Marc's New Apistos

[MarcJoshua]

Hello guys and gals, I went down to Ang Mo Kio on Friday to check out their apistos and saw quite a few nice specimens. The Agassizi "tefe" pair was interesting but somehow still didn't quite capture me enough to want to take them home that badly, the "alenquer" pairs were pretty nice too. In fact these pairs are pretty bonded and from my limited knowledge and experience, they seem like confirmed pairs. I however was intrigued by a different species. Apistogramma Cacatouides! Here are the pictures of my newest acquisitions. Enjoy. Ohh and please help me verify if the female is in fact a female and not just another sneaker male. Thanks!

While they were still in the bags.
Female?
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Male
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After about an hour or so, I released them into their new home.

Male
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Female?
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More pics will be up in a bit.

[MarcJoshua]

Here are more photos of the female, the tank and couple shots.

Female?
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Couple shots
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And here's a full tank shot.
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I hope you guys can help me see if my female caca is indeed what she appears to be. As it is now, the pair are co-existing pretty well with no major aggression on the male's part. In fact, they actually swim together and seem to mind their own business. Both fish are still continually exploring their new habitat. It puts a real smile on my face to see them swimming around.

[Jitticus]

Great looking fish there, Mark.

It's highly possible you have a pair. Having said that, the coloration on the female seems somewhat intense. Give them a few days to settle in and you should see something happen.

[MarcJoshua]

Thanks Jit!

[MarcJoshua]

My male caca just went to fishy heaven for reasons unknown. Just found out when I got home last night. Sighs, looks like I gotta go find a replacement lover for the female now...

[Jitticus]

Sorry to hear that Marc. Apistogramma and bettas do have a tendency for sudden deaths.

[joopsg]

Sometime we are just too engrossed with getting them to spawn and neglect ther general health.
Please always give some sort of treatment whenever you purchase new fishes.
For me, i always let them go through a round of deworming and internal bacteria treatment.
Using Miracle baby, MQ4 and MQ5.

[MarcJoshua]

Thanks for the advice henry. Could you please let me know where you got the meds please? I'll monitor the new male and the existing female. Hopefully all goes well mate.

[joopsg]

C328 can buy.

[MarcJoshua]

Righto. Thanks mate!

[MarcJoshua]

Hey guys, any advise on how to differentiate between males and females for trifasciatas? Some pics would be awesome too.

[mobile2007]

For trifasciata, most obvious is the spiky dorsal fin and longer pelvic fin. Male are more colorful and larger. However, the usual problem for farm bred fishes is that it might be difficult to sex during juvenile.

Here is one mature male trifasciata



Female in breeding color

[joopsg]

Marc, if you notice something.
Only male have the blue shiny marking on the cheeks.
Male fish have 3 lateral line.

[MarcJoshua]

hmmm does the female sport elongated dorsal lappets as well?

[joopsg]

They will have but not very obvious.

[Jitticus]

Hi there Marc, look out for the spikes which only extend about 1/3 the height of the dorsal instead of 2 to 3 times the height. Also, females have the black ventral bars.

Good luck!

[MarcJoshua]

Hmmm the fish i just acquired are small so i can't really tell the difference now. I'll give them some time and see how things go. I'll try to get pics of them so you guys can help me see if I've got a pair or just a sneaker male.

[MarcJoshua]

Hi guys, I'm still quite unsure my "female" is in fact a female. The 3rd to 5th dorsal spines seem to be elongated although they aren't as long as the male's, she's only about 2 thirds his size. Besides, don't sub-dominant males have less prominent characteristics with regards to finnage and colour when kept with a dominant male? Also, she sports the third lateral stripe. I'd post up pictures but my laptop seems to be a little cranky, hence my inability to transfer and upload the images. The ventral fins are usually black but i do see that occurring in the male at times as well. She appears to be slightly yellow when around him but gets a little gray-ish blue when the male leaves her alone. From this short description can you guys advise me on the authenticity of the gender of fish?

[Jitticus]

Marc, that's normal for a trifa female - she has dorsal extensions as well. Short but obvious.

[MarcJoshua]

Hey guys, my Trifa male has disappeared!!!! he's nowhere to be found... Guess he must have jumped out while i was in camp for some reason... Anyone seen any trifa males around recently? Need a replacement...