Hello/A. Cacatuoides male or female?

[StormSong]

Hello! I am new to apistogrammas, and I just got two (supposed to be) female apistogramma cacatuoides. I am starting to think that the one might be a male because of its color and it’s very territorial towards the other female. I also understand that this may just be a dominant female that is more colorful than the other, which is why I decided to come here to see what you guys thought. (The one with orange fins is the one I’m asking about, but I added a picture of the other one I had gotten, as it looks very pale in comparison) I’ve also had them for a little over 3 weeks now.

 

[Yoannikko]

Hello,
In a male, the 2nd or 3rd "spike" of the dorsal fin is longer than the rest. It's a really telling sign, look at photos of a male and you'll see what I mean.
To me, and I'm no expert, the second photo is definitely a female. As for the first photo, I would instinctivly say that it also is a female. But looking a bit closer, it appears that the 3rd spike looks a bit longer than the rest, so could be a small/young male...

 

[MacZ]

Problem with domestic breeds of A. cacatuoides: Due to generations of linebreeding and inbreeding in commercial breeding the females have startet showing male attributes in fin colour and shape. Especially dominant females can come across very masculine. And I think this is the case here.
Btw, the fish is very overfed. Cut down on feeding, maybe do 1-2 fast days a week.

 

[StormSong]

Hello,
In a male, the 2nd or 3rd "spike" of the dorsal fin is longer than the rest. It's a really telling sign, look at photos of a male and you'll see what I mean.
To me, and I'm no expert, the second photo is definitely a female. As for the first photo, I would instinctivly say that it also is a female. But looking a bit closer, it appears that the 3rd spike looks a bit longer than the rest, so could be a small/young male...

Yes I have noticed that as well which is also why I thought to come here. Thank you so much for your input!

 

[StormSong]

Problem with domestic breeds of A. cacatuoides: Due to generations of linebreeding and inbreeding in commercial breeding the females have startet showing male attributes in fin colour and shape. Especially dominant females can come across very masculine. And I think this is the case here.
Btw, the fish is very overfed. Cut down on feeding, maybe do 1-2 fast days a week.

I wasn’t aware of this consequence of linebreeding/commercial breeding, I will definitely keep this in mind! Also thank you so much for bringing this to my attention, I will from now on be adding fast days to my schedule!

 

[Yoannikko]

It is kind of counterintuitive, but regular fast days are good for the fish, as most of us tend to overfeed them regularly. If you don't overfeed, then I believe that it's not as important, but a good practice for most of us. Personnally, I do this once a week, usually on a sunday. But the fast day may move around according to my schedule, and also to keep the fish on their toes, or fins rather
As they say, a hungry fish is a healthy fish.

 

[StormSong]

It is kind of counterintuitive, but regular fast days are good for the fish, as most of us tend to overfeed them regularly. If you don't overfeed, then I believe that it's not as important, but a good practice for most of us. Personnally, I do this once a week, usually on a sunday. But the fast day may move around according to my schedule, and also to keep the fish on their toes, or fins rather
As they say, a hungry fish is a healthy fish.

Thank you so much for the advice! I want the best for them and I do suppose I was loving them a little too much with food throughout the week

 

[StormSong]

It’s been a few weeks now and here are some updated pictures of the fish in question. It is a little over 1 1/2 inches. I also don’t think I mentioned it before but the store I got them from had them marked as “orange flash apistogramma”. With the orange color fins I’m highly suspicious that it is a male but again this is my first time caring for this species so if anyone would still like to impart their experience it would be greatly appreciated as always.

 

[MacZ]

I also don’t think I mentioned it before but the store I got them from had them marked as “orange flash apistogramma”.

Yeah well... domestic breeds have no fixed naming conventions, breeders and wholesalers can call them whatever they like. That's why I stick to "domestic colour breed". Never wrong.

I'm sticking to what I said last months, female. The proportions say either that or a very deformed male. And the size of that belly would give me concerns.

In any case, please avoid breeding with that one. We have enough such Frankenfish in the hobby.

 

[Mike Wise]

At 1½"/3.5cm I would not hazard a guess on sex. I will say this. It is a rather poor example of an Orange Flash Cockatoo. Good quality specimens of this color form should never show ocelli on any of the fins - especially the caudal. Yes, the first specimens of this color form did show pale ocelli but it was bred out of them decades ago. I, too, am concerned with the condition of this fish. It appears to be bloated or constipated. What do you feed this fish and how frequently?

 

[StormSong]

At 1½"/3.5cm I would not hazard a guess on sex. I will say this. It is a rather poor example of an Orange Flash Cockatoo. Good quality specimens of this color form should never show ocelli on any of the fins - especially the caudal. Yes, the first specimens of this color form did show pale ocelli but it was bred out of them decades ago. I, too, am concerned with the condition of this fish. It appears to be bloated or constipated. What do you feed this fish and how frequently?

I see, in regards to feeding I feed it hikari cichlid pellets. I only feed a small tweezer pinch a day and typically skip feeding on Friday and sunday. There are also some blue dream shrimp in the tank which I assume it to eat the babies. Also good to know not to breed this fish (wasn’t planning on it due to me not having the proper resources or knowledge to raise fry).

 

[Mike Wise]

I find that dry foods are a poor diet by themselves, even if your apistos find an occasional shrimp. This might be the cause of the bloating. I prefer a diet of mostly live and frozen foods with dry foods as an occasional supplement.