Apistogramma hongsloi "project"

[jwcarlson]

My hongsloi pairs are... keeping on. The pair that's spawned about five times was either spawning this morning or will have spawned by this afternoon if I had to guess. Lots of heavy courting and the female trying desperately to get the male to follow her back to the cave. He was watching her through the doorway for a long time last night, I'm assuming she was cleaning and he was guarding. This morning she was trying VERY hard to get him to follow her, but he was acting pretty close to uncaring. It's funny that he spends nearly his entire existence showing off for her when she's not hiding from him. And as soon as she reciprocates he seems to check out. Maybe this is normal, but it's really strange to watch. So hope to see another spawn attempt with them. The other two pairs, one seems close to spawning, they are ALWAYS together and she is pretty flirtatious anymore. Third pair I am increasingly suspecting of being two males, one just suppressing his colors. I think I'll move the known male to QT or maybe just down to the community tank below and let him chase tetras around for a bit while I see if "she" is actually a he. What would be remarkable is that the male absolutely treats his partner as though she is a female.

On the right, the one I think seems quite male-ish. Though the slash through the cheek, I think, is indicative of a female.
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The frisky lady last night...
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My dogs do the same thing through the cat door while I'm in the basement working with the fish.
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I also won a pair of Apistogramma Abacaxis which I received this past Friday.
This is the father:
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Credit to the breeder: https://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auct...sto&1681050711

These little things are hide-and-seek masters. I have seen them only a handful of times, but they are becoming a little more tolerant of me. And the cats don't seem to bother them and they're down there all the time. So hopefully they continue to get a little more bold.

I'm working on dropping their pH as they like it low, I believe the breeder said his spawned at 4.5.

The pair from across the room:
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Started with some tannins a couple of days ago.
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[jwcarlson]

The abacaxis have become a lot more social in the last week or so.
Female:
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Showing off for his lady...
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[Greg-Florida]

Cool pics Jacob. How big are these fish/how big do they get?

[jwcarlson]

About 2" to 4", varies by species. The hongsloi are on the bigger end. The abacaxis are a bit smaller.

[LGelb]

What type of sand are you using as substrate?

[jwcarlson]

What type of sand are you using as substrate?

One tank is pool filter sand (the Hongsloi). The other is just general sand from Home Depot. Sorry I didn't see this question for like five months.

I gave my apistos a diet-induced break. I quit feeing live food and did quite a bit of fasting and only fed prepared foods for a few months starting this summer. Just wanted to kind of reset them. I've been ramping up the feeding the last month or so.

Hongsloi pair this morning:
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This pair is doing their best Disappointment-Bot 3000 impression every single day. They're hotter and heavier than at any point in the past when they spawned, but they're... not spawning as best I can tell. Hopefully it's just a matter of time since "rebooting" them.

Abacaxis pair this morning:
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This is the most breeding ready this female has ever been by a LONG shot and she's absolutely beautiful. She has quite a bit of the colors that the male has (deep purple), but just more subtle. She's been flirting and trying to get the male to follow her into the cave. And she's been hanging out in or just outside of one cave a lot. Hopefully a spawn is eminent.

[jwcarlson]