Either Really Good Or Really Bad

Synirr

"No one is a failure unless you try"
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A couple of days ago I separated one of my B. albimarginata males out of the 10 gallon the reverse trio was living in together in hopes of getting some breeding action. Today the male still in the tank with the female wasn't eating and is just hiding under the arch of "his" Roman ruin ornament. Until today he has been very active and eating until he couldn't cram anything more down his throat, so it makes me think he might be holding eggs, but I'm also worried he might just be ill, as his fins seemed a tidge clampy at times. His mouth doesn't appear full, so if he is holding, there mustn't be very many eggs... The female still acts completely normal, and I checked all the water parameters and everything just incase -- all perfectly normal. I don't know what to do, aaaaah! :S :p
Should I separate the female from him? Should I medicate if he doesn't perk up in a couple of days? I'm unsure as to what I should do. I'm afraid to bother him too much incase he's holding, but if he's ill I don't want to delay medicating if need be. If he's holding it'll be over a week before he releases the fry, so it's not like I can just wait a few days and see what happens :X
 
I hope he's not ill, he was an expensive fish right? :/ I think you probably have more experience on what to do, but if it were me, I would watch and wait for a couple days very closely and decide what to do from there. If you think he has eggs, could you move the female and leave him there to medicate? It's probably not the best idea, but incase he's carrying eggs? :dunno:

On the other hand, if he is holding eggs, that would be very exciting! You're female then would have been in egg cycle after all. Maybe you can get him to yawn a bit and take a peek down his throat :lol:
 
Maybe you can get him to yawn a bit and take a peek down his throat :lol:
:lol: If only!
Yeah, they were pretty expensive, but even if he is ill I'm confident I could get him to recover, it's just that I'm not sure that's the problem at all. The female and other male are both doing spectacular, and there are no obvious signs of illness like bloating or anything... just that he didn't eat today and isn't as lively as usual.
 
Oh, wish I could help. So, I'm thinking of the little fishy and hoping he's okay!
 
Well, things are still the same today. Even with ever-so-tempting live mosquito larvae (the last of the season, probably,) he won't touch a bite... BUT, his fins aren't clampy today and he honestly looks fit as a fiddle aside from constantly hiding, which really makes me think he might be holding... ooo I hope I hope I hope! :hyper:
He's still alert and everything. The female hasn't been bothering him, so I'm gonna leave her in, for now at least. I guess I won't know for sure for another 10 days or so, unless he magically begins eating before then. I'll probably remove the female a little before time is up just to make sure.

Just for fun, here's their tank. He has been hiding with his back pressed up against the arch of the left column:
DSCN2925.jpg
 
I hope everything turns out ok! They're beautiful fish. It sounds like he's holding eggs. Maybe he's just way nervous. Who knows. But hopefully it's a good thing! :)
 
Maybe the other male proved himself alpha and he just feels like a third wheel...? My kapuas are in a reverse trio, one wild caught male who tops almost 4-5", and then the small male. I often see the small male wandering around by himself, and recently hiding behind the filter, I was thinking more girls might be the answer.
 
I removed the other male a couple of days ago in hopes of getting some spawning goin' on, so there aren't three wheels to begin with at the moment :lol:. If he isn't holding eggs already, he will be just as soon as the female is ready... he was really putting the moves on her tonight :hey:. I'm convinced now that he's not ill, considering the show he put on, but I'm still not sure if it's really eggs or not. It's so neat to watch their behaviour! He'd go up to the female and bump her with his lips rather than biting her.
 
Maybe that was it, maybe since you removed the other male, he was just off in the corner working on his technique :hey:
 

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