Sexing Apisto Aggasi

[Tropical Aquarist]

Hi guys,

I got 2 apistos yesterday, and am wondering about the gender. The guy at the ship said that females have black on the "small fins on the front", is this true?

Hard to get pics, they're hiding out in the quarantine....

 

[mikem691]

Brookster123 !!!!!!! Your needed!!!!!!

 

[Brookster123]

I suck at Agassizii... the pectoral fins have black streak? How big are they?

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[mikem691]

I suck at Agassizii... the pectoral fins have black streak? How big are they?

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Oops sorry Brooks I though you would have the answer.

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[Brookster123]

Well black in pectoral fins on a mature pisto in most cases says female..
Gillie is the man here..
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[coralbandit]

Sexual dimorphism(from 'the book');

Males are about twice the size of the females.
Males generally have longer more flowing finnage.
Males have lanceolate(flame shaped) caudal fin(tail) outlined in blue,white,or redish bands.

In contrast the females caudal is rounded or ,in rare cases ,slightly truncate ,but never lanceolate.
The dorsal and anal fins as well as ventral fins are rounded or occasionally slightly pointed but never enlarged.
Furthermore ,the anterior proximal half of the ventral fins often bears a black to dark gray pattern.

'the book' is Romer mergus cichlid atlas vol.1

Hope this helps...

 

[Tropical Aquarist]

Thanks guys! These 2 are not in good shape, pretty ripped up( I got them for next to nothing)....

They both ignore each other, are about 2-2 and 1/2", nice shade of honey yellow, and now look almost identical.

Both have the black on the front fins.


Edit: after rereading coralbandits post, and looking at them closely, they are both females for sure.

 

[Brookster123]

They're pretty tough fish, feed quality food, temp at 77,.subdued lighting and super clean water. Bounce right back for you.

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[Tropical Aquarist]

Except I'll still be stuck with 2 females, no pair! Lol....

They are finally eating today, pretty happy!

 

[coralbandit]

These fish are known to be polygamous and males will often tolerate all females in his territory...
Again from 'the book'...
So I would take the description I have given from the book and try for another pair or male if they sell singles...
What size tank and who else is in it?

 

[Tropical Aquarist]

That particular store just recently got a lot of Cacatuides(all females) apistos and Panduros(already have a pair of these), so unfortunately they won't be getting any male aggassi anytime soon...

Right now there are in a bare bottom, 10gal, with some pvc and Terracitta pots. They'll probably stay there permanently, or might move them into a community set up.... I'll have to see, it depends on if I can find a male....

 

[Gillie]

The easiest way to tell with agassizi is look for a pattern in the tail, males will show some patterning even if no other traits are identifiable. Depending on the size, you may need the help of a flashlight, but pics here don't hurt either:thumbup:

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[garfy]

Male Agassizii the females fins are nowhere near as flowing or impressive.


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[Gillie]

View attachment 283574
Male Agassizii the females fins are nowhere near as flowing or impressive.


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Depends on the strain, I recently saw a female with impressively red Fins that rivaled a male.

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[Tropical Aquarist]

These 2 are definitely female, and I'm planning on breeding them, so on the hunt for a male!

They are quite shy, hard to get a decent picture.

 

[Gillie]

Hi guys,

I got 2 apistos yesterday, and am wondering about the gender. The guy at the ship said that females have black on the "small fins on the front", is this true?

Hard to get pics, they're hiding out in the quarantine....

This is partly juvenile males will also show black pectoral edges as will sneaker and subdominant males.

Well black in pectoral fins on a mature pisto in most cases says female..
Gillie is the man here..
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Yes, but sneakers and subs too sir.


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[Aquatic_Adam]

These 2 are definitely female, and I'm planning on breeding them, so on the hunt for a male!

They are quite shy, hard to get a decent picture.

It's most likely that it's two females given the yellowing body and disinterested behavior towards each other, however give it a bit of time. Sometimes there are what we call sneaker males. Sneaker males are subdominant males who take on female patterning to attempt to blend in and not be bullied by the dominant males in the tank (and are very common occurrence in fish stores due to them keeping a lot of apistos in one tank). When given a tank of their own, the sneaker males will color up and start behaving like a normal male apisto.

Not sure how long you've had them but maybe give them another week or two to see if anything like that happens.

If that doesn't happen then I'd visit AquaBid.com and see what you can find


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[coralbandit]

These 2 are definitely female, and I'm planning on breeding them, so on the hunt for a male!

They are quite shy, hard to get a decent picture.

I like your spirit!
like everyone said...
Search but hold up a little.
I just moved a 'sneaker male' past his sneaking prime from my group of 6...
The alpha male was able to recognize him and one female decide she wanted to be the only girl...
He had no color or finage like my alpha.
But the size of 'him' was IMO enough for me to seriously question...

 

[Tropical Aquarist]

Thanks guys, I will keep you updated.

I doubt that it's a sneaker male as I've seen these at the store since October , they may have been there even longer! It was just 3 the whole time, but for some reason we could not find the 3rd one.... I got them on Monday.

 

[Tropical Aquarist]

Update: 1 of them did not make it, the other one looks excellent! But I swear it changes color all the times!

It has a TINY bit of black on the front fins, and the tail looks a bit like it could be a male.....

So I got a refund and got a school of albino pristella tetras, they are gorgeous!