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Sexing apistogramma borellii

Sturl

New Member
Messages
12
Hey everyone,

Can anyone confirm i have a male + female borellii?
I mean, the male is pretty obvious so it’s specifically about the female.
They’re still small so the LFS had a hard time finding a female.

Thanks in advance!
 

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dw1305

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
2,755
Location
Wiltshire UK
Hi all,
Hey everyone,

Can anyone confirm i have a male + female borellii?
I mean, the male is pretty obvious so it’s specifically about the female.
They’re still small so the LFS had a hard time finding a female.

Thanks in advance!
With the traditional disclaimer that I'm useless at both sexing and ID, I think they probably are a pair of A. borellii.

The things that worry me a little bit is that "she" isn't very yellow and seems to have a lot of spangling on the cheeks.

The things that make me think "she" is a female are that she seems to have rounded anal and dorsal fins and those fins are pretty colourless.

Is the female in a tank on her own?

cheers Darrel
 

Sturl

New Member
Messages
12
Hi all,

With the traditional disclaimer that I'm useless at both sexing and ID, I think they probably are a pair of A. borellii.

The things that worry me a little bit is that "she" isn't very yellow and seems to have a lot of spangling on the cheeks.

The things that make me think "she" is a female are that she seems to have rounded anal and dorsal fins and those fins are pretty colourless.

Is the female in a tank on her own?

cheers Darrel

Hey Darrel,

Both female and male are together in a tank with a footprint of 80x40

Cheers
 

Ben Rhau

Apisto Club
Messages
566
Location
San Francisco
I also agree with Darrel. Looks female, but sometimes hard to tell when they're young. Females tend to turn yellow when conditions are suitable and they're not stressed out. I've had females stay gray when the water conductivity is high or if there's a lot of chasing/aggression and not enough cover. But they turn yellow very quickly once conditions become more ideal.
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,365
First one i'm not sure - for some reason it doesn't strike me as a clear female; 2nd a male 3rd is more likely a female (is 3rd the same fish as 1st?). The females never get very large - 1.5 inch seems about right but i don't like the blue glow that shows in the first picture.
 

Sturl

New Member
Messages
12
Then I'm with Darrel on this one. 80% for female, I'd say.


Good footprint. If correctly structured you could keep a colony with several males (ONLY applies to A. borellii), probably a 3-5m:2-4f.

Mind posting a picture of the whole tank?

Hey Mac,
Thanks for the reply,

Lights are on low currently, been battling algae.

I don’t think my tank with this structure would be ideal for more than one male but the LFS told me i could trade for a female if “she” turns out to be a male

I posted an older pic of the tank so the structure is more visible to see.

A64A62FC-6D16-44B9-BADD-5FF653F5D322.jpeg


1BBAEC42-64EB-45AA-AE0A-12EEB790A5EA.jpeg
 

Sturl

New Member
Messages
12
First one i'm not sure - for some reason it doesn't strike me as a clear female; 2nd a male 3rd is more likely a female (is 3rd the same fish as 1st?). The females never get very large - 1.5 inch seems about right but i don't like the blue glow that shows in the first picture.
Hey,

3d fish is same as 1st yes.

I have only bought 2
 

Sturl

New Member
Messages
12
I also agree with Darrel. Looks female, but sometimes hard to tell when they're young. Females tend to turn yellow when conditions are suitable and they're not stressed out. I've had females stay gray when the water conductivity is high or if there's a lot of chasing/aggression and not enough cover. But they turn yellow very quickly once conditions become more ideal.
Hey Ben,

I’ll post a picture of the water conditions.
The male does chase the female pretty often so far.. no real aggression spotted
I also agree with Darrel. Looks female, but sometimes hard to tell when they're young. Females tend to turn yellow when conditions are suitable and they're not stressed out. I've had females stay gray when the water conductivity is high or if there's a lot of chasing/aggression and not enough cover. But they turn yellow very quickly once conditions become more ideal.
hey Ben,

I’ll post a printscreen of the water conditions, i’ve seen the male chase her a few times but no real aggression so far..
I do have a 10g spare tank that’s all set up if things get out of hand.

Cheers
 

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Ben Rhau

Apisto Club
Messages
566
Location
San Francisco
The water parameters look reasonable for borellii. If the fish haven't been in your tank long, you may just need to be patient while they settle in. That would be my first option.

The structure of the tank is really open. It looks like you've consciously scaped it that way, so I don't want to be prescriptive about how you structure it. It just comes with pros and cons. An open layout is not uncommon for breeding tanks, because in such a layout it's easier to see how the fish are interacting. The downside is there aren't defined territories, so when there is conflict you might need to change things. Keep an eye out for aggression and have the 10g ready if needed.

If it looks like the "female" is being chased relentlessly and can't get any respite, it may be that she's not ready to breed and the male is trying to chase her out of his territory. Since there are no barriers and defined territories, that territory is the entire tank. In that case, you may want to consider adding an inexpensive screen divider to help troubleshoot. When the divider in place, if the "female" turns bright yellow when well fed and with the male in sight, you'll know:
  1. It's a female
  2. The problem is tank structure
There's also a possibility you have two males, in which case you would probably not see it in breeding dress.
 

Sturl

New Member
Messages
12
The water parameters look reasonable for borellii. If the fish haven't been in your tank long, you may just need to be patient while they settle in. That would be my first option.

