears to have displaced one, with her ignoring the new location of the moved cave. Once they establish in an area of the tank , do they stick to it regardless of no caves there? She keeps sneaking back to that original area before getting chased off.

I was hoping that in a tank the size of mine (150l), I could keep 2 breeding pairs of Vielflecks - is there though a way of establishing the 2 remaining pairs at opposite ends of the tank? I thought about maybe removing all 4, re-jigging the rocks & plants and then introducing the pair that have spawned at one end and the other male and female at the other end. Do you think that this would work?

Rgds

Ian

 

[Mike Wise]

Once you move something in the tank, the territorial boundaries change. If one female can claim a larger area, then she will. Visual territorial boundaries are very important in determining how many territories can exist in a tank. A tank that is very open might only handle 1 female, while the same tank with much structure and distinct boundaries might handle 2 or more. Your tank should be able to handle 2 - 3 females + 1 - 2 males. It all depends on how well it is decorated. I agree with you. Remove all of the fish, rearrange the decor and then re-introduce the fish all at once.