Re: Flowerpots as caves.

[swaldron@slip.net (Steven J. Waldron)]

>Why is it so important that the male can't get into the cave?
>
>Peter.

The importance depends on your fish. Do you have a harmonious pair for
which the boat rarely rocks? Or are they more "Sid and Nancy" (O.J. and
Nicole?), lovin' and hatin'. You have to remember these fish come from
highly complex multi- structured microhabitats with high densities of
conspecifics. The male patrols his territory amongst the leaf litter,
chasing off competitors, and probably has little contact with a female
tending eggs within his territory. In the aquarium, the pair come into
continuous contact within the small confines of say a 20 gallon tank. This
is unnatural and the male might turn his aggression towards the female.
Dithers work to alleviate some of this, as does providing a complex
aquascape, but conspecific dither fish are magnets for a territorial
apisto. If there is any reason for a female to feel stressed and not
confident in the outcome of her brood, she will seek to maximize her energy
expenditure by eating her eggs. Providing a barrier from an overly
aggressive male is just another technique for minimizing stress for an egg
tending female.
- - Steve Waldron