Apistogramma Question

[DeirdreHoyle]

I went to the fish store last week and fell in love with some apistogramma macmasteri. They called them rednecks and sold them in pairs. I googled them and I couldn't find any definitive answer about what tank size they require so I asked the manager if I could have a pair in a 25 gallon tank. He said yes they would be fine.

Well I got a male/female pair and the male has been really aggressive to the female. Any time he sees her he chases her and nips at her. She is clearly stressed. Is 25 gallons too small for 2 of these fish?

My tank is planted and has hiding places but the female can't really swim around freely because if the male sees her he will chase her. Help!!

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[Brookster123]

Let's see them! Males are dick heads. Here's mine, he killed his first love. Highly aggressive after feedings

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[DeirdreHoyle]

He is such a dick head! So I just took some pics but their lights have been off for a while so they were a little camera shy.
The male is the top one and the female is the bottom one

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[Brookster123]

You have 2 males, you will only have one soon
Top looks dominant??
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[DeirdreHoyle]

They're both males??! Yep the top one is the dominant one.

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[Brookster123]

Yes

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[DeirdreHoyle]

Ok well I'll take one back. Does this mean the problem is 2 males and not that 25 gallons is too small for 2 rednecks?

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[Barliman]

Ok well I'll take one back. Does this mean the problem is 2 males and not that 25 gallons is too small for 2 rednecks?

If those are really two males (and, FTR, I'm not familiar with Macmasteri), then, yeah. That's likely the problem. The dominant male is basically chasing off a challenger, and the sub-dominant has nowhere to flee to. If the tank were, say, twice this size and had blocked lines of sight, it would be much less of a problem.

 

[Brookster123]

What's the footprint? I kept a pair in a 20l just fine.

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[DeirdreHoyle]

It's 30x12x18 which according to the internet is actually 29 gallons....so that's cool.

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[Brookster123]

That's totally fine for a pair.

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[KingKoopa512]

Had 2 pairs of apisto cockatoo an were fine. But i had to plenty of plants an driftwood in a 40breeder

 

[DeirdreHoyle]

Ok so I took back the one getting beat up (I wanted to take back the dominant male but I couldn't catch him ?) and the manager at the lfs really thinks it's a female and that I have a male/female pair. He did say that sometimes they just don't get along even if they're male/female so he let me return the fish and said he'd call me when they get more females in.

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