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Sexing apistogramma macmasteri

Mhmd

New Member
Messages
26
I got a rescued pair of apistogramma macmasteri they were in horrible conditions, they shared a 4g tank with few guppies, they were skinny and had fin rot, i managed to talk with the guy who was selling the tank to sell me his pair.
The pair is in my 55g for now, feeding them heavily with live and frozen food, their fins seem to be better ( i have tanins in my tank).
I was wondering if it was truely a pair since i cant tell, they look pretty much the same to me could you guys help me?
 

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Mhmd

New Member
Messages
26
I got a rescued pair of apistogramma macmasteri they were in horrible conditions, they shared a 4g tank with few guppies, they were skinny and had fin rot, i managed to talk with the guy who was selling the tank to sell me his pair.
The pair is in my 55g for now, feeding them heavily with live and frozen food, their fins seem to be better ( i have tanins in my tank).
I was wondering if it was truely a pair since i cant tell, they look pretty much the same to me could you guys help me?
Here are some better pictures
 

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MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
Those are two males.

If you have the right structures they could stay in your tank, looks like an overall suitable habitat.

I see Cleithracara and Ember tetras, what else do you have in there? I'd like to see the whole tank as well if you don't mind.
 

Mhmd

New Member
Messages
26
Those are two males.

If you have the right structures they could stay in your tank, looks like an overall suitable habitat.

I see Cleithracara and Ember tetras, what else do you have in there? I'd like to see the whole tank as well if you don't mind.
I have 12 ember tetras, 5 hatchet fish, a pair of keyhole cichlids and a male nannacara anomala.
i might leave one male in the 55g and get one female from my lfs to get a pair and put them in my spare 20g
 

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MidasRedd

New Member
Messages
7
Hi, Can I get some opinion if this is a pair (M&F) or two males. Larger & more colourful is about 2.5 to 3 inches & the lesser colourful is 2 to 2.5 inches.
IMG_0264.JPG

IMG_0273.JPG
IMG_0278.JPG
 

MidasRedd

New Member
Messages
7
LOL, they are about 12mths old. They are kept in a 5f x 1.5f x 1.5f tank, full of red cherry shrimps. So I guess they eat whenever they like.
 

MidasRedd

New Member
Messages
7
12 months? really? I have my doubts.

oh boy. That's very fattening food. Then they're just pretty obese.
Yes they are about 12mths old. I bought them from a breeder in Aug 22. So say the batch would have been about 3mths before he sold them. So about 14mths max. I will put them on a diet then :)
 

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,202
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
Didn't the breeder tell you when they became freeswimming? My bet is that they were 5 - 6 months old when you got them if he claimed that they were sexable.
 

MidasRedd

New Member
Messages
7
I didn't ask. He tried to give me a pair & weren't too sure about the female. But there is no way a breeder would raised a batch for 5-6mths before selling (cost too much & not profitable). Anyway, is a 18mths old fish consider as old? Don't they live up to 5yrs?
 

MidasRedd

New Member
Messages
7
Wow. Why the short life expectancy with domestic breeds? I thought we give them a better & safer life/environment. That is shorter than rams. Ok, see if I can get another year from my fish.
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
Why the short life expectancy with domestic breeds? I thought we give them a better & safer life/environment.
Genetic bottlenecks. Domestic breeds are not only linebred, but inbred and mass-produced copy/paste fish. The gene pool is a mess. Combined with mass production in fish farms where the densely packed fish are kept alive by lots of antibiotics that makes for weak fish.

Of course, once in a while you hear of such fish making it to 3, 4, 5... but often wrong social environments (too many specimens together or burning out from spawning again and again and again...) and mediocre husbandry put too much pressure on the fish and they drop dead early.
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,366
I didn't ask. He tried to give me a pair & weren't too sure about the female. But there is no way a breeder would raised a batch for 5-6mths before selling (cost too much & not profitable). Anyway, is a 18mths old fish consider as old? Don't they live up to 5yrs?
Apisto age very slowly and it takes a long time before the fry are sell-able. My a. p. (tired of typing full name); fry is around 4 months old and is not yet 'sellable' (not that i intend to sell them). That is just the way it is with most species of apisto.... for most domestic apisto (like cockatoo) i would not want to buy an 18 month old fish - they don't live nearly as long as their wild cousins....
 

Ben Rhau

Apisto Club
Messages
566
Location
San Francisco
You could likely accelerate the growout with frequent feeding and frequent water changes. I've never done that, though, because I'm not a breeder and it's a lot of effort. Agree that 18 months is pretty mature for these fish.
 

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,202
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
I didn't ask. He tried to give me a pair & weren't too sure about the female. But there is no way a breeder would raised a batch for 5-6mths before selling (cost too much & not profitable). Anyway, is a 18mths old fish consider as old? Don't they live up to 5yrs?
I do! I have some sexable 8 month old A. wollii and 7 month old mostly sexable A. sp. (affin. luelingi) Cristal. in grow-out tanks right now. Still, I'm not in it for the money. I'd hate to sell such rare species to anyone without being fairly certain that they were sexed properly. I guess it's not so much of a problem with macs and other commercially available apistos.
 

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,202
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
Anyway, is a 18mths old fish consider as old? Don't they live up to 5yrs?
As others have written 18 month is old for an apisto, especially in the wild where most don't live over a year, mostly due to predation. In an aquarium environment they can live longer if properly maintained, in a stress-free environment and not bred to exhaustion.

Attached are photos of A. wollii males at different ages (all born in my tanks):

1689176690771.jpeg

1689176724162.jpeg


1689176807752.jpeg
 

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