They look like retics to me! But I'm a bit of a newb, ha. Maybe a hybrid? But they look like identital yet much larger versions of our pups.
We're try to change up our retics' diets, too, but they are so finicky... we might have to try clam, too. They're only on blood worms and ghost shrimp now...
How many inches across is your male after a year? Just curious.
And like everyone else said... great info. I bet that'll help out a lot of people who come across this and are thinking about picking up one of these little guys (or girls! hehe).