Apisto agassizii -- Male or Female?

[Mr. Appleton]

Hey all,

So I bought two Apistos on a bit of an impulse a few days ago from a LFS.

I was told at the time that I was buying a male and female pair and just wanted to make sure that I do, in fact, have a female and not two males. They've been in the tank for a few days now and seem to be pretty peaceful overall, but I just would like to be sure.... My tank is a bit on the small side and I'd be worried they would duel it out.

Attached is a picture of the 'female'... can anyone help me to verify it is?

**EDIT** Haven't really figured out how to embed images yet... sorry guys!

Please check my link: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9NBsGetuev91g_AmQelLtA?feat=directlink

Thanks so much!

 

[CopabX]

Cannot see the pic, try this

http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/showthread.php?7129-How-to-post-a-picture

 

[Mr. Appleton]

Thanks! Here's the pic. Not exceptional, but the best I could do with my P&S. If this isn't good enough, I'll try to take a few more with my SLR tonight.

 

[Mike Wise]

Probably a female but could be an immature male. How large is this fish?

 

[Mr. Appleton]

It's probably a bit over an inch long. The little round balls you see in the picture are 1cm in diameter each.

The other fish of the pair is also about the same size, maybe slightly larger, and much more brightly red in the fins.

I hope it's a female!

 

[Jonathan Aquari]

female, most defiantly a female

 

[tompoz]

Looks like my females so I would bet it is a girl.

 

[henkh]

Agree, female. Colouring, shape and fins. Could be the quality of the pic, but she looks a bit thin. What are you feeding with what frequency?

 

[Mr. Appleton]

Thanks all for the input. She's actually become quite yellow in the past day or two; the two of them even appear to be doing some sort of exchange where the male swims on his side and presents his side to her when she's nearby. Is this normal?

Attached a few pics of the male:

the female:

and the duo:

To answer henkh's question, it had only been her third or fourth day in my tank after getting her from the LFS and she seemed to be a pretty shy eater. I gave them some frozen brine shrimp today and they LOVED it. Hopefully she'll plump up a bit in the near future.

Thanks again guys!

 

[slimbolen99]

The yellow is indicative of an impending spawn. She'll turn even more yellow when she's got eggs. Looks like a nice couple. They've got a ways to grow before they're going to be good parents, so be patient, and give them time. Good looking fish.

 

[Rod]

My just be the photography.....but

Can the male open his dorsal fully??

Looks like it is stuck in the middle???

If it is.....I'd buy another male.....no sense breeding with deformed fish....IMO
if that's not possible....be ready to cull any fry with similar deformity!

If I'm wrong....GREAT! Nice young pair!

 

[tompoz]

Can the male open his dorsal fully??

From my experience with agassizii - males do not open their fins fully too often.
What I see in the picture looks like a normal agassizii male when swimming.

 

[Rod]

From my experience....show any male apisto his reflection in a mirror and you will soon see if he can open his fins or not!
Most mature male cichlids actually

This is a normal stance for my male aggie.....you should see him with his fins spread!
If the front of the dorsal is up.....it's should be up all the way.....not up at front and down in the middle
Female's dorsal looks ok....male's doesn't
Perhaps you are right???....but doesn't look right to me!

 

[Mr. Appleton]

The male definitely opens his fins up a fully on occassion, just not all the time and not in any of the pics that I managed to take last night. I was more focused on the female than the male

Next time I'll see if I can capture a better one of him with his fins open.

Thanks guys!

 

[CopabX]

The male definitely opens his fins up a fully on occassion, just not all the time and not in any of the pics that I managed to take last night.

Try putting a mirror next to the tank and he'll start to flare at his reflection.

 

[Mike Wise]

What we see in the courting male is a 'flashing' of the dorsal fin. The male will cause a wave to course along the dorsal fin from front to back. It's all quite normal, but rarely seen since apisto breeding courtship rarely lasts more than 15 minutes from initiating courtship to spawning.

 

[Mr. Appleton]

Hey all,

Thanks for all the advice! The two of them have definitely paired off and she has become very yellow the last few days. I had put in the tank a couple of 3'' clay pots that she has laid claim to and appears to be quite aggressively preventing any of the c. habrosus I have in the tank from coming close to it at all. She is still receptive to the male, which has taken to nipping her pretty aggressively at times while she doesn't fight back at all.

Any ideas as to what's going on? I'm hoping that she has or will lay eggs soon... but am kinda worried by the amount that she's getting picked on by the male.

Thanks!