A. agassizii female?

[ob_nv]

Hello... i just came across this forum about an hour ago and loving it already.. and hopefully someone can help me. I recently purchased a pair of A. agassizii "blue" (as far as i knew), but after getting home with them and comparing to images on the net i got a little suspicious of the female. On almost all the images i saw the females had a spot on their side (wich Ive yet to see on mine) and no vertical black line above the eyes.. as you can see (hopefully, if i load them right lol)

she likes to watch the shrimp..

i keep the pair in a 29g bow front with khuli loaches, green fire tetras and danio choprai.. would it wise to add a second female?

 

[Mike Wise]

The female looks strange for A. agassizii. It has a much heavier body than most aggie females. The lateral band seems too narrow, too. The amount of black patches on the back and forehead are odd for A. agassizii, too. IMHO it looks more like a female A. cacatuoides, but I'm not positive. Are these wild fish? If so, my guess is that there is a mix of species. I would try to get another (more slender) female.

 

[ob_nv]

thanks alot for your help.. taking another look and comparing pics im quite sure your right.. so i will try to get a different female (now that i am i tiny bit more educate on the differences) .. but i have another problem now. that male is being very listless, with no appetite, and dark coloration, and no other tank mate exhibits anything strange, only him.. dont really feel like losing him.. any thoughts?.. anyone?

 

[Apistomaster]

Apistogramma spp often go into decline for little apparent good reasons.
Sometimes a course of treatment with Hikari PraziPro or flubendazole will help if they are infested with gill flukes or internal worms which is not uncommon for wild Apistos. PraziPro or flubendazole won't harm your fish, plants or Shrimp so it is a low risk treatment if use as directed. You seem to have mismatched females and it would probably be be wise to buy more new pairs/trios of A. agassizi because you are likely to lose the male by the time you manage to find some females if you have your heart set on spawning this species.