Mac male won't leave female(?) alone

[PexGat]

Hey guys,
I bought the (supposed) pair of macs below a couple weeks ago, they're still in the quarantine tank, but the male (1) won't leave the female (2) alone. I'm even doubting if she is indeed a female, since it's my first pair of macs and, not being experienced enough with this species, seems to be a sneaker male. I was hoping to get some feedback regarding it's gender, and I apologize for the bad picture, I couldn't get her to come out in the open without the male brutally chasing her.

 

[Mike Wise]

"She" probably is female from what little I can see. Are you hoping to breed them? If so, my suggestion is to quarantine them separately for now. Maybe use the (I hope) breeding tank as the female's quarantine tank. Either way introduce the female into the pair's new home at least a week before putting the male in with her. This gives her a chance to orient herself to her new home. This should give her a better chance at finding her own territory.

BTW your quarantine tank, with live plants, gravel, etc. isn't the best for quarantine. If you get some kind of nasty outbreak you'll need to sterilize the tank and everything in it. That means destroying plants and boiling/bleaching gravel and hard surface items. Quarantine tanks should be simply decorated (I use 4"/10 cm long pieces of PVC pipe, a sponge filter and no substrate (all easily sterilized).