Sexing Apistos- help!

[hartgirl]

Ok short story for this...I purchased a pair of what were called double red apistos today. My husband picked them up for me, and I was told he got a male and female. I'm unsure. What do you think??!

The top one is for sure male. Idk about the bottom. It's dorsal fin does come to a taller point on the third tip, and it's just as colorful. Not that you can tell in the pic, but the bottom fish is a lot smaller than the top in reality, so hard to tell!!


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[Brookster123]

Nice apistos! Bottom...hmmm... 83% sure it's female but could be a young male.. time will tell..

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[doctordamen]

Hmmm yea that's tough.. Top one is 100% male... Bottom...... Are they both the same size? Or is the bottom one bigger?
Males will end up being much larger than females when they mature.
I just picked up 4 double reds last week too


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[mrvincent]

The one on the top is a male, on the bottom I'm unsure... Would say 87% sure it's a female if it's the same size than the one on the top.

 

[Dallascowboys16]

Male on top and on the bottom your going to have to wait a little to tell. I just bought a group of 5 when I got mine and kept the pair that formed and sold the other 3. You're going to love those fish, they're just about my favorite fish I have ever kept.

 

[hartgirl]

Thanks! Yes the bottom one is much smaller right now so I'm torn. The person who breeds them wants to unload the rest of his stock and will sell me the remaining 7 (so I would have 9 total)....is this a bad idea in a 40breeder? It's heavily planted with driftwood and rocks (I would add more caves as well)....thoughts? I would be assured a pair at least (probably A few pairs...)


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[doctordamen]

9 total isn't a bad thing but you would only be able to keep two males... The males like to have at least 3 ladies for them to chase around..
I bought two double reds 2 weeks ago and after a week, bought another two females. It has calmed my male down a lot!
I find most breeders sell out of males first since they are more colourful.. Hopefully yours has mostly females left.
As for the stocking limit.. Plug 9 apistos into aqadvisor for the answer.
Good luck!


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[hartgirl]

Thanks! These guys will be pretty young and I may not be certain of their sexes yet. Will agresso on come out in them as they mature, as they did in my little group of Rams (different tank) ....so I would have time to figure out who's who and has formed pairs, then sell the remaining or move them to their own tank?


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[Gillie]

They are both male top as already mentioned is the easy one, but you can already see extention in the dorsal lappets(#4 specifically) of the second one. You will need a much larger tank than a 40 breeder for nine fish. If the tank was properly decorated with lots of sight breaks you could do a nice harem(1m4f).

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[hartgirl]

Right now they are all living together nicely. They've staked out their own areas of the tank. Except the two I pictured, and one more of the new fish you cant tell at all if these guys are male or female... and at least two of them aren't even as big as my pinky nail...eventually they'll move but they lived together in a 10g before this so they're at least better off in here for now!

And thanks! I thought that guy was a male lol

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