My first apistos

[MaryPa]

I`ve had fresh water fish for quite awhile but just got my first apistogrammas last week.I was told they were a pair of Borelli and their color will show after they get settled in my tank.....Well the color has shown alot on the female and she looks nothing like a borelli to me,but then what do i know.She is a lovely yellow with shiney black sorta checkered pattern on her.I`m keeping them no matte what apisto they are but now i need help finding they name :?

 

[farm41]

Well the yellow would mean she is in her breeding colors.

 

[MaryPa]

They look nothing like a borelli.He is a pale ywllow with dark greenish dorsal fin and red where the tail meets the body.She has a extremely black face and is black and yellow chechered from her lateral line up.What could they be?

 

[Neil]

MaryPa,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

We may need a little more info r ideally a pic to help sort out the identity of these fish.
There are a few apistos that have a reddish spot at the base of their tail. The closest looking one to borellii is hongsloi. hongsloi could also have a pale yellow body, but i don't think I have ever seen one with a green dorsal fin.
As far as the female goes, the black face is unusual. Are there more than one with this characteristic?
I kind of think that not only have they mislabeled the species but also the genus. Might not be Apistogramma that we are talking about here.
Neil

 

[MaryPa]

Thanks for the welcome Neil.Oh yes they`re really apistogrammas.They were both pale when i bought them last week.I think they went into breeding mode almost instantly after i brought them home.She looka like a black checkered fish above her lateral line.The male stayed about the same but between his tail fin and his body turned red and his dorsal fin turned green.I know she has eggs in her coconut shell.She`s also keeping him out of the shell now...