If a fish is eating and pooping does that mean it’s happy?

So I got a trio of apistogramma cacatuoides double red and I lost one female. I have a ph of about 7.8 and generally hard water. The male and the other female look great. The female kicked the bucket over night but last night she didn’t eat and was breathing heavily. My male and female are chowing down on some freeze dried tubifex worms. There stomachs are nice and round and they are eating a lot. That is a good thing right? I’m trying to get them to breed and I added some Indian almond leaves and some spider wood to hopefully make them happier. Here is them:

Hi.

Sorry for your loss.
I would say that just that doesn't mean they are 100% perfectly happy, but it is a good sign that they are healthy and strong (eg. no constipation, no swim bladder disease).
If a fish is not eating and not going to the toilet that's a bad sign - it could mean the fish has a disease.
Eating 'a lot' is good - but make sure to not overfeed them is this can pollute their tank and its not good for the fish. You could try to feed them some vitamin enriched flake foods and some live foods - eg daphnia and bloodworm.
Also, you might already have this but make sure to have a cave as females love caves

aqua.land said:

Hi.

Sorry for your loss.
I would say that just that doesn't mean they are 100% perfectly happy, but it is a good sign that they are healthy and strong (eg. no constipation, no swim bladder disease).
If a fish is not eating and not going to the toilet that's a bad sign - it could mean the fish has a disease.
Eating 'a lot' is good - but make sure to not overfeed them is this can pollute their tank and its not good for the fish. You could try to feed them some vitamin enriched flake foods and some live foods - eg daphnia and bloodworm.
Also, you might already have this but make sure to have a cave as females love caves

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Thanks. I have been trying to give them a variety. Do they look healthy to you?

wtusa17 said:

Thanks. I have been trying to give them a variety. Do they look healthy to you?

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I'm no expert but they seem good to me.
I don't see any white spots, pinecone scales, they aren't just sitting on the gravel, they don't have fin/tail/mouth rot.
They seem good, and they are so beautiful!

aqua.land said:

I'm no expert but they seem good to me.
I don't see any white spots, pinecone scales, they aren't just sitting on the gravel, they don't have fin/tail/mouth rot.
They seem good, and they are so beautiful!

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Thanks! I’m hoping to breed them. That would make me feel so good you don’t understand. And the lfs where I got them said they would most likely buy them back if I did breed them. They would most likely give me a good price bc they had to import them from Europe bc they couldn’t find them locally.

wtusa17 said:

Thanks! I’m hoping to breed them. That would make me feel so good you don’t understand. And the lfs where I got them said they would most likely buy them back if I did breed them. They would most likely give me a good price bc they had to import them from Europe bc they couldn’t find them locally.

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Oh wow, sounds exciting, hopefully all goes well.

aqua.land said:

Oh wow, sounds exciting, hopefully all goes well.

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Thanks!

The female that died may have had some disease/issue, or it may have been driven to death by the other female (more likely than by the male). This species does tend to be a harem, meaning the male will have several females within his territory, but each female must have sufficient space and not knowing your tank size I can't say further, but it is a possibility. With sufficient space, a male will spawn with several females, but each must have "their" space.

I had something similar occur several years ago with Apistogramma nijsseni; one of the females spawned with the male, and immediately began driving the other female from the area. That was in a 4-foot 70g tank but within a matter of days the other female did, and looking back it may have been from the first female.

To respond to your question in the title of this thread, there is absolutely no way any of us can know whether a fish is "happy" or not. Fish like all animals have a strong instinct to survive, and they will do their best to make the best of whatever we force them into, good or bad. Even spawning is not a sign of all being well. It is possible for a fish to "survive" for years, but never "thrive." Along the way though the fish are being weakened by whatever is not to their preference, but external signs are rarely visible until the fish just dies. Often other health issues claim the fish first, and many assume that was a stand-alone issue, but it actually is the long-period weakening that leads to the fish succumbing to this or that. The only thing we can do is to research the fish's requirements/expectations, and provide them as closely as possible. A fish living to or beyond the normal average lifespan and remaining healthy along the way is the only way we can assume that it is "happy."