Female to male ratio in A. nijsseni

[Siggi]

Hi, all.
I'm finally setting up my 1200 L (330 Gal) aquarium.
The substrate is DIY (expanded clay, sintered glass filter medium, broken clay pots, potting soil and activated charcoal); on top of that locally collected coarse and fine gravel.
I am in the landscape creation phase and hope to deal with the planting this next weekend.
Tank size is 200x90 cm (approx. 79x35 inches) height is 70 cm (27,5').

My question is about the apisto-community that I'll have in the tank...
I have three males; one is clearly an 'alpha' - more colourful and slightly bigger, and bosses the others around. One male is regressive and I had to take out the dominant and leave this one with the females in the holding tank. The holding tank is completely overgrown with java-moss and other stuff and it's impossible to see though. I had three females, but haven't seen three in a long time - I suspect one has died while I've been setting up the main tank.
I have two (at least, possibly more...) young apistos a little over an inch long, different sizes and ages, but too young to determine their gender.
With three males and the size aquarium I mentioned, how many females would be 'ideal' for my setup?
Should there be more females than males? Do nijssenis typically pair or make harems? If they pair up, 'leftover females' can be hunted (in which case I should hope my fry are male and female and wait for new pairs to form or get one from LFS to balance ratios); if they make harems the females should be the most numerous and I should only get females from LFS.

Will the setup be big enough for the three males? Initially the plants will be small and scattered, although it will get dense, but only after several months. Should I insert all three males safely? And in what order? Should the dominant male be left for last or will that be unimportant?

Thanks in advance for your input, it will be precious.
Siggi

 

[Mike Wise]

A. nijsseni forms breeding pairs - not mated pairs and not harems. A 2m tank should be large enough for 3 pairs if properly laid out with visual territorial boundaries. Keeping extra females is a good idea since this species can be rather 'picky' about choosing a mate. Plan to remove losers or expect casualties.

 

[Siggi]

Hi all.
Thanks Mike, for your quick response.
'Not harems' - so, one male to one female.
'breeding pais, not mated pairs - so, they only stick together during breeding.
Did I get that right?
Does this mean the females only defend an area in the breeding season and the remaining time they do not defend a territory?
And the males - do they defend a territory most of the time or do they chosse an area where their chosen female happens to be and defend that area/territory, and only during breeding season?
You say 'remove losers'... female losers? or the males that are too regressive?

Just finished hardscaping the tank
It's late here and the light either made horrible reflextions or was so dim I had to open very long on the diaphagm (it's a camping LED lamp pointing at the ceiling and exposed at 2 sec's - handheld...)

This is a top view - no reflectiopns so house lights on...

There will be sand around outside the black separator, roots with mosses and epiphytes around the higher area to the left - and then plants all over the central area (inside the black separator...).

So...? What do you think?
(Doesn't matter much what you think - no going back... haha)
Still - a positive opinion is always encouraging...

 

[Siggi]

What I mean is, once it grows in, will it be a tank that works fine with Apistos? Three males (maybe more if the youngs I have, are males)... The aquascape is two-sided so it will naturally create two territories. My hope is that its complexity will hold more territories...

Thx
;-)

 

[Mike Wise]

Apistos will breed when conditions are right for breeding. They are not usually seasonal breeders in an aquarium. Breeding pairs may stay together for multiple spawns and jointly defend a breeding territory/offspring together, unlike most harem style species where the sexes have different responsibilities. Breeding pairs can break up suddenly if something causes a spawn to be unsuccessful. Males without breeding partners will try to defend a territory, but often are unsuccessful if a breeding pair decides they want it (2 against 1). Females initiate pair formation for the most part, but both sexes can be very choosy who they pick for a breeding partner. Fish of both sexes who can't find a breeding partner or territory are in danger of attacks in smaller tanks or those without visual boundaries. I would expect that this is less of a danger in a tank of your size.

 

[Siggi]

Hi, all.
Thanks, again, Mike for sharing a knowledgeable opinion.
I'll update you on the progress.