Nicaraguense (Spilotum)

[Cole]

Hello,

I have a pair of Nicaraguense (male & female pair) and they are both about 4 inches right now. The male has definitely staked his territory in a rock cave. I have high hopes that this male and female will pair off and eventually reproduce.

However, the male chases the female away--no matter where she is in the tank. If he sees her, she gets chased into a corner. I used to keep a larger pair of these and i do know that they are picky about mates and do pair off for life. I have read that getting a pair to accept one another can be difficult.

My question is whether this is just an issue of the two not being sexually mature enough yet, or if this is a good sign that this particular pair is not going to work. I thought about adding a couple more females to the tank--even though they would be a bit smaller--just to see what would happen.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[IThinkTherefore]

I'm not familiar with the fish, but it is important to be sure that the less dominate fish can hide or escape from the agressor.

Make sure she has fake or live plants to hide in. It's also important to break up the sight line with things like driftwood or rocks

More people on this forum will have experience with your particular fish. Good luck with them!

 

[kb951]

Breeding take's alot of experience rather than throwing them in the tank and hoping they reproduce, especially with the species you have, i would do some research first and if you did already, than you have a good chance of fry, and it's more of a territory thing, and how sure are you they both are not the same gender? If they are different than just wait for them to get use to each other it might take some time, good luck and welcome to the tank