apistogramma male or female

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kennethdang

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 18, 2019
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I recently got two cockatoo cichlids and when I first got them they were both very colorful. I think one is a female and one is a male, but the female has lost all her yellow color. Could this be because the “male” is actually a female and is the dominant one? The “male” is always chasing away the female as well. The first picture is when i first got her and third picture is the female now. The second is the “male”.

0FEB8138-90EB-452B-BA24-7332006DF1EF.jpeg

5C73627A-C2F0-4695-816B-1AF5ED945736.jpeg

BED5A65C-4537-49F1-8607-5F5C28A9731E.jpeg
 
I got these two with the goal to breed them. If they are female and male, why did the female lose her color? Will they eventually pair up? Also, they are both very young if that helps.
 
One of the reasons colors may not be as vibrant as normal, is the very light colored substrate in the tank.
These cichlids are often found living among lots of leaf litter that is dark, brown, or red, so they hide in and blend with, to avoid predation, but where show colors bright enough to attract females (not attract attention from above (bird predation).
Most cichlid species mimic their surroundings, and white or light substrate tends to wash them out.
The leaf litter also tends to lower pH and add tannins that would induce seasonally breeding.
If breeding this species was my goal, setting up decor like the tank below might be what I would do.


 
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After taking Duanes advice I've succeeded in keeping Apistogramma over 4 yrs. Have been using leaf litter ever since.
Here is a pic of my setup in the Upper back corner are my WC Browntail Pencilfish.

20191012_100734.jpg
 
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duanes said:
One of the reasons colors may not be as vibrant as normal, is the very light colored substrate in the tank.
These cichlids are often found living among lots of leaf litter that is dark, brown, or red, so they hide in and blend with, to avoid predation, but where show colors bright enough to attract females (not attract attention from above (bird predation).
Most cichlid species mimic their surroundings, and white or light substrate tends to wash them out.
The leaf litter also tends to lower pH and add tannins that would induce seasonally breeding.
If breeding this species was my goal, setting up decor like the tank below might be what I would do.


Click to expand...
can you use any leaves?
 
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I have used oak, maple, and magnolia among others, from trees in my own yard, those I knew were not sprayed.
Black walnut are considered naturally toxic to many things.
In fall, I would soak leaves just to get concentrated tannins.

Back then I was breeding a few kinds of killifish, they would drop eggs in the leaf litter, and it was a great pace for fry to hide.
 
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Top picture is definitely the female
Don't be surprised by apisto pair aggression
It's not uncommon for one to kill the other
That is how the apistogramma do
 
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