Sexing Ap. diplotaenia

[illumnae]

I've got no pictures unfortunately

I've got a young piece of Ap. diplotaenia that was the female of a pair I bought. Recently, the male went missing, and following that the female coloured up alot, and developed orange tips on its ventrals. The female flares at the mirror/ditherfish. It also has a short point on the rear of its dorsal fin. However, the point is not as long and flowy as i've seen in adult male diplotaenias. As this is a young piece, the ventral length and point on dorsal aren't long enough to be definitive yet. I've been advised that orange tips on ventrals is an indicator of it being female, but its flaring behaviour reminds me of males (of other species) that I've kept previously.

Anyone can advise me of the sex of my diplotaenia basd on the (scant i know, sorry!) information above?

edit: The red on the tail/dorsal also intensify when the mirror is there, not sure if it helps id the sex

 

[bigbird]

Morning,

Very difficult without photo as you might also have a sleeper .
The male usually has longer front dorsal fins. try and get a photo. sorry no more help. cheers jk :biggrin:

 

[illumnae]

It's the only apistogramma in the tank currently, and has coloured up since the alpha male disappeared.

Are orange ventrals conclusive of a female?

 

[Mike Wise]

In general color is not a good indicator of sex in female apistos. Often juvenile males will look almost the same as females. I think that you need to wait until the fish is mature and look at the dorsal fin tip and the shape of the caudal fin.