Sexing Apistos

[CL17]

Hi, I’m new to Apistos. I recently bought a pair from my LFS. One is very clearly a male, however I am unsure on this one. Any ideas? Thanks for the help!

 

[MacZ]

These colourbreeds are hard to sex. I won't dare saying anything definitive about this one at the moment.
How many centimeters?

 

[CL17]

Ah great! It wasn’t the colour breed I was originally going for however around me there isn’t many options. I’d say he/she is around 3/4cm

 

[MacZ]

Frankly, I detest colour breeds. Anyhow: 4cm is when usually sexing is more or less safe in naturally coloured fish. So... give it 1-2 months. Either the fish have spawned until then or this one has grown bigger fins and passed the 5cm mark.

 

[CL17]

Frankly, I detest colour breeds. Anyhow: 4cm is when usually sexing is more or less safe in naturally coloured fish. So... give it 1-2 months. Either the fish have spawned until then or this one has grown bigger fins and passed the 5cm mark.

Yes that’s fair enough, it’s a shame they’re so hard to find around me as I’d of loved a more natural pair. Thanks for the info I will do that and update accordingly. Fingers crossed it is female as the reason I came back into the hobby was to breed Apistos!

 

[CL17]

Frankly, I detest colour breeds. Anyhow: 4cm is when usually sexing is more or less safe in naturally coloured fish. So... give it 1-2 months. Either the fish have spawned until then or this one has grown bigger fins and passed the 5cm mark.

Sorry to come back to this, I’ve just thought, the bigger male has tried flexing his fins off a few times? Would this indicate it is female? However what makes me believe it may be a male is that it is very confident around the tank where as the bigger male seems more shy spending more time in caves/ hiding away

 

[MacZ]

Sorry to come back to this, I’ve just thought, the bigger male has tried flexing his fins off a few times? Would this indicate it is female?

It can, but it doesn't have to.

However what makes me believe it may be a male is that it is very confident around the tank where as the bigger male seems more shy spending more time in caves/ hiding away

Scratch that thought, the confidence doesn't indicate the sex. No connection at all in my experience. Apistogramma have characters. It is completely individual.

 

[CL17]

It can, but it doesn't have to.


Scratch that thought, the confidence doesn't indicate the sex. No connection at all in my experience. Apistogramma have characters. It is completely individual.

Thanks! I guess time will tell then.

 

[CL17]

Hello, bit of an update. So the male in question above has become very comfortable and is freely roaming the tank and really gets on with his female friend. The last few days I’ve noticed “flirty” behaviour and today I caught them locked bodies around each other flaring their fins ( I can only assume a good sign) fast forward to now a few hours later… the female has become aggressively chasing the male if he comes near a certain leaf that is slightly upturned that allows the female to tightly fit underneath. Could this be a sign that eggs have been laid? And she is now protecting them? They have gone from being inseparable to now living completely different sides of the tank due to the male not being allowed close to said leaf

 

[Mike Wise]

Yes, a good chance she has eggs. You should know in about a week. Now is the time to prepare live food for the fry.

 

[CL17]

Yes, a good chance she has eggs. You should know in about a week. Now is the time to prepare live food for the fry.

Thanks for the response! What’s the best food to prepare? I’ve never used live food before. Thanks

 

[Yoannikko]

Hello,
You could look into microworms, and maybe a bit later some baby brine shrimp.

Also, if your tank has been running long enough, and is not over-populated, it should have some microfauna allready. But you are going to want to supplement with other food sources if you want more than a couple of fry to survive.

Another (potential) option would be flake food designed for fry. I know JBL have their NovoBaby line. Not sure if it works for cichlids, but it wouldn't hurt to try, I guess.

 

[CL17]

Thanks, it’s been running for around 3 months. I’ll look into some of the live foods I haven’t seen any near me in the UK but I’ll have to look around. Should I remove the eggs and place them somewhere they’ll be alone? Or are they better off staying with the parents to hatch

 

[KenL]

Thanks, it’s been running for around 3 months. I’ll look into some of the live foods I haven’t seen any near me in the UK but I’ll have to look around. Should I remove the eggs and place them somewhere they’ll be alone? Or are they better off staying with the parents to hatch

No, I believe that dwarf can’t cichlids should be raised by a parent.

 

[anewbie]

In general it works better to let the parents raise the frys however if the environment is unsuitable for fry raising (too many predators) then removing them is an option.

 

[CL17]

In general it works better to let the parents raise the frys however if the environment is unsuitable for fry raising (too many predators) then removing them is an option.

Thanks, there’s a few neons but maybe I’ll remove them rather than the fry

 

[MacZ]

Thanks, there’s a few neons but maybe I’ll remove them rather than the fry

That's the better measure.

You have prepared for growout and rehoming the fry? If not, start right now.

 

[CL17]

That's the better measure.

You have prepared for growout and rehoming the fry? If not, start right now.

I’m going to set up a smaller tank tonight. I’m still not 100% sure if I even have eggs but best to prepared, are there any essentials required for the grow out?

 

[MacZ]

Well, if you don't want to do high volume waterchanges daily, get a tank with a 100+ Liter volume. It should be seasoned to a degree (not just "cycled"). Thin layer of sand, some leaf litter, some wood and plants like Hydrocotyle leucocephala and some floaters. Nice to have: A way of hatching Artemia, because the are a great staple food for growing out dwarf cichlids.

Leave the young with the mother until she stops caring (2-3 weeks), then move them to the other tank. It will then take 3-5 months to get them to size (usually 4cm) until stores will take them in. Depending on how well you maintain the growout, temperature and how well you feed them.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I’ll look into some of the live foods I haven’t seen any near me in the UK but I’ll have to look around.

There will be lots of sellers of Micro (or Banana or Walter) worms on ebay.

cheers Darrel