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Hi folks, this probably seems amusing, I do see the funny side of it, but this is slightly starting to concern me now. My ABNs spawned for the first time three weeks ago. My female is extremely gravid, but the male seems to start the chase every time he spots her. Most of the time she is hiding, and I then need to move decor to make sure she is OK. I was thinking of separating them for a while to give her some space from him, but I'm worried it will be just as bad, or worse when i put them back together. I've tried the cool water changes, I added a more suitable cave. Last weekend they both ate non stop after not eating for a time, as spawning was more on their minds, he was eating more last weekend, but the female was sharing food with him and I thought spawning was very imminent. Is there something else I can do to trigger a spawn, or is getting the female out a better thing to do, I have looked into getting another adult female but they are very difficult to obtain, also I wasn't wanting to become overun with young ABNs.

Hi Teresa,

The answer may simply be to leave them alone. I know I tend to fuss over my fish Ehen expecting a spawn, and that's the last thing they want. It's like having your parents come along on your honeymoon (or anniversary trip) because they want grandchildren.

Cheers, Eric

Im sure when she is ready they will spawn. It just looks like she is ready, but he has scared her.

Another possibility is adding another female. I keep 2-3 females with each of my males and it works great.

Thanks for the reply, I have been trying to source locally another adult female, but as mentioned I'm not wanting to potentially end up with 150+ babies to raise each month. but i think you're right that his behaviour needs to be targeted between more than just 1 female. It may just be he's a bit keen after spawning for the first time recently. He might calm down after this time but if not, I might need to rethink on it.

You could remove the cave once you want them to stop spawning.

Is it hard to find BN's in the UK? Over here in the US you can often get them for free or just a few bucks at pretty much any store or club meeting.

Getting mature adults isn't easy, i dont very often see them for sale at an LFS, a few online sources have them, but along with a big delivery charge.

Another large water change today though and now they are both sharing a courgette- zucchini. But then he starts chasing her, until she's hiding from him again!