borellii questions

[mf3011]

Hello all, I've been a long time visitor and just recently decided to join and have never been disapointed with what I have seen. I was wondering if someone could lend me their expertise regarding my borellii apisto. Unfortunately I have a mediocre camera and I am a less than mediocre photographer, so at this point I do not have any pictures that would be of any help. If I do get lucky however, I will try to post one later.

My question is, if I there is a way to tell male from female by markings or if there's something distinct that I can look for to differentiate. I know females are usually more yellow and have less distinct fins, but I think mine is right at that stage between juvenile and adult and I cannot tell. He/she has a thin horizontal line running all the way down, with black vertical marks above showing depending on the mood. He/she also has a few discreet blue markings on the face and the first ray of the dorsal fin is black, while the rest of the fin is not enhanced enough to clearly show it is a male. I know this isn't really all that great without pictures, but I'm just wondering if there's something I can look for, because later this week I am hoping to bring home some buddies that could eventually form a pair/harem. Any help is much appreciated, sorry for the length of the post! Thank you!

Mike

 

[mf3011]

Also...

Forgot to mention, the fish is probably just over an inch long give or take. Thanks, if any other info is needed just let me know, still trying to get pics

 

[Mike Wise]

I think you just need to be patient. The males will eventually develop highe fin rays & show more blue on the flanks. When bought young, it is best to buy 4-6 fish to ensure you have each sex.

 

[mf3011]

Thanks!

Thanks Mike, I will take that advice because otherwise I am just going to drive myself crazy trying to ID this guy haha. I bought two at the time, but the one never looked comfortable once it got in the tank, and even after separating it to another tank, didn't make it. So I will be patient and very careful this weekend at the store, and won't buy if I think I'll have a problem. Thanks again!

Mike

 

[jaeger222002]

I have a couple of tanks of juveniles right not and these all came from a group of roughly 19 juveniles I purchased last september. They were about .5 inch when I got them in. I remember staring at them endlessly trying to figure the same thing out. I have a lot of juveniles right now and I think they are almost sexable. I would venture to guess that if your fish have blue markings showing in the gill plates they are likely to be male. The black in the pelvic and dorsal fins means nothing at this size as both sexes show this. I have found that my young males tend to have dorsal fins that are much taller than the females. This is of course subjective and if you had two males/females they would probably look the same. At around 3 months old my females began to turn yellow but all the males had blue markings in the face by then as well.

 

[mf3011]

Thanks jaeger, glad to hear I'm not the only one haha. Wonderful fish aren't they?

 

[mf3011]

Update

Definitely took your advice Mike, and was patient. They were only selling them in pairs, and most of them were bigger than my little guy (or girl?), so I decided to hold off and let it grow a bit, then see what happens. I didn't come away empty-handed though. Got a beautiful blue and yellow tail male agassizii for a different tank that makes me wish even more that I had a nice camera! Thanks again for the comments!