Listless fish(es) after hours of dominance.

[ntgCleaner]

Hello all,

I have two Apistos which I introduced to each other the other day. They were showing each other who was the dominant one which was to be expected (video of their behavior in the beginners forum), but yesterday and today, both fish are staying in one place.

I believe the male has established his dominance, but I'm wondering why he has not been strutting around finding bits of food or moving the sand at all. He's been sitting in a spot in a cave on the floor every time I've observed them over the past 36 hours.

The female has been standing between some swords around the top/middle of the tank (every time I've observed over the last 36 hours). This is why I think the male has established his dominance. She doesn't even want to go down to the floor to get more stressed. They both did not eat yesterday and I will check again when I get home from work today.

Again, I haven't noticed the male still trying to stress the female, but they are both hiding...

I think if they are still in the same spot when I get home, I will set back up my quarantine tank and allow the female to swim happily by herself.

Water parameters are normal and stable. I've checked four times in the last 48 hours. I haven't noticed a spike in anything.

Any ideas?

p.s. My wife checks up on them every hour or so.

 

[ntgCleaner]

Went home for lunch to see both of them in the same spot. I tossed some food in the tank and waited a bit. While I was eating, I noticed both Apistos move around the tank a bit. Though the female stayed in the upper part of the tank and never went below mid way.

I hope they are coming out of their drunken stupors. Still, any thoughts?

 

[Mike Wise]

Apistos that aren't on the bottom have problems. Apistos that stay near the top of the tank are apistos that have no territory on the bottom. This is a highly stressful situation. I think you're right. It's time to move the female and give her a little peace and quiet.

 

[ntgCleaner]

Sounds good. I'll set up that tank and do a nice little 10 gal water change in the process. Thank you

 

[ntgCleaner]

Quick question. Has anyone done a test where they take the dominant fish out and put it into a quarantine tank to allow the submissive fish to gain a "property"? Or should they both come out into a new tank setup in the Quarantine?

Basically, what I'm thinking is; When I had a few Bearded Dragons, If I introduced a new one into the tank, it was suggested to take out all of the other beardeds, then move all of the decorations or replace them with new ones, then place them all back in at the same time, effectively eliminating territories. Everyone starts new.

Has anyone done this with fish successfully? If no, would this be a good time for a good test?

 

[Mike Wise]

You could do this with your tank and see if things change. Obviously the female has no territory of her own right now. You could remove the male, re-arrange the decor so that there are visual boundaries, give the female a few days to re-orient herself to the new surroundings and then return the male. It's worked before. The important part is the visual boundaries so that each fish has its own territory.