Spawning M.altispinosa!

[Sarah LeGates <slegates@yahoo.com>]

Hello all,

it is certainly becoming a happy new year for me:  the altispinosa I
added have formed a pair and are actively courting.  The female is
the "lonely female" that I've had now for about 2 years, the male is
one of the new fish.  About 5 days ago, I did massive water change
and removed (finally) those wacky Columbian Red & Blue tetras as well
as the three cory cats that were inhabiting the tank.  The trio of
altispinosa now share the tank with a small school of lemon tetras
(Hyphessobrycon sp.).  The pair formed the day after this last
rearrangement.  The female is noticeably plump with a fully extended
ovipositor and her color is high--gold ventrally, lots of new red in
her dorsal, and her pelvic fins have taken on a deep opaque
blue-black tint edged with red.  Whoever it was that told the
salesperson that these guys aren't colorful just didn't know what
they were talking about; I'll admit, they're not cacatuoides, but
they're still lovely.  Both members of the pair have been actively
cleaning a rock and doing a lot of head shimmying and some body
beating.  I've seen these behaviors before in my severus pairs, but
the ordering of activity is different and there are different
behaviors interspersed with the familiar ones.  I'm so excited I was
nearly late for work today because I watched too long!

My questions regarding this wonderful new turn of events are as
follows:  to this point, the now-lonely third altispinosa hasn't been
terribly harrassed.  I will keep a close eye on it to ensure it
doesn't get killed once there are eggs/fry present, but does its
presence as a "trigger" for the pair (a conspecific aggression
target)  outweigh the risk of bodily harm?  Since this is a new pair
and not yet well bonded, should I leave the third fish in the tank to
encourage the pair to bond?  Or are altispinosa of the aggressive
sort who will tear that third fish to shreds?  Additionally, I think
this third fish may well be a second female.  Is this standard 20 gal
large enough to house a second pair comfortably; conversely, do
altispinosa exhibit harem spawning tendencies that might preclude the
need to purchase a fourth fish?  Or is it simply better to remove the
unpaired fish now to prevent egg/fry predation?  This unpaired third
fish has also been attempting to "court" the male (hence the
presumption it is female) and I am curious to see what might happen
if she is left in the mix, but I'm afraid the tank is just not big
enough to encompass the range of behavior this might elicit. 

Suggestions, as always, are very welcome.

Thanks

Sarah LeGates

 

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