Nannacara anomala help

[briztoon]

Hi guys,

Last Friday I bought a pair of Nannacara anomala. They were quite timmid over the weekend and I barely saw the female at all. Occassionally the male would chase her out of hiding, but for the most part there was little aggression beween the pair.

On Monday I woke up to find the female had changed colour and pattern. She had a very nice black pattern to her and her abdomen had turned very yellow. She was very protective of a ketapang leaf that formed a tunnel at the front of the tank, and chased the male on sight. This behaviour continued all Monday and Tuesday.

Wednesday morning I pulled the male from the tank, as he was looking a little rough around the edges.

The female has slowly lost her colour and pattern since Wednesday, though she remains very active and is no longer timid.

So this afternoon (Friday) I placed the male back in the tank with the female. The female instantly changed colour back to her black pattern and yellow tummy and started chasing the male and displaying to him in a very similar manor to how female apistos display to male apistos when the are ready to breed.

Except the male wants none of it and flees every time.

I am worried that the male may be harrased to death before the pair even spawn. I do have some floating black pipes in the tank that the male can seek refuge in.

Does anyone have any advice for me.

Male

Female

 

[Mike Wise]

Your female is initiating courtship and your male isn't interested. As the old saying goes, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned". As long as you have adequate hiding places for the fish - and line-of-sight in the aquarium is mostly broken up - you should just leave them as they are. The male will eventually get the idea.

 

[wethumbs]

I got the same problem with a pair of EBR that has spawned before. The female is gravid like a balloon and swimming around with the breeding tube out. The male would do all the 'foreplay' and help clean the site but as soon as she started to do the 'dry runs', he would get 'cold feet' and swim away. Maybe he needs some fish version of Viagra.

 

[briztoon]

Thanks guys. Looks like the roles have been reversed while I was out today. Female has gone back to her nuetral colour and male is chasing her around, displaying and flaring at her. He's an awesome emerald green at the moment. Hopefully these guys get thier acts together soon.