Help with Ivanacara adoketa sexing

[shamedonor]

Have a pair of the ivanocara adoketa. They are near 1.5-2y.o. The previous owner said that's a mated pair (or he bought them being said this) but wanted to make sure before starting to set a dedicated blackwater breeding tank.
They are in tap water since the purchase so maybe are not that colorful yet. I started to gradually lower the gh/kh in the tank.
For now they are in 45gal with a group of 6 columbian tetra. The one which is supposedly a male usually tends to stay in the empty corner in its cave. Another one, seemingly a female, stays under an additional internal filter intake together with tetras. Sometimes the "male" comes to the "female" and there is no chasing at all or even does something that i could interpret as helping to deal with boisterous tetras. Sometimes the "male" is more aggressive and chases the "female" but not really hard. They eat together, a couple of times i saw them being inspecting the tank together.
What I'm afraid of is the "female " is a subdominant male mimicrying a female.

Thanks

 

[Mike Wise]

IMHO the first 4 photos show a male. The other fish has very odd coloration. I cannot determine what it sex is.

 

[shamedonor]

IMHO the first 4 photos show a male. The other fish has very odd coloration. I cannot determine what it sex is.

Someone on fb said it is a male as well based on the fins length. Do you think it is stressed and so has this colors? And also they seem to be young based on what I've been told by another IA owner when he saw them in reality and on the information I found in internet

 

[Mike Wise]

Females as a rule show more black on the face. The "odd" fish looks atypical in that it doesn't even show typically distinct bars on the flank and pigment on the face. I can't say if it is stressed or not.

 

[shamedonor]

Females as a rule show more black on the face. The "odd" fish looks atypical in that it doesn't even show typically distinct bars on the flank and pigment on the face. I can't say if it is stressed or not.

I observed them more closely yesterday and I see the colorful male was just bullying the poor guy so the latter had to hide near a filter near the surfacewhile the dominantonetook his spot, seems just to chase the white guy as the dominantone have itsown cave. I moved the badass to a dedicated tank i wanted to set up anyway just a bit later and we will see if the one with no strips recovers. Actually a saw him showing strips but it was usually while feeding or stressed. The most important is him to be healthy so I could find him a female as well.

 

[anewbie]

Turning pale seems to be the norm to reduce attention. I have some a. elizabeth and when ever the dominant female approach the others quickly go completely pale though she does not force them into a corner and after a bit of flaring moves on. In your case if the fish is being forced into a corner and trapped eventually it will likely end badly unless you remove it.

 

[shamedonor]

I separated them moving the badass to another tank for re-education. The pale guy immediately started to recover his colors. Just two days and he is already discovering the tank, but still is a little afraid of me approaching to the tank but already not that much. Hopefully he will be OK if I put him in a community tank while looking a female as a 45 gal tank for one small fish is too much