A. panduro question

[MintyFresh]

Hello! I just recently bought a pair of A. panduro from my LFS and i believe i bought a male and female hoping they would pair up once older as they are still juvenile. they are in a 20 gal and they are never together. I'm starting to think the female is a sleeper male due to her colors but i could be wrong. is it possible even if it is female that they just aren't interested in each other? how long should i wait before separating them and finding a different female? ill also post a pic of the female once my water clears up from this water change.

 

[MacZ]

Panduro can be quite picky with partners.

It would probably help if you could post some pictures of both fish, as to rule out you have two males. Or whether they are really still too young.

In any case with that tank size you might want to consider a second tank to separate them if necessary.

Is your goal breeding or keeping?

 

[MintyFresh]

I’ll post a pic once my tank clears up I added sand and cleaned it yesterday so it’s still too murky to see clearly. Probably by tomorrow I’ll have a pic. I do have a separate 10 gal running cuz I’m going to be breeding and I wanted to have a second tank in case I need to move the male or babies later down the road.

 

[MintyFresh]

Here’s some pics…I can’t find the one I thought was male without tearing apart the tank…so either he never comes out or he died this is the “female” or at least the one I think is female let me know what u think or if u need better photos

 

[anewbie]

How large is the fish? I'm pretty sure the one you photographed is a female from the dark markings on the body.

 

[MintyFresh]

How large is the fish? I'm pretty sure the one you photographed is a female from the dark markings on the body

Maybe 2 inches? She is pretty small but she also turns blue every now and then so I’m worried it’s a sleeper male…

 

[anewbie]

I'm not sure; my female never turns 'blue' but she will turn dark if stressed. If this were a sleeper male at 2 inches it would be quite young. The pictures are not very good; is the other fish about 3/4 to an 1 inch larger ?

Someone more experienced might chime in; I actually have nijsseni which are very similar.

 

[MintyFresh]

I'm not sure; my female never turns 'blue' but she will turn dark if stressed. If this were a sleeper male at 2 inches it would be quite young. The pictures are not very good; is the other fish about 3/4 to an 1 inch larger ?

Someone more experienced might chime in; I actually have nijsseni which are very similar.

Hmm I’m very confused. Will try to get better photos later today. The other fish was much larger; maybe 2.5x bigger than this one. But the bigger one has disappeared so I’m assuming he died and got scavenged cuz I haven’t been able to find a body. Anyways I’ll post better pic later today and thank you to everyone who has replied!

 

[anewbie]

He might be hiding depending on the layout of your tank; this is likely a female esp if they were the same age and I noted it has the dark bands a female has but it does seem a bit stressed. I'm not sure what else you have in the tank but 'scavenged' isn't too likely on a 3 1/2 inch fish. I've had a couple of fishes die the past 12 months - i think a tetra and a kuhli and found both their corpses thought the kuhli was badly decomposed.

 

[MintyFresh]

He might be hiding depending on the layout of your tank; this is likely a female esp if they were the same age and I noted it has the dark bands a female has but it does seem a bit stressed. I'm not sure what else you have in the tank but 'scavenged' isn't too likely on a 3 1/2 inch fish. I've had a couple of fishes die the past 12 months - i think a tetra and a kuhli and found both their corpses thought the kuhli was badly decomposed.

I have a school of sterbai corydora in with them. And I’ll look throughout the tank once I’m home to see if I can’t find the male. Any ideas why she is stressed? I just got them Monday; could that be it?

 

[anewbie]

Might be water parameters; the sterbai won't scavenge a male apisto - i mean they might pick on it if they are hungry enough but most of the corpse should still be there. I can't comment on your tank; but in my tank it is not uncommon for a fish to vanish for a few months and then show up - it just is too densely planted: