sexing sp. "Apache"

[cootwarm]

Can anyone out there tell me how to tell the females from the males?

I have 6 of them (wildcaught) and none have black on their ventral fins. They might be all males. However occasionally, a couple get dark ventrals fins once in awhile. This is especially true when I first turn on the tank light and the fish are all kind of dark. This is when a couple have very noticable dark ventral fins

Does anyone know what acidity and softness they need their water to be?

Their water is neutral right now, if I do have both males and females, this could be why they haven't displayed any breeding behavior or colors. I have a barrel of peatwater started that I plan to add some to their tank.

Any other helpful facts about "Apache"?

AKA names?
I saw an old post where they might have 6 or 7 AKA names! Like "Masken" and Cruzi. Are these all the same species? Or different but related?


Pictures or link to pictures?

Thanks,
Michael

 

[Apistt_ed]

hello michael,

I had a hard time sexing A. sp. apache/ A. sp. masken/ A. sp. cara pintada/ A. sp. painted face. Those are the names that all name the same fish. It is not A. cruzi by any means. When my fish were young, the only thing that would have told me they may be a pair was their behaviour. but once they do get to adult fish, they'll be distinguishable and very easy to sex. My fish spawned in water that was ph 6.5. They weren't prolific by any means. I had 15 in the first group and 27 in the second group. They are great little fish and the males do sometimes exhibit dark margins on their ventral fins. I have a few links to my fish. hope this helps. john

the male
http://www.freewebtown.com/jVang/Male1.JPG

pictures of the pair together

http://www.freewebtown.com/jVang/pair3.JPG

http://www.freewebtown.com/jVang/apachePair.JPG