New to Apistos.

[SugarBassJoe]

About two months ago I procured a pair of Apisto. cacatuoides, since I've never kept them before my first priority was keeping them alive, thankfully they seem to be doing well but I wondering about the behaviors of these fish. When they first arrived, the female did not seem to like the male at all and would chase him off (lots of plants and cover, he had places to hide), now she seems to leave him be (though I don't know if its just her tolerating him, or he's grown on her). Now I'm seeing some new behavior and I'm not sure if I should be concerned or not, looked online but couldn't really find an answer. 1st, now when the female approaches the male, he'll keel over on his side, like he's dyeing, not every time but I've seen it two or three time in the past few weeks. 2nd, I'm also seeing them posturing, lining up side by side (one facing left, the other right)  and flicking their tails at each other, I know its something,  but what, I'm not sure. Pretty certain its a M/F pair, I trust the breeder they came from, the males bigger and flashier, and I've seen the female get quite yellow at times, they are still young, don't know if that has anything to do with it, but any answers, advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/3/2022 at 3:12 PM, Joey1991 said:

About two months ago I procured a pair of Apisto. cacatuoides, since I've never kept them before my first priority was keeping them alive, thankfully they seem to be doing well but I wondering about the behaviors of these fish. When they first arrived, the female did not seem to like the male at all and would chase him off (lots of plants and cover, he had places to hide), now she seems to leave him be (though I don't know if its just her tolerating him, or he's grown on her). Now I'm seeing some new behavior and I'm not sure if I should be concerned or not, looked online but couldn't really find an answer. 1st, now when the female approaches the male, he'll keel over on his side, like he's dyeing, not every time but I've seen it two or three time in the past few weeks. 2nd, I'm also seeing them posturing, lining up side by side (one facing left, the other right)  and flicking their tails at each other, I know its something,  but what, I'm not sure. Pretty certain its a M/F pair, I trust the breeder they came from, the males bigger and flashier, and I've seen the female get quite yellow at times, they are still young, don't know if that has anything to do with it, but any answers, advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

@tolstoy21 has been doing a lot pf Apisto keeping & breeding lately, maybe he can help, as I've only kept and bred A. Agassizii and A. Cacatuoides.

[tolstoy21]

On 11/3/2022 at 10:12 AM, Joey1991 said:

Now I'm seeing some new behavior and I'm not sure if I should be concerned or not, looked online but couldn't really find an answer. 1st, now when the female approaches the male, he'll keel over on his side, like he's dyeing, not every time but I've seen it two or three time in the past few weeks. 2nd, I'm also seeing them posturing, lining up side by side (one facing left, the other right)  and flicking their tails at each other, I know its something,  but what, I'm not sure. Pretty certain its a M/F pair, I trust the breeder they came from, the males bigger and flashier, and I've seen the female get quite yellow at times, they are still young, don't know if that has anything to do with it, but any answers, advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Sounds like mating behavior. They are flirting. 

Are the female's yellow tones more vibrant now? Does the male exhibit some yellowish tones on his underside?

Two fish of the same gender will not engage in this type of activity, meaning if you had two males, you would probably not see this type of posturing. 

Edited November 3, 2022 by tolstoy21

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/3/2022 at 4:14 PM, tolstoy21 said:

Two fish of the same gender will not engage in this type of activity, meaning if you had two males, you would probably not see this type of posturing. 

Yes, more like flaring and saying 'I'm the boss!'

[SugarBassJoe]

On 11/3/2022 at 8:07 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

@tolstoy21 has been doing a lot pf Apisto keeping & breeding lately, maybe he can help, as I've only kept and bred A. Agassizii and A. Cacatuoides.

Thank you TheSwissAquarist, i was hoping you would refer me to tolstoy21, I've been keeping up with his Apisto work. 

That's good news, I haven't notice any yellow on the male, I'll usually only see the yellow really pop on the female after feeding frozen or live food. Its usually after feeding ill see this behavior as well.  Hoping the pics help.

[tolstoy21]

On 11/3/2022 at 12:29 PM, Joey1991 said:

I haven't notice any yellow on the male

The male has a twinge of yellow on his underside it looks like to me. It's more like a faint wash.

On 11/3/2022 at 12:11 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Yes, more like flaring and saying 'I'm the boss!'

More often, I find that she's the boss, in apistos as well as other things in life!

Edited November 3, 2022 by tolstoy21

[SugarBassJoe]

Yep, I'm seeing it now too.