Apisto Agasizzi Double Red Spawning Questions

Ok so I've got my apisto pair in 2 ft with lots of spider wood and few plants they've been in for a few weeks but my question is how do I know when she laid or if she's ready to spawn cause some times she'll have the black latheral line and other times it's completely faded and there's a slight black dot the male does flare at her a lot and she responds but I never seen them in the cave together or sometimes she'll pick at him but no harm is ever done....it's just them in the tank with a sponge filter and temp is at 28.6 c I feed them artemia+ and prima....any advice from apisto breeders or any1 who knows would be appreciated

 

The female will turn bright yellow with very pronounced black markings when she is caring for eggs and fry and will become extremely territorial and aggressive. If they aren't breeding it could be for a few reasons. One could be water parameters. Many apistos breed in very soft water with a low pH. Or, the "female" of yours could also be a sneaker male, which is a male pretending to be a female to avoid aggression from the dominant male. It's hard to tell from your pictures but your "female" looks a lot bigger and has a lot brighter fins that I would expect to see in a female apisto. Could you get another close up picture of the female?

 

I don't think it is a sneaker I've had her for about maybe 2 years now I can give history pics of her
here is what she looked like when I first got her
then when she got older she changed to a yellow orange
then she became full orange and no yellow at all thing is she never gos yellow not since she's become older I had 2 males before this 1 but 1 died from colounaris and the other she killed....now I've got this male
now I've got this male with her which I've grown from this
here's more pics of my female

see why I say she's lost her yellow and only staying orange then sometimes she has that latheral lines other times it's not there and she has a black dot

I'll get newer pics tomorrow cause she's sleeping in her cave

 

Hmm... interesting. How old is it? Could be that it is getting too old?
If not then something is obviously wrong if you've had them for two years and they still haven't spawned. Probably something's up with the water. I've had A. cacatuoides spawn at just over 3/4-1" long so I think that male was definitely big enough.
The male could be infertile. Things like that can happen with more heavily line bred strains. This could be the case since you said that you see the male flashing to the female but have never seen any fry. That or the water is too hard for successful fertilization.

 

They've only been together for a few weeks.... and I don't know he's spawned with another 1 of my females 4 weeks ago she laid and he was there to do his thing but she at the ate by the next morning it was my other females first spawn.....my orange female is just going on 2 years I kept Her but herself for a few months to condition her for spawning after the last 2 males died


If this orange female spawns it'll be her first that's why I don't know if maybe she ate her first batch and is now she's building up more eggs for batch 2?

 

They've only been together for a few weeks.... and I don't know he's spawned with another 1 of my females 4 weeks ago she laid and he was there to do his thing but she at the ate by the next morning it was my other females first spawn.....my orange female is just going on 2 years I kept Her but herself for a few months to condition her for spawning after the last 2 males died

Have you actually ever seen fry, or just eggs? They can still lay eggs if the male is infertile or the water is too hard, they just won't fertilize and develop. If the female ate the eggs after one day it's likely that they weren't fertile.

Also, I'm still thinking that the female looks really old, you can see it in the curved spine and large size. You've had it for two years but who knows how old it was then you got it. Most apistos only live a few years anyway.

 

Following alone. I have a young pair of fire red agasizzI that spawned for me while in QT but they ate the eggs. I'm trying to get them to spawn again. One thing I did want to find out, are you sure your orange one is a female? My female fire red is usually always yellow and does not have a black bar going down her body like that. I'm not sure if the different color varieties change that in the females but I find it slightly odd. I know my female cacatuoides had that black bar but my female agasizzI doesn't

 

A normal female Aggie has a black line down the side. There are some females of the domestic strains that sometimes do not show the line. Like ktorg , I would suspect the water chemistry. I've had Aggies spawn in moderately hard water, but the eggs were infertile due to the hardness and pH. They have to have extremely soft, acid water (pH below 6.0) for the eggs to hatch.

 

Also, I'm still thinking that the female looks really old, you can see it in the curved spine and large size. You've had it for two years but who knows how old it was then you got it. Most apistos only live a few years anyway.

Well yes she is old I guess and she's had a few bites of diaesases in the past and she's about 2 years old I got her when she was still young but would she really be too old to breed with my maleI thought he would with her cause she was the dominant 1 in the tank that's why I kept them together .......should I maybe stop trying to breed her and put the other female instead ?my other female isn't even a year yet and she's laid within a few weeks of being together with the male

Following alone. I have a young pair of fire red agasizzI that spawned for me while in QT but they ate the eggs. I'm trying to get them to spawn again. One thing I did want to find out, are you sure your orange one is a female? My female fire red is usually always yellow and does not have a black bar going down her body like that. I'm not sure if the different color varieties change that in the females but I find it slightly odd. I know my female cacatuoides had that black bar but my female agasizzI doesn't

Yea I'm 100% sure she's actually a wild caught 1 apisto and I know she's female cause a friend still has his too and she looks like that too ......but I also think the orange is strange cause my other female gos yellow when she wants to spawn like they should but then again she's yellow most of the time

A normal female Aggie has a black line down the side. There are some females of the domestic strains that sometimes do not show the line. Like ktorg , I would suspect the water chemistry. I've had Aggies spawn in moderately hard water, but the eggs were infertile due to the hardness and pH. They have to have extremely soft, acid water (pH below 6.0) for the eggs to hatch.

The eggs were pink and stayed pink till she ate them does that mean its infertal I thought she ate them cause it was in my community tank and she was worried about the other fish ?

 

8s it normal that the female chases the male and picks at him then he'll chase her and give alil pick like now as I type this the flarring and then she'll lose the latheral line and then it comes back

 

here is more pics in better light I moved her out my breeding tank into the display tank and moved the younger female into the breeding tank

 

sorry it won't let me add these pics to my to my last post

This is the younger female that's moved into the breeding tank

 

Yea I'm 100% sure she's actually a wild caught 1 apisto

Well there's your problem then. Wild-caught apistos almost always NEED very soft water and a low pH mimicking the conditions they are found in to successfully spawn. Those that are generations away from their wild ancestors are generally easier. The problem is your water like we have been suggesting.

 

Well there's your problem then. Wild-caught apistos almost always NEED very soft water and a low pH mimicking the conditions they are found in to successfully spawn. Those that are generations away from their wild ancestors are generally easier. The problem is your water like we have been suggesting.

Oh ok well I'll keep the younger 1 with the male cause she's already laid before without a problem is just this 1 I really wanted to breed cause of it being wild caught and genetics and any reson why's she's orange and not yellow or is yellow only breeding colors ?

 

It could be that because she's a wild caught, her breeding dress is a much deep color than the ones that are line bred like the double reds

 

Oh ok I see well it's a pitty I can't breed her but will keep trying in my other tanks maybe she'll breed..... Thanks guys

 

You could always try to bring the pH down and see if she'll breed for you

 

Get the GH down to about 5 or below and use some peat in the filter to get the pH below 6.0. Otherwise it isn't going to matter which female lays eggs, they're not going to hatch.

 

Get the GH down to about 5 or below and use some peat in the filter to get the pH below 6.0. Otherwise it isn't going to matter which female lays eggs, they're not going to hatch.

Yea I understand that.... That's why I changed to female just to see if it was the fish or the water it's only been a day and a half and my younger female has laid
its already better then the wild caught female she wasn't even laying and she was there for 4weeks .....will keep you guys updated if these eggs don't hatch then I will try the peat

Sorry not sure why the pic is upside down