How Prone Are Apistos To Eating Their Own Eggs As "defense"?

Darkmoon Bettas

Fish Fanatic
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
151
Reaction score
0
Location
Silicon Valley, CA, USA
I got a pair of Apistogramma panduro (blue panda apistos) last week. They're alone in a 10-gallon tank except for some danios as dithers, and they've been increasingly coloring up and acting like a "pair", but I didn't think they'd spawned yet. However, today I was using a turkey baster to take a few bits of uneaten food out of the gravel, knocked over half a flowerpot, and OOPS, there WERE eggs there! I righted it immediately and quit cleaning.

I'm used to dwarf westies--namely kribensis--and apistos are fairly new to me. If it was a pair of kribs, they'd chomp down on those eggs in seconds, since the nest was "disturbed". Are apistos prone to this behaviour as well, or are they more likely to continue to tend their eggs, as long as the eggs themselves weren't disturbed and the disruption was quick? Thanks a bunch!

(Yes, I know the 10 is smaller than ideal for the pair, they're in there temporarily, I wasn't even expecting a spawn yet as both are quite small and just sexable. They'll be moving into a (previously established, fully cycled) 20 in the near future, as soon as I get my 72 set up and move the inhabitants of the 20 into the 72. Although if they do hatch these eggs, I won't move them until the young are big enough to move safely.)
 
It's possible but Ive never heard Apistos being labelled as great egg eaters when disturbed.
Hopefully they wont and soon you'll see some fry. However they might have eaten the eggs. All is not lost though, as you know with experience with Kribs they will un-doubtly give it a go again soon.

Good luck.
 
Apistos occationaly eat their eggs if they are disterbed. Females choose a cave and block it up so predators (you in this case) wont see the eggs and eat them. Has the female abandoned the cave now?
 
Apistos occationaly eat their eggs if they are disterbed. Females choose a cave and block it up so predators (you in this case) wont see the eggs and eat them. Has the female abandoned the cave now?
The eggs at least hatched... I saw them hatch as wrigglers, I saw her move them all to one hiding place... then she moved them again. I can't find them. Either they died off, or she's hidden them REALwell. I'll find out ina couple days.
 
apistos are known really well for being able to hide fry where even the owner won't see them without lifting up parts of the tanks.
 
Based on behaviour, I'm guessing this batch didn't make it--not too suprising for a first spawn. The female has stopped her hiding/defending behaviour, and she and the male are both cleaning the pot they spawned in the first time, and displaying/shimmying at one another, so if I'm reading them right, they're about to spawn again. Since it's been so short a time, and I never saw freeswimming fry, I'm guessing they're gone.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top