G.altifrons breeding advice please

[hamfist]

I have a pair of wild caught G.altifrons, about 5" long and would appreciate some advice.

These two paired off from a trio, and I have been keeping them alone for 2-3 weeks hoping they would breed.

They had been quite content and have dug a big hole in the substrate. However, what I assume is the male is now being quite beligerent towards the plumper fish (which I am assuming is the female). He is constantly harassing her and charging her. Frequently bashing her side with his snout. Despite this, she seems relatively undamaged, although her caudal fin is now split in a couple of places. It is a very different sort of aggression to that I observed when this pair were hounding the third fish that used to be in with them.
Anyway, my female doesn't seem very happy with this at all.

I'm assuming this is all part of their spawning behaviour. Should I just leave all alone and let things take it's course, or should I put a divider in to give her some peace. My inexperienced eye interprets things as maybe she is just not ready to spawn yet. Willl he get the message ?

Any thoughts, ideas ?

 

[JK47]

I have a pair of wild caught G.altifrons, about 5" long and would appreciate some advice.

These two paired off from a trio, and I have been keeping them alone for 2-3 weeks hoping they would breed.

They had been quite content and have dug a big hole in the substrate. However, what I assume is the male is now being quite beligerent towards the plumper fish (which I am assuming is the female). He is constantly harassing her and charging her. Frequently bashing her side with his snout. Despite this, she seems relatively undamaged, although her caudal fin is now split in a couple of places. It is a very different sort of aggression to that I observed when this pair were hounding the third fish that used to be in with them.
Anyway, my female doesn't seem very happy with this at all.

I'm assuming this is all part of their spawning behaviour. Should I just leave all alone and let things take it's course, or should I put a divider in to give her some peace. My inexperienced eye interprets things as maybe she is just not ready to spawn yet. Willl he get the message ?

Any thoughts, ideas ?

I would add a divider to give her a little space for the time being. He will not "get the point" (my wife doesn't get in the mood when we are in a small room and I ram her in the side either lol). Digging pits in the sand is breeding behavior in the sense that he will prepare area's to impress her, not in the sense of that is where they will lay eggs. Do you have any smooth stones in the tank? The female will not get in the mood without them IME. Aside from her dropping her vent you will know she is ready to accept him when they both clean the surface of the rock together. They lay eggs on smooth surfaces so river rocks are the way to go.

Sorry if I missed it but what size tank did you move the pair to? The smaller the tank, the more agro the male will get. I would leave the trio together to spread around the males aggression and then you will not have to seperate them. They are harem breeders so they do not pair for life, they will happily aspawn in the presence of other sexes in the same tank.

 

[hamfist]

THanks Justin. They are in an 80 Gallon tank, and have plenty of smooth river rocks to choose from. I actually gave in, about 15 minutes after my first post, and put a divider in. Think I'll just feed them up a bit, get the fins healed and try them together again.
I think, in hindsight, I haven't approached the whole thing in the best way. An 80Gallon isn't really big enough for a shoal of adult altifrons, and they do seem to live so much better in a shoal. In the end I may try and move them on to someone else who has a shoal they could become part of.

BTW, left as a trio, the pair were going to murder the odd one out. I could not leave it in there.

 

[JK47]

That's not uncommon to hear at all, about the trio. Kept in small numbers is worse than alone. They really are a social species. Any chance of you being able pick up a few more where you got these from?

 

[hamfist]

That's not uncommon to hear at all, about the trio. Kept in small numbers is worse than alone. They really are a social species. Any chance of you being able pick up a few more where you got these from?

None at all I'm afraid.

 

[peathenster]

IME being in a group becomes less important as they mature, and I've seen this in several Geophagus species. The breeding pair of my G. altifrons group claim one side of a 125g and spawn there. They try to keep the others away, but they only want 2-3' of room and leave the others alone as long as they don't come too close.

I wonder if they are actually ready...mine first started spawning when they were 8-9". It's hard to tell the age of wild fish but 5" sounds a bit small for G. altifrons. It might be better to keep them in a community setting when they are not ready, so they bond better.

 

[hamfist]

IME being in a group becomes less important as they mature, and I've seen this in several Geophagus species. The breeding pair of my G. altifrons group claim one side of a 125g and spawn there. They try to keep the others away, but they only want 2-3' of room and leave the others alone as long as they don't come too close.

I wonder if they are actually ready...mine first started spawning when they were 8-9". It's hard to tell the age of wild fish but 5" sounds a bit small for G. altifrons. It might be better to keep them in a community setting when they are not ready, so they bond better.

THanks. All seems like good advice.