Dead cacatuoides female.

[Mettle]

:frown:

So I'm one sad boy tonight. I came home from work, fed the fish as I usually do. And everything seemed fine in the tank with the apisto pair in it. I fell asleep on the couch this evening and when I came up to bed, as this particular tank is in my room, my female was lying dead on the bottom of the tank!

Now I did some tests... Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 5. The only thing a bit off is the PH which clocked in very high at ~7.8. I know apistos generally like lower PH's, so could this have been a factor? (I believe the higher PH is contributed by this GeoSystems gravel/substrate that I have in that particular tank.)

I did see signs of courting as well from the male. So is it possible that the male badgered the female to death? (Though in a couple of days it seems rather unlikely, doesn't it?)

I'm really quite heart broken over this. I've been wanting a pair of these fish for a long time. I thought I would be able to keep them alive for more than a few days. Looks like I was perhaps wrong...

Any ideas?

Now that I have just the male I don't think I will be bothering to get another female for a little while. Not until I find something for a decent price. So I was thinking of moving the male into a 10 gallon tank that I have, and adding some tetras to it.

Also if anyone has tips for lowering the PH that would be useful as well.

I can't even explain how sad I am about this... It really feels like I failed and it sucks.

 

[Lisachromis]

Sorry to hear that she died, but I wouldn't blame it on the pH. Cacs do very well in higher pHs. It's possible that the male killed her. Did she show any signs of being attacked? (frayed fins, marks on her side..) What size tank was she in? For all you know, it's possible she was already old. It's hard to say sometimes.

 

[Konigwolf]

Hi mettle, you state you hoped you could kep them alive for more than a few days, so they are a recent acquistion then? If so this could be your problem the general consensus on another forum I'm a member of is that cockatoo's can be as fragile as blue rams. I lost three males before my current one they lasted between 24 hours and 2 weeks, water params fine, a long time in accimlitising them etc. I'd say probably bad luck and hope for better luck next time.

As for your suggestion of some tetras and the male in a 10gallon, take your time settling him and all should be ok. You may want to rethink this if you do want another female (2 is better) in future so you dont move him around so much.

Best of luck with whatever you do

Konigwolf