Why isnt my male interested?

[Ig1988]

Hi, I have a trio of Apistogramma Blue Steel and recently the two females have been really displaying to the male with their fins all out and some brilliant colour. However the male just doesnt seem interested in either and seems more scared than anything else. The feamles display to him and he just seems to ignore it untill the female starts to chase him.

The females are a little bit bigger than the male so im wondering whether this has anything to do with it?

Has anybody experinced this before with apistogramma's?

 

[Mike Wise]

I think that we need more information. Can you describe how the females are displaying to the male? How large is each fish? Water values, tank set-up, and anything else you might think relevant would be helpful, too.

 

[Ig1988]

Yeh sure, the tank is a 35gal well planted with plenty of bogwood and slate for cover. Ph is 6.5 with very little gh. I use 100% RO treated with RO right and 25% water changes weekly.
Pictures of the fish in question are available here > http://forum.apistogramma.com/showthread.php?t=8714

The 2 females loose their black latteral line when displaying to the male all fins are up and they do a little shimmer type movement.

Last night i looked in and ther was a pile of sand next to a rock with a gap undernieth I am not 100% sure what dug it but my guess is one of the females as it like to hang around in that bit of the tank.

Like i said when the females display to the male the male just starts to swim away with its fins down untill it eventually gets chased round the tank.

any help is appreciated

 

[Mike Wise]

Well, it seems that the females are ready to breed. My guess is that the male might be young and doesn't get the right idea yet. I think time and patience will eventually get results you want.

 

[Moche]

I can not offer any advice in this matter, but I am interested in what part of the world you are in. I have been looking for Steel Blue Females for a while. My LFS is of no help since they had the Steel Blue I have now labled as an Agassazi Morph. I have a single male who is definitely mature enough to breed but he has no partners to breed with.

 

[Hassles]

Hi, I have a trio of Apistogramma Blue Steel and recently the two females have been really displaying to the male with their fins all out and some brilliant colour. However the male just doesnt seem interested in either and seems more scared than anything else. The feamles display to him and he just seems to ignore it untill the female starts to chase him.

The females are a little bit bigger than the male so im wondering whether this has anything to do with it?

Has anybody experinced this before with apistogramma's?

I have experienced this scenario myself (cacatuoides) and eventually found that the male began to respond to the females advances. In my instance it was 3 females and the poor bugger didn't know which way to move. I would imagine that things will settle down and sort themselves out before too much longer.

hmm, jealous of your fish.

Glenn

 

[Tedstank]

Possibly your male is too young?..They are usually a good bit larger than the females. How long have you had them? Could he have come from a different brood and not be as old as the females?

 

[Ig1988]

Thanks for all the replys your knoledge and experiance is appreciated as these are my firrst apisto's

I can not offer any advice in this matter, but I am interested in what part of the world you are in. I have been looking for Steel Blue Females for a while. My LFS is of no help since they had the Steel Blue I have now labled as an Agassazi Morph. I have a single male who is definitely mature enough to breed but he has no partners to breed with.

Moche - I am in the North West of England.

Possibly your male is too young?..They are usually a good bit larger than the females. How long have you had them? Could he have come from a different brood and not be as old as the females?

Tedstank - I have had the fish for about 3 weeks now, and this behaviour has been going on since day1.

I think that you are right my male is probably not as mature as the females as it is about half an inch smaller. One of the females has a very full look about her maybe she is carrying eggs?? she is also the biggest of the 3fish and the most agressive.

Does anybody know how long it takes apistos to mature/grow. I have seen pictures of full size adult male steel blue and the colours are awsome (even if they might be a hybrid)

 

[RAF]

I'm having the same problem with some aquarium stock Ap. panduru... the female is all willing for quite some time and the male isn't...

 

[Ig1988]

Just an update on the situation, the larger dominant female has now decided that she is going to chase both the smaller female and the smaller male to the point where they are hiding and only coming out for food. I fear that this behaviour is going to kill both the smaller female and the male if something doesnt change, i dont have another tank to transfer them to so i guess il just have to let nature take its course.

I really hope something changes and the male starts to show some interest. The larger female is definately ready to breed her belly is very full and black markings on her lateral line and pelvic fins are very prominant.

Has anybody ever experianced a female apisto killing a male? also i was under the imperession that apisto's where able to live in a Harem?? my feamle doesnt even seem able to live in a pair!

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Ig1988, have a look through the archive.

My steel-blues were quite aggressive.
<http://forum.apistogramma.com/showthread.php?p=49035>

cheers Darrel

 

[Ig1988]

Yes thanks dw1305, I do remember reading that, but I just put your experiances down to your other female being weak from an infection. It seems that it might be a trait that some blue steels have as all 3 of mine seem healthy enough apart from the obvious dammage to the fins caused by the constant chasing.

If it was you waht would you do in this situation? (remembering that i only have the one community tank)

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
If I only had the one tank, I'd add as much complexity to the tank as possible, tunnels, caves, wood etc. and let the plants grow really into a jungle.

I'd also make sure that some of the tunnels were well of the bottom, bits of plastic drain pipe, near the top of the tank, in the plants are good, you can fix them by hooking supports over the edge of the tank.

I'd also feed small food items that would be dispersed all around the tank, grindal worms or other small live food - Daphnia would be good. Live food would have the twin advantage of conditioning the fish, making spawning more likely and keeping the fish occupied for a long time.

Best of luck Darrel