Apisto breeding

[FishN00b83]

I am noticing some abnormal behavior with a male and female apisto lately. Along with the behavior one of the females has a chunk missing from her (picture below). The female has turned yellow and has red tips on her fins (I've seen this once before), and the male is chasing her around. Do they nip when trying to breed or is this something along the lines of HITH?

 

[Andy Sager]

I am noticing some abnormal behavior with a male and female apisto lately. Along with the behavior one of the females has a chunk missing from her (picture below). The female has turned yellow and has red tips on her fins (I've seen this once before), and the male is chasing her around. Do they nip when trying to breed or is this something along the lines of HITH?

The color change sounds typical of breeding colors of cichlids. Almost all cichlids will be agressive towards their mates until spawning has occured. Then they calm down. Make sure you have some sites such as flat rocks or clay pots in the tank for the fish to spawn on. Most Apistos will breed on a rock but some will want more privacy if they are in a community tank and will use the inside of the pot.

Good luck

 

[FishN00b83]

She has gone back to normal colors now, but I don't think anything happened. I have pieces of flat slate all over the place, so they definitely had the space. I even have some slate pieces epoxyed together to make little caves.

My main concern was if she was goin to heal, and she did really quick, so I'm ok with that haha. I guess I'll just keep an eye on em and see what happens. Thanks for the reply!

 

[Andy Sager]

She has gone back to normal colors now, but I don't think anything happened. I have pieces of flat slate all over the place, so they definitely had the space. I even have some slate pieces epoxyed together to make little caves.

My main concern was if she was goin to heal, and she did really quick, so I'm ok with that haha. I guess I'll just keep an eye on em and see what happens. Thanks for the reply!

Color change is quite common prior to breeding so it is possible that they spawned but ate the eggs which is why she has returned to her normal colors. Did the male change colors at all? This would also be a sign of pending spawning activity.

Anyway, glad to hear she has healed.

 

[FishN00b83]

The male has turned this black and deep red and hasn't gone back. He's been that way for a while now. I do notice one of the females turn this bright yellow every so often, then she gets chased around, but im not sure if anything happens.