Laz Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 Hi all, my female orange head is ready to spawn right now, ovipositor fully extended full colour etc., she is about 12cm but the male is smaller about 10cm and is cowering down between 2 rocks. 2 days ago they were working well together digging etc. acting like they were preparing to spawn, this lasted for 1 day, then the male seemed to become overpowered by her and has been hiding ever since. The female keeps trying to hunt him out and every time he comes out she charges at him, flared gills etc, sometimes he responds likewise but always ends up with him running away and hiding. Any advice will be much appreciated. Thanks Laz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexisubeegal Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 Lovers tiff? Does he have his bits all fully extended too? If not then maybe he's not ready yet? I cant wait for my guys to start showing affection towards each other Anna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevguy Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 First of all are you sure they are male and female? In my experiences the courting procedure can last anywhere from 2-10 days with the pair circling each other with fins and gills aflare,cleaning numerous different rocks until one is finally decided on,usually under the driftwood at the back of the tank where they have some shelter.Having the tubes down does not always mean a spawn is immanent as quite often they will have them out,just don't ask me why. Both male and female(with mine anyway) can get quite aggressive(how they haven't been killed by some of the Altifrons that almost double their size i do not know ) and pair up to defend any territory that is a potential breeding site. It is quite funny at times to watch all 15cm of lit up male Tapa putting Alti's and others in their place and not taking a backward step,oneday i'll probably find him beaten and dead ,but so far so good. Like Anna said if they are m&f he may be not ready but this seems unusual as it is normally the male that instigates any interest/breeding rituals. Any pics of the 2 in question? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laz Posted March 1, 2008 Author Share Posted March 1, 2008 First of all are you sure they are male and female? Like Anna said if they are m&f he may be not ready but this seems unusual as it is normally the male that instigates any interest/breeding rituals. Any pics of the 2 in question? Hi chevguy and Anna, thanks for your replies. From the size and shape of the breeding tubes I'm pretty sure they are male and female, I'm new to these fish though. Sorry I don't have any pics, a good camera is on my "things that I have to buy list". Do you have any pics of orange heads with tubes extended that I could compare with my fish? The fish that I think is a male's tube is only partly extended though it was more so earlier in the week. So maybe he just isn't ready, it seems to me though that he has been overpowered and cowed by the other bigger fish. Thanks Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter-pindare Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 hey laz,listen to what chevguy has to say as he is the expert on tapajos..but i think that laz, you have the "Araguari - Orange Head" as we have spoken about.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laz Posted March 5, 2008 Author Share Posted March 5, 2008 hey laz,listen to what chevguy has to say as he is the expert on tapajos..but i think that laz, you have the "Araguari - Orange Head" as we have spoken about.. Hi Peter, yes I am positive that both lots of orange heads that I have bought are araguaia/araguari (I've seen both spellings used and am not sure which one is correct) as they all show the horizontal stress line that you told me about. Also I have been paying attention to chevguys postings and can see that you are right. I can't figure out the behaviour of my orange heads, it's changed now and the male seems more aggressive now. These fish are so intriguing, I need to get a good camera so that I can post pics so people can see what's happening. Are you still up north? Cheers Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozarowana Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 but i think that laz, you have the "Araguari - Orange Head". I am positive that both lots of orange heads that I have bought are araguaia/araguari (I've seen both spellings used and am not sure which one is correct) I think cichlidforums may have mislabelled their fish as Araguari. Not that there isn't the possibility of them occuring in the Araguari. Here's a link to the probable owner of the pics. Look what he's labelled them as. http://www.aquanet.de/privat/albering/sued1.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laz Posted March 7, 2008 Author Share Posted March 7, 2008 but i think that laz, you have the "Araguari - Orange Head". ' araguaia/araguari (I've seen both spellings used and am not sure which one is correct) I think cichlidforums may have mislabelled their fish as Araguari. Not that there isn't the possibility of them occuring in the Araguari. Here's a link to the probable owner of the pics. Look what he's labelled them as. http://www.aquanet.de/privat/albering/sued1.htm Yes, Cichlidforums is where I saw it spelt that way, thanks for clearing that up. Cheers Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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