Apistogramma atahualpa: The Sunset

[mermaid]

Hi,
Recently, I purchased a male and female (so I was told) of Apistogramma atahualpa aka sunset. Initially the male chased the smaller female around in the tank.

I thought, that maybe the female was too immature for the male, so I exchanged her for a bigger, more equal size male. When I added the female to the tank, it seemed that they "liked" each other. They were doing some sort of back tale slapping. A couple of hours later, the one A. sunset was chasing the other one.

I want to know 1.Why is this happening? and 2. the sunset pair I have look diffferent than the couple posted under the genus list in this forum. My pair has blue and red markings on the "cheek", no sunset orangy colour.
3. How do I distinguish between the male and female. They look pretty much the same.

Thanks for helping.

 

[apistobob]

It is quite eqsy to sex mature atahualpa. However, it can sometimes be more difficult with sub adults. Onve a female adopts spawning or brood care coloration she is easily identifiable by her color and pattern. Refer to this site http://dwarfcichlid.com/atahualpa.html for photos of mature fish.

Atahualpa have a reputation of being agressive and it can be difficult to force a pairing between two fish. I would make sure that you have a large enough tank with lots of hiding places, particularly a thicket of plants that will provide cover for the female. It might take time but this will usually result in a pairing when the fish are ready.

Bob

 

[mermaid]

Apistogramma aka sunset

Thanks for the information. My tank is a 15 gallon, with wood and ferns, and not many other fishes (only a couple of SAEs).

I will add more fish and plants, in terms of fish...what should I add, as I have read that this Apisto like a fairly low PH.

Mermaid