Has Anyone Got Agassizi's Dwarf Cichlid

[SugarQube]

Bought a pair of Agassizi's dwarf cichlids yesterday, male/female when they were set free in the tank they had a good look around, they found a little cave and just occasionally see the male pop his head out. they didn't come out for food and I haven't seen the female since yesterday. Are these shy fish and might they always hide away in the cave (hope the female is ok).

 

[a.d.wood]

Hi there,

Apart from giving them time to settle in, what else have you got in the tank (as this might be keeping them under cover)???.

For feeding, just make sure some food (frozen daphnia would be a good start) hits the bottom of the tank, Apisto's are part of the eartheater family so they will be looking primarily for their food in the tank substrate.

Andrew

 

[Griz]

Sounds normal to me. They will likely take a while to settle in but once they do, they are not particulary shy fish. This depends of course on their tankmates. Also, don't be too surprised if they spawn almost immediately. It happens often when a pair is intruduced into a new tank. In this case you won't see the female for quite a while but the male will be pushed out of the cave. That was usually my signal that a spawn had occurred, when I hadn't seen the female for a few days. I had cockatoos, but care and breeding is pretty much the same for Agassizi's. Try leaving the lights off if you can. It will help them settle in.

 

[guppymonkey]

Sounds like they are doing typical cave breeding cichlid behavior. Watch for a few days and see if some young pop their heads out after about a week.

 

[tattae]

Mine is the opposite. I bought a pair last week. The female is always out and about looking for food and exploring things. The male is usually hide under the shade and occasionally come out to look around.

 

[jollysue]

So, SugarQube, how are they doing?

Mine do all the behaviors mentioned here. I have had them for about a year. He cruises a larger area than she does. But she comes out an cruises around an area she considers hers. She just upgraded to the clown cave, as I moved the clown loach. I have a pair of agassazi and 2 orange flame cockatoo males w/ 2 ladies in 100 usg. With both breeds, a year after I got them, one of my ladies came out as a male. But the older Agassazimale died with one lady, so I have 1 male and 1 female rather than 1 male and 3 female. One interesting behavior, is that as the orange flame and the Agassazi red tail face off, often a female will come up and back up her respective male. Darting out and back behind the male in a thrust and hide attack

 

[Miss Wiggle]

they can be a little shy if they're tankmates are very busy or significantly bigger than them

what have you got them in with?

 

[Katchan]

you could also consider the use of dither fish eg guppies or tetras, basically the apisto see's these and if their out it must be safe, no predators so the apisto's are encouraged to come out

my 2c

Andrew