Need help ASAP!

[cdawson]

I need someone to tell me how I can properly sex A. Eunotus, I've looked at every picture I can possibly find and just when I think I've properly identified it the colours fade or come in and it looks like the oppposite sex. I know I have one bonafide male, and at least 1 other male. I also think I may possibly have a third male, but until I get clarification on how to know for sure I won't be able to tell.
I want 3 fem. and the large male I have now, but I want to make sure i get this sorted out before they're all gone.

 

[aspen]

romers book describes the difference as, 'Males grow considerably larger than females and are metallic blue. The soft-rayed section of the dorsal and anal fins are extremely long and pointed in males, but short and rounded in females.'

many male apistos won't show their 'maleness' in the presence of an alpha male. i would pull the alpha male and female and see what develops without the presence of these fish, who are the most likely suspects in any acts of agression anyway. romer also states that these fish have a 'high spatial requirement', so don't skimp on tank space and cover.

rick

 

[cdawson]

I did just that, I took two males back to the shop and selected two females (hopefully). I figured out that two 'females' I had were males by going into the fishroom this morning at about 7:00 with a flashlight. Sure enough three males were bickering away in the corner.

As for cover and tank space, they're in a 20g long with ALOT of driftwood. I went for the natural amazon basin driftwood cluttered floor look with lots of little pieces of driftwood and caves. Plenty of places to hide.
Usually the female and the alpha male were the only ones you could see at all times.

 

[cdawson]

ok, I individually put them in a breeder net and let them settle and this is what I came up with. Two females and a male. I also got another male out of the deal so I just put him into my g/f's large planted tank so that someday we can use him to breed the two females.