Hi. I am a new mamma to some baby apistos.

[Suzn]

I am hoping someone might be able to help me sex my hongsloi apistos. I was told they are a pair but I am unsure which is male and female.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/Nonya_Bizwack/Jult2011059.jpg
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/Nonya_Bizwack/Jult2011008.jpg
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/Nonya_Bizwack/Jult2011018.jpg
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/Nonya_Bizwack/Jult2011015.jpg
Thanks

 

[Cichlid Junkie]

Im not an expert, but picture 3 & 4 are pics of your female. 1 & 2 might be a male. Its hard to tell. Again, I'm not an expert so maybe someone else could weigh in.

 

[Suzn]

Thank you. The brigher yellow one in pics 3 and 4 is a lot less shy than the darker one. Do you know if male and female behavior differs with the hongsloi? It doesnt really matter to me if they both end up female. I'm not trying to breed them I just want to keep them happy and I figured have a male and female couple would do that. I am very new to this. Any advice is warmly welcomed. It is hard to find people who know much about the dwarf cichlids. I have a variety of fish but I think I have found my favorites with the dwarfs.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Susan, with the usual disclaimer that I'm really poor at this, but I think that 1 and 2 are a male, and I'm much more definite that 3 & 4 is a female. You could try holding a mirror to the tank, if the ""male" fish puts his fins up and swims parallel to the mirror he is a male.

Assuming they are a pair they will behave differently, the female will claim a territory centred around a cave, and will remain near teh bottom, and the male will spend more time swimming around the mid level of the tank.

cheers Darrel

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Should also have said that if you haven't seen them it is well worth looking at ApistoBob's web site, particularly the sections on maintenance.

<http://dwarfcichlid.com/Aquarium_care.php>
&
<http://dwarfcichlid.com/Apistogramma_hongsloi.php>.

cheers Darrel

 

[Mike Wise]

As you can see, I moved your post to a more appropriate location. I tend to agree with the others about photos 3 & 4 being a female. The other fish, I can't say for certain. It could be a young male or another female. The photos just aren't good enough to use. Better photos of the fish in 1 & 2 could help.

 

[Suzn]

Ok so I took some more pics of the possible male. Not sure if these are much better. This fish hates my camera! It hides everytime I try to take its pic. It's behavior seems female to me from what I have read. It spends most of it's time in a hollowed log and doesn't swim around much with the other fish. Perhaps I have 2 females?

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/Nonya_Bizwack/fish009.jpg
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/Nonya_Bizwack/Fish006.jpg
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/Nonya_Bizwack/Fish003.jpg
http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee468/Nonya_Bizwack/Fish001.jpg

Again thank you for your input. I really appreciate it.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
These photos would suggest that you have 2 females, you can see the black leading edge to the ventral fins on "fish006".
Usually males are much easier to find than females, so you may be able to find a lone male.
cheers Darrel

 

[Hmoobthor]

if there are baby..give it some time to develop their colors but males are much much more colorful than female...seems to me those are both female.