Apistogramma Macmasteri "REd Neck"

[Rikard]

Hello. i have a pair of Ap. Macmasteri but the biggest of them is casing the smaller one. The smaller of them is much nore intense in its colors and it has a bright red "chest", the bigger is not as intense in its colors and is almost yellow. so i wonder which is male and which is female.

I also would like some tips on breeding this fish. My aquarium has:

PH : 6,2
30 degrees celsius
no trace of nitrate or ammonia!

All answers are appreciated! :roll:

 

[Bissot_J]

for me 30 degrees is too much for Apistogramma.
what other think about that ?

 

[kretz11]

the yellow one would likely be the female and the other the male. 30 degrees does seem high...i try and keep all my tanks at about 26-27 degrees celsius.


kevin

 

[MaXoTrAp]

i dont have macmasteri but i have viejitas, and they look like macmasteri. Its almost sure the yellow one is the female and the red chest one the male. But, the male is almost always bigger than the female (mine is almost twice as big, but most of the time there is not such a huge difference) so i think your male is not mature. Try feeding the male with bloodworms, daphnies, ... Anyway, make sure your male gets a lot of food (but not too much, of course, cuz apistos always seem to be hungry) and only when he will be at least as big as the female you may think about reproduction cuz I fear your male might have big problems with a female much bigger.

 

[Neil]

Rikard,
30 degrees is getting up there, especially for longterm husbandry. Try to bring it back down to 27 or 28.
I think that MaXoTrAp and kretz11 are right in there sexing, but it is hard to be sure without pics because both can take on a certain amount of characteristics of the other in the right situation.
Your tank condition seem right. What is the hardness? If the male is being harassed too much you can remove the female for awhile and let him get his territorial footing. As long as he is not way smaller, that should be a helpful equalizer. When you put her back in the tank, watch closely to see if things are any better. Don't be concerned about somechasing. That is not unusual and sometimes important in pair-bonding. They can still spawn (if the male is old enough), but he may need to be removed shortly after to avoid problems.
Neil