Apisto Aggression

[moochy13]

i have a pair of apisto double reds, apparantly, and brought them thinking they were a m/f pair. however now one has taken on much stronger colouring than the other, is ever so slightly larger, and is definitely the more dominant fish. it doesnt constantly hassle the paler fish, but if they cross paths by chance he will give a quick 'spurt' of a chase. i dont know what mating behaviour looks like, but this looks like bullying to me more than anythign else, i could be wrong though.

im trying to get pics but its very difficult, particuarly getting the paler fish, as it is also less brave when i go up to the tank, the dominant fish coming straight up to me. so is it possible, or likely, that ive got 2 males, and the smaller, paler, shy one is simply the weakest one ?

and the paler one

the paler one does colour up a little bit more than in the picture, but its fin markings and colours are nowhere near as good, and its definitely the victim.

 

[sswm]

How big are they?

 

[moochy13]

only a couple of inches or so, ive had them about 6 or 7 months i think. i have had a thread on here before asking for confirmation of sex. i was told they werent both males, i'll try find the thread.

here it is apisto sexing

 

[Westwood]

Could they be 2 female?
As my they look similar to my female triple red. And also they don't have the fins to match a male.

 

[moochy13]

i have no idea to be honest, im going simply by what im being told on here. if i got a male, would it have to be a double red or could i get any type of apisto ? im not too fussed about breeding, and wouldnt expect it to happen - nothing else in my tank has bred.

 

[Westwood]

Yes if i had to say The top one is definitely a female, a very good looking one at that, I say this as the black marking on her pelvic fin, there is a bold black stripe up it, when males do not have.
The second one I would also say is female, but is harder to tell, as she is washed out in colour.

Westwood

 

[moochy13]

so would having 2 females create the bullying im seeing ? if they are both female, guess its a good excuse to get a male

 

[Westwood]

If a male was introduced, it may stop it, but you never know, I would introduce a male, and just keep an eye on them!

 

[Sammy1911]

i have a pair of apisto double reds, apparantly, and brought them thinking they were a m/f pair. however now one has taken on much stronger colouring than the other, is ever so slightly larger, and is definitely the more dominant fish. it doesnt constantly hassle the paler fish, but if they cross paths by chance he will give a quick 'spurt' of a chase. i dont know what mating behaviour looks like, but this looks like bullying to me more than anythign else, i could be wrong though.

im trying to get pics but its very difficult, particuarly getting the paler fish, as it is also less brave when i go up to the tank, the dominant fish coming straight up to me. so is it possible, or likely, that ive got 2 males, and the smaller, paler, shy one is simply the weakest one ?

and the paler one

the paler one does colour up a little bit more than in the picture, but its fin markings and colours are nowhere near as good, and its definitely the victim.

personnally i wud say these are both male apistogramma cacatuiodes due their raised dorsal fins (first 2-3 are raised spikes) and colourations and i wud say the paler one is taking the position of a 'sneaker' male - if u google this it makes for interesting reading! U need to plenty of bolt holes i.e. plants, bog wood etc and i wud recomend that u get 2-4 females asap to calm down the aggression. Durin mating the male tends to 'dance' and display itself in front of the female, it doesnt chase it and yet wen the female has spawned she will chase the male to the site of the eggs to enable fertilisation. Sam

 

[moochy13]

hmmm, to put 2-4 more fish in i'll need to be re-jigging my stock, which could be difficult. my tank has a decent sized footprint considering its relatively small size, some nice chunks of wood and some dense amazon swords that seem to grow at a million miles an hour, i'll have a think about my stocking when i get back from work. and read about 'sneaker' fish.

any other opinions on the sex of these fish ? im confused to why one has tail markings and one doesn't. i would have expected it to have the markings, but for them to be washed out.

 

[moochy13]

anybody else got ideas ? im thinking of going to the lfs today, ive heard theyve got some right tasty apistos in. dont know what they are though.

just need some more ideas on what sex they are and if i can mix different types of apisto ?

haha that sneaker fish is proper ninja !!

i could put the paler one in my other tank for a bit and see if he colours up? would it be worth doing ?

 

[moochy13]

i have now put the paler fish in my other tank, will see how it gets on over the next couple of weeks. anybody else got any ideas on the sex of these, despite the help here, which is much appreciated, its not exactly conclusive

 

[moochy13]

now seperated :

original, colourful one in my main tank, the 'bully'

dull, 'victim' now in second tank :

has coloured up a bit, still not as well as the other one. it looks slightly more yellow in this pic than it is, due to the tank lighting and camera flash bouncing off the gravel, so best to look at fin shape i guess. any help ?

 

[moochy13]

i took those 2 pictures to the shop i brought them from, and the guy was sure the top, dominant one was male, and also reckons the second one is male. either way, when they get some more in next week i can go swap the second one for a female, just to be sure.