A Change in Behavior

[gwand76 192]

I have posted before about an unusual platonic relationship between a male and female P. taeniatus. They were always together and share the same cave, although they have several caves to choose from. Recently this docile male has become aggressive. He will not tolerate the female being in his presence. I have not witnessed physical contact but he chases her away whenever she draws near him. Thoughts?

 

[Tomsfish35 34]

If I remember correctly my females killed more males than the other way around.
Do you have another tank you can move him to?

 

[GaryE37 35]

I read this earlier and had to think about it while I got the garden ready for snow. I suspect someone's hormones finally kicked in - maturity. The taeniatus/kribensis group is a strange one. I've raised probably 30 pairs I've bred, and I've seen similar things before.
I've seen males whose dime never dropped, and whatever genetic switches had to trigger to complete their sexual development - it just never happened and they stayed seemingly juvenile (though full sized) for life. Always males. It's something that fascinated me as young males swim together as little shoal,s and some seem to stay at that stage for life.
Your guy may have clicked in at last.

I have 2 pairs of taeniatus right now, and they are at the platonic stage. I saw breeding behaviour from one pair, but it didn't work out. I check them closely as females often kill males if they dawdle.

I think we've traditionally seen these fish through prejudiced glasses - man glasses. Females have set territories, and males hold wider zones. The females take the lead. The males have to pass the test. That's what's the head scratcher for me with what you're seeing. Maybe the male is older than the female, and she's not mature enough? It's usually the female attacking the male, in my experience.

It's white knuckle fishkeeping time for you.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford76 192]

I read this earlier and had to think about it while I got the garden ready for snow. I suspect someone's hormones finally kicked in - maturity. The taeniatus/kribensis group is a strange one. I've raised probably 30 pairs I've bred, and I've seen similar things before.
I've seen males whose dime never dropped, and whatever genetic switches had to trigger to complete their sexual development - it just never happened and they stayed seemingly juvenile (though full sized) for life. Always males. It's something that fascinated me as young males swim together as little shoal,s and some seem to stay at that stage for life.
Your guy may have clicked in at last.

I have 2 pairs of taeniatus right now, and they are at the platonic stage. I saw breeding behaviour from one pair, but it didn't work out. I check them closely as females often kill males if they dawdle.

I think we've traditionally seen these fish through prejudiced glasses - man glasses. Females have set territories, and males hold wider zones. The females take the lead. The males have to pass the test. That's what's the head scratcher for me with what you're seeing. Maybe the male is older than the female, and she's not mature enough? It's usually the female attacking the male, in my experience.

It's white knuckle fishkeeping time for you.

I was thinking the same thing. One of them isn't ready to spawn.
It may be the female isn't ready or perhaps she doesn't have the metabolic reserves to produce eggs yet.
Try feeding a more robust diet for a few weeks, more live/frozen foods and see what happens.