TLDR: I would like to know the sex of these three for sure and what this tail flick/ biting behavior is. Is it territorial fighting or mating behavior?
Background
I should say from the start that this is my first go at apistos but I have housed other cichlids, as well as all the 'starter' fish ie guppies, platies, tetras exc. I have been in the aquarium hobby for 20+ years.
Recently I bought a pair of apistogramma cacatuoides orange flash from amy LPS. They both seemed like males to me but I was assured that one was male and the other female. Shortly after the 'male' died and I bought a new pair with the idea of having a couple females and a male. When I introduced them all together the old 'female', the largest of the group started chasing the new male and acting rather territorial. I assumed that the old 'female' was actually a male and so I actually had 2 males and a female. I separated them shortly after. I kept the large one and the small one in a 10 gallon with some pencil fish and the medium sized one moved to a 20 gallon with some guppies.
Recently the smallest one has been turning yellow which from what I have read is a sign she is ready to bread. I started doing a mirror treatment 2-3 times per week 10-15 minutes each time. After a week or so, she began this flicking behavior with her tail. But the large one is totally ignoring her. Now (about 2 weeks since starting the mirror) she has started occasionally nipping him when she gets tired of flicking. I am not sure why he is ignoring her but I thought maybe it was the size difference.
So today I switched the males. I was hoping that the smaller male might show more interest. As soon as I put them together she started flicking and biting and he started doing it right back. At one point he had most of her head in his mouth and after only 10 minutes I felt I needed to separate them or one of them would kill the other. Right now he is floating in a jar in the tank while I decide where to keep him for now.
Now I am confused. Why is she attacking this new male? Why is this new male attacking her? Are they actually male/female or are they the same gender?
Please help.
^The largest one. Was sold to me as a female. Is mildly aggressive towards the medium one. Ignores the small one.
^The medium one. Was sold to me as a male. Just runs away from the large one. Flicks and bites the small one.
^ The small one. Was sold as a female. Flicks both. Nips the large one. Aggressively attacks the medium one.
Background
I should say from the start that this is my first go at apistos but I have housed other cichlids, as well as all the 'starter' fish ie guppies, platies, tetras exc. I have been in the aquarium hobby for 20+ years.
Recently I bought a pair of apistogramma cacatuoides orange flash from amy LPS. They both seemed like males to me but I was assured that one was male and the other female. Shortly after the 'male' died and I bought a new pair with the idea of having a couple females and a male. When I introduced them all together the old 'female', the largest of the group started chasing the new male and acting rather territorial. I assumed that the old 'female' was actually a male and so I actually had 2 males and a female. I separated them shortly after. I kept the large one and the small one in a 10 gallon with some pencil fish and the medium sized one moved to a 20 gallon with some guppies.
Recently the smallest one has been turning yellow which from what I have read is a sign she is ready to bread. I started doing a mirror treatment 2-3 times per week 10-15 minutes each time. After a week or so, she began this flicking behavior with her tail. But the large one is totally ignoring her. Now (about 2 weeks since starting the mirror) she has started occasionally nipping him when she gets tired of flicking. I am not sure why he is ignoring her but I thought maybe it was the size difference.
So today I switched the males. I was hoping that the smaller male might show more interest. As soon as I put them together she started flicking and biting and he started doing it right back. At one point he had most of her head in his mouth and after only 10 minutes I felt I needed to separate them or one of them would kill the other. Right now he is floating in a jar in the tank while I decide where to keep him for now.
Now I am confused. Why is she attacking this new male? Why is this new male attacking her? Are they actually male/female or are they the same gender?
Please help.
^The largest one. Was sold to me as a female. Is mildly aggressive towards the medium one. Ignores the small one.
^The medium one. Was sold to me as a male. Just runs away from the large one. Flicks and bites the small one.
^ The small one. Was sold as a female. Flicks both. Nips the large one. Aggressively attacks the medium one.
