Apistogramma Trifasciata

[Gankutsuou]

So I got two of them yesterday. They're beggining to color up nicely and accordingly....

One problem. They aren't paring up. They are indeed female and male, with the characteristic blue for the male and yellow for the female. I got them straight from the shipping bag at the lfs and they are aclimitizing to the 10 gallon right now. but neither of them will share the cave, and at this very moment they're on opposing sides of the tank looking away from each other.

It seems they aren't pairing...

as for tank size, they're super small now and only in with a single khuli loach. (another one of my beginner mistakes...), and seem to be healthy so far, but not going near each other. What Can I do about this? I was hoping they'd eventually even breed...

(in the 10 gallon right now, which may get an upgrade to a 20-30 gallon come xmas. hopefully 30, but somewhere in that range.)

Edit again:
Here's a picture of the male who was still in the bag. poor guy. he's colored up to be what he kinda should be since then.

 

[Griz]

They probably just need a little time. Apistogramma aren't usualy that picky when it comes to mates. Stick a male and a female together in a tank and they will almost always pair up and it generally happens pretty fast; withing a couple days. Even a mated pair doesn't usually share the cave all the time. When your female turns very yellow and takes over the cave - she's ready to mate. Good luck with them!

 

[Gankutsuou]

hmmmm.... both are showing some blue now... this is bad....

The "female" has shown yellow before, but is showing blue somewhat now...

they could both be male... we'll know in a few days. I got a bunch of white wholey rock and set it up on two sides of the tank. Hopefully that will do.

 

[Griz]

The pic is definitely a male. The other fish, if it was showing yellow, is probably a female. It shouldn't have the extended dorsal rays like the male. Females will show black on the ventral fins, especially in breeding condition.

 

[Gankutsuou]

unfortunatly, the male died.

fortunatly, there's an excuse so I got a refund. I got rock out of the system of a LFS, who warned nothing about putting it into my aquaria.

A: it came with a blue tail red loach who survived (amazingly)
B: It had algea that didn;t come off, I ran it in warm water.

Everything is PERFECT.... except...

my nitrates are off the scale. Everything else is at perfection. nitrates are wayyyy high, and they say it could be dying bacteria accustomed to their tank.

The male looked great and the female looked horrible.

well, last night the male died after the rock went in, sometime in the night...

the female looks 500% better. No joking. she looked near death, now she's a great yellow.... odd... doing 50% water change now. any other advice?

 

[tetraman]

I have a male and 4 female blue-headed apistos, and there aren't any pairs yet.

 

[Griz]

I have a male and 4 female blue-headed apistos, and there aren't any pairs yet.

Apistogramma resticulosa?
I believe that these are harem breeders which means that the male will consider all of the females in his territory to be his and will mate with all of them, so a "pair" won't really form. Also, there's probably too much going on in your 10 gallon for them to mate. If you have caves in there for them it's quite possible that eggs are being produced and quickly eaten. One male and one female with perhaps a few dithers and they might breed for you.

 

[tetraman]

Sweet! I'm getting a 10 or 20 gallon tank for the cories and swordtails.

 

[tetraman]

Could I keep all of the females in there for breeding?

 

[Griz]

A 10g is really the minimum size for a breeding pair of most apistos. I would suggest putting your male with the nicest of your females in a 10g by themselves. Most people would recommend a much larger tank for a group of 1m/4f. Your 30g might work for the group if it has a lot of structure and caves. They should get along fine with the fish you have but you you may want to move a few simply because of the bioload. To breed them seriously, they really need their own tank, at least a 10g for a pair. There are dithers that will work in a breeding setup (pencilfish, hatchetfish) but not the fish you currently have, the tetras and cories will make quick work of any eggs/fry that result. If you get the 10g or 20g you mentioned and move things around a bit it sounds like you will be fine.

 

[tetraman]

I know that tank is absolutely loaded, but I make 50% water changes every 5-7 days. They all seem to be fine, but the male seems to be a little aggresive. is this a sign that he's looking for a mate?