The structure of the tank is really open. It looks like you've consciously scaped it that way, so I don't want to be prescriptive about how you structure it. It just comes with pros and cons. An open layout is not uncommon for breeding tanks, because in such a layout it's easier to see how the fish are interacting. The downside is there aren't defined territories, so when there is conflict you might need to change things. Keep an eye out for aggression and have the 10g ready if needed.

If it looks like the "female" is being chased relentlessly and can't get any respite, it may be that she's not ready to breed and the male is trying to chase her out of his territory. Since there are no barriers and defined territories, that territory is the entire tank. In that case, you may want to consider adding an inexpensive screen divider to help troubleshoot. When the divider in place, if the "female" turns bright yellow when well fed and with the male in sight, you'll know:
  1. It's a female
  2. The problem is tank structure
There's also a possibility you have two males, in which case you would probably not see it in breeding dress.
Thank you!

I’ll keep a close eye on them.

Will test out the screen divider too
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,365
Hi all,

With the traditional disclaimer that I'm useless at both sexing and ID, I think they probably are a pair of A. borellii.

The things that worry me a little bit is that "she" isn't very yellow and seems to have a lot of spangling on the cheeks.

The things that make me think "she" is a female are that she seems to have rounded anal and dorsal fins and those fins are pretty colourless.

Is the female in a tank on her own?

cheers Darrel
Just an fyi most of my females have quite a bit of opal in their cheeks. I have 3 females; I can't remember if all three has it - and sometime it seems to vanish or maybe it is the lighting. Still I think part of the problem here might be his lights have a blue tint.
 

dw1305

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
2,755
Location
Wiltshire UK
Hi all,
The male does chase the female pretty often so far.. no real aggression spotted........Lights are on low currently, been battling algae.
The structure of the tank is really open. It looks like you've consciously scaped it that way, so I don't want to be prescriptive about how you structure it. It just comes with pros and cons. An open layout is not uncommon for breeding tanks, because in such a layout it's easier to see how the fish are interacting. The downside is there aren't defined territories, so when there is conflict you might need to change things. Keep an eye out for aggression and have the 10g ready if needed.
Some more <"structural leaf litter"> might help with pair dynamics. @Sturl are you in the UK?
I'd also like some more plants, <"Ceratopteris thalictroides"> is a good one to fill in the empty space and may also help with your algal problems.

Do you know what type of algae you have?

cheers Darrel
 

Sturl

New Member
Messages
12
Hi all,


Some more <"structural leaf litter"> might help with pair dynamics. @Sturl are you in the UK?
I'd also like some more plants, <"Ceratopteris thalictroides"> is a good one to fill in the empty space and may also help with your algal problems.

Do you know what type of algae you have?

cheers Darrel

Hey Darrel,

I have plenty of leaves just delivered so i’ll be soaking them to avoid most of the tannins and then i’ll add them in.

I’ll look for the plants too, will they do well in sand with root tabs?

I’m from Belgium.

I had blue green algae but that’s taken care of now, now just brown algae (just did a maintenance on the filter + cleaned filterhose for more flow) and some hair algae on some of the leaves.

Gonna do a big maintenance session in a few days to hopefully get rid of most..

Then slightly increase lightning

Cheers
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
Lights are on low currently, been battling algae.
So what? ;) Algae and Biofilms are free fishfood. And help balancing the tank.
I have plenty of leaves just delivered so i’ll be soaking them to avoid most of the tannins and then i’ll add them in.
You will actually want the humic substances in the tank. Helps against algae btw.

You have actually already done one important thing: Floating plants.

I actually love how that looks already, a third, bigger piece of driftwood somewhere in the open space, oriented front to back could already be the structure the tank needs. Also I of course agree on the topic of leaf litter.
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,365
One comment with my experience with Borelli - they are not very aggressive at all with regards to m/f regression. They will signal each other when they want to breed but they do not attack or drive them away like some other more aggressive species. This make structure less important. Also mine love hiding in java fern (which gets quite large in my aquarium) and is relatively easy to grow in low light.
 

Sturl

New Member
Messages
12
So what? ;) Algae and Biofilms are free fishfood. And help balancing the tank.

You will actually want the humic substances in the tank. Helps against algae btw.

You have actually already done one important thing: Floating plants.


I actually love how that looks already, a third, bigger piece of driftwood somewhere in the open space, oriented front to back could already be the structure the tank needs. Also I of course agree on the topic of leaf litter.

It was just too much algae’s haha, i don’t mind bits since it’s nature too but it wasn’t really under control, also no one wants blue green algae i’m guessing.

I just thought since borellii’s are clear water fish i should try to not get too many tannins, i added purigen in my filter too.

Yes, floating plants, thankfully i knew about that

Thank you sir! A middle piece of driftwood would be a good idea as wel, might try that out and hope it works.

Greets
 

Sturl

New Member
Messages
12
One comment with my experience with Borelli - they are not very aggressive at all with regards to m/f regression. They will signal each other when they want to breed but they do not attack or drive them away like some other more aggressive species. This make structure less important. Also mine love hiding in java fern (which gets quite large in my aquarium) and is relatively easy to grow in low light.
Well for now the male drives the “female” away, might just be cause they haven’t been in for long (4 days)

I’ll keep an eye out for the next few days and try fixing the structure if necessary.

My lights are currently at a low setting but i was planning on increasing again, it’s a shallow tank so i’m still figuring out how strong i can keep the lights with only 25cm of depth.


Greets
 

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