Apisto "blue steel"

[Bmize89]

Hello so a few weeks ago i purchased 3 apistogramma "blue steel". Note theybwere sold to me as a different species. Anyhow they have been doing great and are showing what i believe as spawing rituals. From what ive read its rare to get a female blue steel but here is a video i uploaded from you tube. Lemme kno what you guys think

 

[Bmize89]

Hello so a few weeks ago i purchased 3 apistogramma "blue steel". Note theybwere sold to me as a different species. Anyhow they have been doing great and are showing what i believe as spawing rituals. From what ive read its rare to get a female blue steel but here is a video i uploaded from you tube. Lemme kno what you guys think

 

[gerald]

They are displaying at each other for dominance, and might be either 2 males, 2 females, or one of each. The video is not clear enough to distinguish what sexes or species they are. They do look yellow (like females), but that might be skewed by the lighting and camera.

 

[Bmize89]

No your correct they are yellow in the video however there color changes when they perform this behavior. Here are individual pictures of all 3.

 

[MickeM]

A wild guess..
Pic 1 may be a female..? Not sure though.. (short anal+dorsal-tips + less blue on the head? + no visable patterns on the caudal-fin!)
Pic 2 male . (Long tips on the pelvic fins!!+ Blue head!, Is this the fish positioned to the right in the video??)
Pic 3 a male..???? (Very/Lot of blue shimmering above the eyes!!)

Post some more pics if you can.. this is always fun!!
Thanks for sharing!!

 

[gerald]

You're lucky to have ANY females. Most shipments of steel-blue Apisto are nearly all males. Micke's "wild guess" is probably good, but they will need more time to grow before you will really know for sure.

 

[Bmize89]

I will try and get more pictures so they can clearly be analyzed. Thanks for the comments though

 

[Hellfishguy]

My male never shows any yellow. BTW mine were sold to me as Apistogramma agassizi Neon Blue.

Female L Male R

 

[Bmize89]

Hmm well none of mine have the color of your male

 

[Hellfishguy]

I'd keep them well fed & wait & see what happens; apistos are full of suprises. And if it turns out that all of your fish are female your'e ahead of the game, since males are much easier to find.

 

[Bmize89]

True true i guess inly time will tell