Female Apistogramma Cacatuoides Aggression

[stormy78]

One of my female A.Cacatuoides has 'vanished' in the last few days. The last time I saw her was on Saturday and she was sparring with the other larger female. Is it likely that she has been killed? I can not find any trace of her in the tank. Also given that one female has vanised is it wise to add a new female so the male has 2 females or just leave the pair as is?

 

[~T~]

One of my female A.Cacatuoides has 'vanished' in the last few days. The last time I saw her was on Saturday and she was sparring with the other larger female. Is it likely that she has been killed? I can not find any trace of her in the tank. Also given that one female has vanised is it wise to add a new female so the male has 2 females or just leave the pair as is?

Are you sure shes not holed up anywhere gurding eggs?

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Agree with -T-. I've heard of them hiding in some rather tiny crevices to lay before. Tearing things up to search for her may induce her to eat her eggs if she's laid any.

That being said...if she is dead (a sad thought indeed), depending on how well your tank is planted you could attempt to do a chem. test to determine if a body is rotting somewhere in the tank. An unusual spike in Ammonia, Nitrite or Nitrate could clue you in, but that really depends on how well you know your normal tank parameters and how many plants are there to soak up the excess nutrients. Even if other fish ate her, there should be skeletal traces somewhere.

Lastly...the tank is well covered and there is no chance that she jumped to escape harassment?

 

[CamaroGurl]

One of my female A.Cacatuoides has 'vanished' in the last few days. The last time I saw her was on Saturday and she was sparring with the other larger female. Is it likely that she has been killed? I can not find any trace of her in the tank. Also given that one female has vanised is it wise to add a new female so the male has 2 females or just leave the pair as is?

I've got a male and 3 female Cockatoos in a 30 gal (US) and the females don't ever sparr for long because the other female is always shortly in the picture. If you've got enough room, maybe try having a total of 3 females. I've noticed the girls will fight over the male untill one spawns and lays eggs. Then, the female stays with her eggs, rarely even coming out to eat. I'm not to sure how a m/f pair work out together. I know in my boyfriend's 125 gal (US) his male and 3 females hardly seem to see eachother, so today he got 1 more male and 1 female. Along with a m/f krib.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i wouldn't be desperatley concerned, they do like to hide and they also like to spar, i've never seen aggression in them strong enough to result in a death, however that being said they are cichlids, and whichever breed of cichlid you choose there will be reports around of 'rogue' fish which are unusually aggressive beyond what you expect from the species. Part of the joy of keeping cichlids is their individual persoalities and character traits, but that can obviously work against you as well.

Now that's not a huge lot of practical help, I would give it a day or two more and see if she re-emerges, monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels (although tbh bearing in mind the size of the tank and your current stocking I wouldn't expect there to be a blip even if she has passed on) if she's not turned up in a couple of days then have a good poke around in the tank looking for her.

 

[LosC519]

Whenever there is high levels of aggression it is always a good idea to re-scape the tank.

 

[stormy78]

Thanks all, I have been checking the water for any spikes incase she was dead in there but all tests are fine, but that said around 1/4 to a 1/3 of the substrate is planted. We didnt exactly rip the tank apart, I just removed the largest piece of bogwood while I was pruning back some of the plants so I could see to the back set of caves and hidey holes. The only place I couldn't see is the small gap under the Juewl Internal filter right in the back corner of the tank so maybe she is there. The tank is well coverded. So you all think its likely she will turn up again in a few days then?

 

[CamaroGurl]

Thanks all, I have been checking the water for any spikes incase she was dead in there but all tests are fine, but that said around 1/4 to a 1/3 of the substrate is planted. We didnt exactly rip the tank apart, I just removed the largest piece of bogwood while I was pruning back some of the plants so I could see to the back set of caves and hidey holes. The only place I couldn't see is the small gap under the Juewl Internal filter right in the back corner of the tank so maybe she is there. The tank is well coverded. So you all think its likely she will turn up again in a few days then?

How large is your tank?

 

[stormy78]

Thanks all, I have been checking the water for any spikes incase she was dead in there but all tests are fine, but that said around 1/4 to a 1/3 of the substrate is planted. We didnt exactly rip the tank apart, I just removed the largest piece of bogwood while I was pruning back some of the plants so I could see to the back set of caves and hidey holes. The only place I couldn't see is the small gap under the Juewl Internal filter right in the back corner of the tank so maybe she is there. The tank is well coverded. So you all think its likely she will turn up again in a few days then?

How large is your tank?

190L Capcity but about 160L useable

 

[CamaroGurl]

Thanks all, I have been checking the water for any spikes incase she was dead in there but all tests are fine, but that said around 1/4 to a 1/3 of the substrate is planted. We didnt exactly rip the tank apart, I just removed the largest piece of bogwood while I was pruning back some of the plants so I could see to the back set of caves and hidey holes. The only place I couldn't see is the small gap under the Juewl Internal filter right in the back corner of the tank so maybe she is there. The tank is well coverded. So you all think its likely she will turn up again in a few days then?

How large is your tank?

190L Capcity but about 160L useable

Well, depending on how many fish you already have in there, you could safely have 3 females and 1 male. I have that number in a 30 gal (US) which is about 113L.