Male apisto C ?? Fry changing sexes?

[nightowl1350]

No digital camera so I can't post a pic, but here is the ?

I am raising a spawn of apisto C fry and at first they all looked female. They are almost 4 months old and some of them are starting to loose the black ventrals....changing to a grey and get more colour in the dorsal fin. So far it is just a slight colour more orange than red, but the parents are triple reds. Are they late bloomers and really males? I have read up on the apisto C and it sounds like the sex is not set at fertalization of the egg, but temp, ph etc can "change" the sex ratio.

I have a spawn that is only 2 months old and I can tell 3 or 4 are males with darker (almost red) colour in their fins (anal, dorsal and tail) with others not showing true female colours more will likely be males.

 

[Mike Wise]

In polygamous species like A. cacatuoides, many males retain their juvenile/female markings in order to avoid aggression from more dominant males in the tank. This aggression usually starts at around 2 month of age. If you remove all of the males to another tank, more of the subdominant males will get their male features.

 

[nightowl1350]

Thanks Mike. I was kind of hoping that was the case as the whole spawn seemed to be female till the past week or so.