Baby apisto. Boy or girl?

[Bdoggy]

This pic is zoomed in. He/she is maybe an inch long. Bought for $19.99 at the local shop. They said it was an agassizii... I'm leaning towards female. At what point can you tell when they are little?
Thanks.
B.

 

[threecharacters]

We really need a better photo than that. Ideally you would get that fish over a darker substrate with a dark background because it's coloring is washed out in my opinion (it'll look better with a darker substrate too).

In my experience, sexing young Apistos is hard. Sneaker males are a thing for sure, so it can be quite difficult to tell if you have a female or a male.

Honestly, that doesn't even really look like A. agassizii. The lateral band is too thin and broken and the body too thick. The head is bluer than I would expect too. Perhaps it's Apistogramma sp. steel-blue?

 

[threecharacters]

I went down a big information hole.

I definitely think they are Apistogramma sp. steel blue. These are often sold as Apistogramma agassizzi by pet stores by accident. Anyway, steel blues are believed to be an artificial hybrid that came out of Asian commerical fish farms in the mid 1990s. No one is really sure what the original species is, but it is theorized to be a cross between Apistogramma resticulosa and either Apistogramma borellii or caetei. Although they are an artificial hybrid they can be bred. It seems like originally they could not be bred and/or only males were available in the fish trade, but it sounds like fish farmers have back-crossed them with Apistogramma caetei females in order to improve the viability of fry.

They are very hard to sex as the males and females look nearly identical when not in breeding condition (female Apistos turn bright yellow when breeding). This is unusual for Apistos in general, but it makes more sense if the species is an artificial hybrid.

Supposedly females are rarely available. As such, I think it's quite likely you have a male. I think you might have some trouble sourcing a female if you wish to breed them.

I got this info from these pages:

• http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/Apistogramma_sp_Steel_blue.php
• http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/Apistogramma_steel_blue1.pdf

 

[Bdoggy]

We really need a better photo than that. Ideally you would get that fish over a darker substrate with a dark background because it's coloring is washed out in my opinion (it'll look better with a darker substrate too).

In my experience, sexing young Apistos is hard. Sneaker males are a thing for sure, so it can be quite difficult to tell if you have a female or a male.

Honestly, that doesn't even really look like A. agassizii. The lateral band is too thin and broken and the body too thick. The head is bluer than I would expect too. Perhaps it's Apistogramma sp. steel-blue?

Yeah, I only have my phone to take pics with.. if you're looking at it with a monitor it might get stretched. Looking at it on my phone it looks fine. Ya I don't think the store peeps knew what it was... I thought maybe a borelii. ..

 

[GaryE]

I think steel blue hybrid too. The head markings. It's a male.

 

[Bdoggy]

I went down a big information hole.

I definitely think they are Apistogramma sp. steel blue. These are often sold as Apistogramma agassizzi by pet stores by accident. Anyway, steel blues are believed to be an artificial hybrid that came out of Asian commerical fish farms in the mid 1990s. No one is really sure what the original species is, but it is theorized to be a cross between Apistogramma resticulosa and either Apistogramma borellii or caetei. Although they are an artificial hybrid they can be bred. It seems like originally they could not be bred and/or only males were available in the fish trade, but it sounds like fish farmers have back-crossed them with Apistogramma caetei females in order to improve the viability of fry.

They are very hard to sex as the males and females look nearly identical when not in breeding condition (female Apistos turn bright yellow when breeding). This is unusual for Apistos in general, but it makes more sense if the species is an artificial hybrid.

Supposedly females are rarely available. As such, I think it's quite likely you have a male. I think you might have some trouble sourcing a female if you wish to breed them.

I got this info from these pages:

• http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/Apistogramma_sp_Steel_blue.php
• http/www.dwarfcichlid.com/Apistogramma_steel_blue1.pd

Ya I think that's him... Sp blue