males outliving females

[schillbw]

new to the site and forum and had a question/concern i hope you can help with.

i acquired a. caucatoides pair who spawned a month after i got them into the tank. then nothing for two months. then the female stopped eating. now i only have the male.
got a pair of a. atahualpa at the same time. they spawned then the female jumped out of the tank. yes i know, my fault entirely. the tanks have lids now.

my question is about post spawning behavior in females. maybe this was a fluke and will never happen again but i wondered if this change in behavior had happened to others. let me know. thanks.

 

[slimbolen99]

Normally, it's the other way around for me...the females take out their aggression on the males. I think maybe it's typical of fish living in too crowded conditions that the 'lesser' fish is not able to escape, like in the wild, or seek adequate refuge.

 

[Mike Wise]

I have an adult female A. norberti that I brought back from Peru in October 2008. At that time, she was fully mature, so probably hatched in the Spring of 2008. I personally think that too many hobbyists breed their females too death. I try to give them a 2 month break away from males after a couple of spawns, just to recuperate.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
It is the other way around for me, it is always the males that die first. My oldest female A. cacatuoides has been 4 years old, but very few of the males have made it much past 2 years.

cheers Darrel

 

[wethumbs]

My breeding males usually don't live more than 2 years while some of the females live up to and past 3 years. The trick is what Mike Wise said, people tend to breed their fish to death. I usually give my breeding females a break after a couple of spawns by rotating the males out.

The only time I lost a female from her jumping out of a covered tank was when a female A. sp. blutkehl was housed with 3 males. The males were 'visiting' her in her cave all the time checking to see if she is ready. She finally had enough of them and jumped through a small opening.

 

[schillbw]

Thanks all. Picked up mates at this months club meeting so hoping for a spawn before winter.