Female hongsloi?

[willzs]

Do people think this is a female or male hongsloi?

 

[willzs]

More photos

 

[Mike Wise]

Looks small/imature, compared to Neon Tetras. It probably is a female, but could be an immature male. Only time will tell for sure.

 

[willzs]

Cheers for replying Mike. I'll have to wait and see then, definitely got a male as well though.

 

[willzs]

"She" seems happier today, got photobombed though.

 

[willzs]

So I still wasn't convinced that she was a she and managed to catch her easily so have replaced with this one. I'm pretty certain this time.

 

[MickeM]

I`m afraid you have replaced it with a macmasteri "female"..!!!
I would have a go with the 1st one!!!(Most probably a female I`d say/guess..!!).. and give them a month or two to adapt to the situation..
(unless aggression is increased too much.., I couldn`t see any broken fins on the 1st one though..)

 

[MickeM]

One more thing..

Males will show dominance to all other/new fishes if possible. New females in a territory which are not ready to spawn will also be chased away.. until they show him the correct signals to reproduce!! (Large females may beat up a "weak" male!!)
After the 1st spawn a female is most often "approved" by the male, but will have to show submission until next spawn..(Displaying her belly+ not raising her dorsalfin , and act like she is not challenging him !!)

In your pic with the two hongsloi , the young male looks like he is quite relaxed toward the other one (female?)..!!

 

[MickeM]

.. and also.. my experience/from what I know..

..hongsloi males often have some red color on/by "the root" of the caudalfin, behind the caudal-spot... even when beeing young !!!

 

[willzs]

Cheers for all the information Mike. It's amazing how much you know!


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[MickeM]

Many thanks willzs..
..it is the result of 30-35 years of practice+failure.. and still learning!!! ( Or as a friend of mine constantly reminds me..,
- "Make sure you don`t fail with the "wrong"/rare species.. Cause if we/you do., we will soon have very few left...!!" )

.. nevertheless..,some factors may also alter what we normally think we know about about behaviours+ else !!

How do the Stiphodon atropurpureus(?) act/interact with your Apistos??? .. is it aggressive../"the Boss" of the tank??
If so, I guess this may stop the hongsloi from spawning or mess up your possible plan for any/many future Apisto-fry !!??

 

[willzs]

They both get chased by my Netz male, he's definitely the boss of the tank. Still waiting for them to breed though.


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[MickeM]

OK..
It might be a difficult task for a young hongsloi male to manage/maintain a territory of his own then.., on the other hand it probably will give the two hongsloi some time with the same conditions.. later when the hongsloi male gets the chance, he will become the dominant one!!

For the hongsloi to spawn you may have to remove the dominant Netz male( if possible ) !!??
.. and maybe also add some "tight-entranced" caves .. like sliced/cracked clean coconut-shells..( females will often dig out a wall/pile of sand in front of the entrance after spawning anyway!!)

More info here..
http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/threads/breeding.19675/#post-96659

 

[willzs]

The idea is to get the Netz to breed rather than the Hongsloi although I might just swap the male for a male Macmasteri. The Netz seemed to need the competition to encourage breeding.


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[willzs]

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