# apistogramma - I failed the first time



## patricka (Mar 24, 2011)

so here is my story...

I got 1 male and 1 female in the same tank. male killed female. that may have been a bad idea... after doing some reading I understand that if the female does not want to breed she'll be chased away by the male.

so my question is, how do you guys breed these fish? you just put a female that wants to breed with a male? how do you know she wants to breed? when they breed you take out the male?... I would like to keep them all together at all times is that even possible?

I don't really want to breed them I just thought I would have a male and a female but it didn't work out as planned.

is there a way I can have a male and a female without having the male kill the female when she doesn't want to breed?

the only time the female was left alone is when she would hide in the plants without moving... if she moved he would go after her.

or at least I thought the other one was a female... had no colors... almost all gray.. but after a day or two she had a red band on her tail, top and bottom of the tail she had red... which for me it wasn't a good sign.

30G tank, and my male is apistrogramma macmasteri.

thanks.


----------



## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

You may have had two males, but it would be hard to determine without pictures.


----------



## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

Like Chris said, pics would be greatly helpful. 

Also like Chris said, I am more inclined to think you have two males. To my knowledge, macmasteri is not so aggressive that the males will not tolerate females. From my observations with other apistos (I cant comment on macmasteri at the moment because the male is courting my female on a daily basis right now), the male and female doesnt really bother each other that much when they are not breeding. Plus, you have them in a 30 gallon, which is more tan enough room for a pair.


----------



## patricka (Mar 24, 2011)

sorry guys I can't post a picture the "female" died about 2 weeks ago...

she never ate anything out of fear to come out from the plants... the day I decided to move her over to a 10G alone she was dead...

I will eventually get 2 females (real females) not sure how I'll do but I'll try and see how it goes.


----------



## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

For sexing A. macs.

I am assuming your male is:
-a good 2-3"
-showing nice colouration (red on the face and shoulder, red tips on the pelvic and anal fins, red strip on the top and bottom of the caudal fin) 
-nice elongated spines on the dorsal fin (especially starting from the 2nd spine). 
-has a nice elongation of the spine and membrane on the posterior side of the dorsal fin.
-when looking at the caudal fin, the males would have an almost square shape to the end of the fin.

a female would basically be the opposite..lol.

Females are:
-smaller
-when not in breeding colouration, showing duller colouration (though a mature female should still have a yellow tinge to it)
-normal sized dorsal, no obvious elongation of the dorsal fin
-females dont show any red on the body, NOTE: females do have red on the tips of their pelvic and anal fin (though this might not always be the case as there are different variants of macmasteri)
-females dont have the pronounced squareness of their caudal fin, they are more rounded. 
-basically the female looks like what a "normal fish" would look like

here is a nice pic of male and female:
http://dwarfcichlid.com/Apistogramma_macmasteri.php

here is also another good pic of a female:
http://www.welse.net/homepage/seiten/apistogr.htm


----------



## patricka (Mar 24, 2011)

yes the male is pretty much what you described.
the female looked very much to the female picture you kindly provided.

it's a very nice looking male around 2" maybe a little bit more...

I'll try to find 2...3 females at a later time and see how that goes but this time from someone who breeds them instead of buying them from a store.

when time comes I will introduce them to a new setup I want to build in a 50G tank... lots of plants, lots of hiding places.

I'm just unsure on why the female was chased all the time... so I'm unsure about putting 2..3 females in this same tank now.


----------

