Apistogramma Agassizzii advice.....

[Monkibuns]

Hi everyone, this is my first post even tho I’ve been getting great info here for months.

I have a heavily planted 32.5 gallon community tank. Until last week I had a very close pair of Apsito Agassizzii. Unfortunately the female turned on the male and he died from stress related issues.
She is now alone and I wanted to get another male for her.
My questions are,
Can I just add another young male and expect them to pair?
Should I add a new pair and hope for a non violent (ish) harem?
Should I find a new home for the female and just start again with a new pair?

Everything I can find online is about introducing new females not the other way around!

My aim is to keep harassment/violence to a minimum although I expect there to be tussles no matter the combo.

Cheers

 

[Back in the fold]

Everything I've heard and read is that you are in a difficult predicament . Since you have such a nice sized tank I would get 4 or 5 new fish and put them with your female and see if a pair develops. Then you either have to get rid of the others, if spawning is your goal, or get another aquarium and keep them. Agasizzii's are a very nice fish and I would want to keep them but that's just me.

 

[seangee]

AFAIK you don't need a bonded pair and they are best kept as a hareem with one male and several females... but according to the Seriously Fish profile

The female is responsible for post-spawning care of eggs and fry and in smaller aquaria the male may need to be removed as she may become hyper-aggressive.

So if you get to have eggs or fry my guess is all bets are off.

 

[Monkibuns]

Everything I've heard and read is that you are in a difficult predicament . Since you have such a nice sized tank I would get 4 or 5 new fish and put them with your female and see if a pair develops. Then you either have to get rid of the others, if spawning is your goal, or get another aquarium and keep them. Agasizzii's are a very nice fish and I would want to keep them but that's just me.

Thanks for the tip! Was hoping to not have to go down the route of getting multiple fish until pairing then giving some away. It’s a community tank so trying to avoid adding too many more fish.

Looks like it might be worth pulling out the female an starting again with a fresh pair. I am able to find pairs at some LFS near me.

 

[Monkibuns]

AFAIK you don't need a bonded pair and they are best kept as a hareem with one male and several females... but according to the Seriously Fish profile

So if you get to have eggs or fry my guess is all bets are off.

Hi Seangee, it was her third clutch of eggs that she was fiercely protecting that caused the trouble. I think the pair were a bit young to successfully fertilise them. Not specifically looking for fry, but it would be pretty cool to get some!

I had read somewhere that these Apistos, along with a few others including Cacatuoides actually pair up and the females will fight each other. But I could be wrong.

Sounds like generally a terrible idea to add a new males and hope for the best. I’ll have to find another option.

Thanks for the info!

 

[seangee]

My info may be out of date or unreliable (due to failing memory ) as it is some time since I looked into these. I ended up by going for big groups of tetra rather than trying to create a "centerpiece".

So AFAIK apistos are fine on their own so you don't need to worry about getting her a mate. Two males are fine together (I was considering this because of the breeding aggression issues), I expect that the same would apply to two females but can'find any references. I suspect that this is mainly because most people choosing 2 (of the same sex) would go for males based on appearance.

 

[Monkibuns]

My info may be out of date or unreliable (due to failing memory ) as it is some time since I looked into these. I ended up by going for big groups of tetra rather than trying to create a "centerpiece".

So AFAIK apistos are fine on their own so you don't need to worry about getting her a mate. Two males are fine together (I was considering this because of the breeding aggression issues), I expect that the same would apply to two females but can'find any references. I suspect that this is mainly because most people choosing 2 (of the same sex) would go for males based on appearance.

Thanks, she does seem fine on her own. Despite her showing her “mating” spot she isn’t behaving any differently.
I think I’ll leave her by herself for now. I have a 29gallon I am trying to find space for so once it’s up and running I’ll have a think about Rehoming her or getting a harem for the new tank.

Although a new set up opens up a whole world of possibilities! Haha