Just Lost 1 Of My Apisto Cac. Harem

[AndyTaylor]

Is female/female agression the norm between 2 apisto cac.s? I've had 2 females and a male in my 45 GAl for 4 weeks now withe no problems. 1 F occupied 1 end of the tank and 1 the other. The M moved between them.
Came home today and found 1 F dead stuck in a plant. No obvious damage at all even in a tank with 6 snails and shrimp so she can't ahve been dead long.
Newest additions were 2 syno eupetrus (3 inches). some replanting work at the weekend but not much..

any ideas? I presume i need to replace her to keep the harem intact?

Thanks in advance for any advice

 

[Griz]

I have a trio of Cockatoos and there is a fair bit of agression between the two females. One is very much the dominant of the two. I can see a female cac killing another. A 45g is a pretty good size tank though, there really should have been enough room for both, in fact even room for 3 females. Having enough hiding places (I like coconut shells) and breaking the line of sight across the tank is important. Lots of plants, wood and rocks helps them to establish terrritories. Maybe rearrange things a bit if you think that may be useful. I like to move the odd piece of wood or rock around once in a while to keep them interested. Gives them something to do, investigating the new or different object. I would replace her with either 1 or 2 females. Sorry about your loss.

 

[AndyTaylor]

Thanks for confirming that, Griz.....The tank is heavily planted and has loads of hiding holes in bogwood. I may pick up a few cocunut shells just in case, can't hurt.
I'll ring the LFS now and order 2 more young females.
Sad to lose her really but that's cichlids, i guess. My first fish loss in this tank too.
I'll post some pics when i get them...