Ok, apologies in advance, but to make clear my current situation with the fish, it will take a fair bit of explaining.
After much hunting all over the UK, I finally managed to track down 6 of these little critters, although from 2 different sources.
For the first couple of weeks, there was nothing going on between all of them besides the odd bit of chasing, but nothing nasty. Then I saw what I thought was the beginning of a pair forming. A male was displaying a fair bit to one of the females. She did not seem too interested really, but they were sticking together and this lasted for a few days.
Then one of the other curviceps (one that the male had chased more than any of the others) started trying to get his attention. It worked, and he abandoned the first female he was with and went with the new one. Well, there was plenty of affection being displayed in both directions for a few days. Then last night, they spawned!
I was a happy man! Well, for a couple of minutes anyway... I have a pair of keyholes who suddenly decided they wanted to be right where the cuvi's had just spawned and the 4 of them got a little feisty with each other.
While the newly spawned curvi's were keeping the keyholes at bay, hte first female the spawning male was with snuck in and started gulping down the eggs! I was mortified!
In any case, after the spawning curvi's had finally managed to beat all the others into submission, pretty much all the eggs were gone so they ate what was left
This morning, hte male of the spawning pair is now chasing the female he spawned with and is flirting with th other girls again. Which brings me to my question... At Last!
From everything I have read, these fish form strong monogamous bonds. Yet this one male I have seems to be a reall slapper and is going from one to the next. I thought once they bonded it was for life, but what I am seeing here does not support that so far.
I am now hesitant to remove the others, for fear if I only leave the 2 that did spawn they might not shack up again.
Any comments/suggestions on this matter?
After much hunting all over the UK, I finally managed to track down 6 of these little critters, although from 2 different sources.
For the first couple of weeks, there was nothing going on between all of them besides the odd bit of chasing, but nothing nasty. Then I saw what I thought was the beginning of a pair forming. A male was displaying a fair bit to one of the females. She did not seem too interested really, but they were sticking together and this lasted for a few days.
Then one of the other curviceps (one that the male had chased more than any of the others) started trying to get his attention. It worked, and he abandoned the first female he was with and went with the new one. Well, there was plenty of affection being displayed in both directions for a few days. Then last night, they spawned!
I was a happy man! Well, for a couple of minutes anyway... I have a pair of keyholes who suddenly decided they wanted to be right where the cuvi's had just spawned and the 4 of them got a little feisty with each other.
While the newly spawned curvi's were keeping the keyholes at bay, hte first female the spawning male was with snuck in and started gulping down the eggs! I was mortified!
In any case, after the spawning curvi's had finally managed to beat all the others into submission, pretty much all the eggs were gone so they ate what was left
This morning, hte male of the spawning pair is now chasing the female he spawned with and is flirting with th other girls again. Which brings me to my question... At Last!
From everything I have read, these fish form strong monogamous bonds. Yet this one male I have seems to be a reall slapper and is going from one to the next. I thought once they bonded it was for life, but what I am seeing here does not support that so far.
I am now hesitant to remove the others, for fear if I only leave the 2 that did spawn they might not shack up again.
Any comments/suggestions on this matter?
