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hello, need an ID :)

chilligirl

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
17
Hi there, my first post on this forum.

I bought these two little guys, after watching them in the lfs for about a month. They were labelled "assorted dwarf cichlids" and their only tankmates were some rubberlip plecos.

The lfs staff said they didn't know what they were, that they looked somewhat like a. borellii, but not quite. I posted some pics from the day I got them on another board (not apisto specific), and was told "definitely a. borellii".

However, after much searching online, I'm wondering if that's right? Both fish are about an inch long without caudal fin. If I had to guess, I'd say I have either a pair or two males. On the lighter colored fish, dorsal fin and anal fin both come to a point. One of them has black on the front of the pelvic fins (I'd have to double check which one has that). The darker fish, while the anal and dorsal fins are just as long, the ends are noticeably rounded. The reason why I question whether or not these are borellii is that all the pictures I've found of borelli show a definite yellow flush to the gillplates and throat area. These guys have no yellow whatsoever. Their bodies are pale grey with a hint of blue. The paler fish has turquoise markings on his face. The darker fish's face markings are closer to a violet or royal blue (my camera flash washes it out to turquoise in pictures). On both fish the pelvic and anal fins are blue/turquoise.

I've had the fish a couple weeks, and no change. In the store, they had no barring on them, and their coloration was not as bright. They colored up in my tank right away, but no change since then.

Any ideas what these are? Are they just juvenile borellii? Something else?

the two together (I'm guessing female on right, male on left)
P1020962.jpg


P1020978.jpg

P1020971.jpg

P1020957.jpg

P1020947.jpg


this photo is not as clear, but shows how the blue color is over the entire head/face
P1020968.jpg
 

ste12000

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
619
Location
Cheshire..UK
Hi Chilligirl, welcome to the forum, there are plenty of Dwarf cichlid experts on here. Im glad you have bought a Apistogramma species but im afraid Ed's right..Your fish are indeed A.Steelblue and unfortunatly are both males..I also made the same mistake when i bought mine which were also labeled 'Borelli'..
I have kept these for a while now and they are very easy to breed, the hardest part is finding females.. Luckily i ended up with 6 females, 1 Dominant male and 1 subdominant male.. They all lived happily together in my 40 gallon discus tank and have bred numerous times..Ill include a few pics so you can see the differences in the sexes. I would recomend doing as much research as possible and get back to the shop and search for a female or two.

MALE
Steelbluemale.jpg


FEMALE (BROODING COLOURS)
FemalesteelblueGaurdingfry.jpg


DIFFERENT FEMALE.
femalesteelblue.jpg


EGGS
eGGS.jpg


FRY
Apistobabies11.jpg


JUVINILES
Youngsteelblue.jpg
 

chilligirl

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
17
thanks so much!

I did a lot of reading, at it seems I *should* be disappointed, but really, I'm not. We almost never get apistos into my lfs - the two I bought are the first I've seen there in about a year. I don't really dig the fact that they may be hybrids, but they're pretty little fish, very gentle in temperament compared to their tankmates, and make a nice addition to my tank nonetheless.

I don't think I'll try to find a female - I haven't got a seperate breeder tank and could do without the territory disputes that would ensue if they had fry. Really, my tank's footprint isn't big enough to have them breeding without some nasty fighting going on: I've got a 90 gallon and the apisots are competing for spots with my pair of GBR, my pair of Nannacara (I'm *pretty sure* that's what they are), and a pair of pelvicachromis taeniatus. Other tankmates are six angels, three yoyo loaches, 3 platys, six glowlight tetras, and a bushynose pleco. The tank is pretty heavily aquascaped with lots of little hidey holes, so, without the apistos breeding, everyone should get along fine. My GBR actually spawned 48 hours after I put them in the tank, on a broad leaf of a silk plant, about 10" above the bottom (the male ate the eggs), and I suspect they'll choose the same spot next time, so it will only be the pelvicachromis and nannacara duking it out over the bottom territories...

Thanks again!:biggrin:
 

beleg

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
346
Location
Istanbul/Turkey
ste12000 ,
are you sure the one you pointed as different female is really a female? A sp "steelblue" is very hard to sex. The sub males have a very female like dressing to avoid the dom males. That one looks like a sub male to me..
 

ste12000

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
619
Location
Cheshire..UK
Sorry Beleg, she is certainly a female as i watched her lay the eggs in the photo..and they were all viable.I believe they may be a hybrid species ('steelblue') because all the females i owned showed some variation. This female did indeed look like a sub dominant male..
 

beleg

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
346
Location
Istanbul/Turkey
Yeah. They are strange fish. I have a group of juveniles. I have 1 male and 5 fish that i cant really decide yet. Sometimes they can be very disappointing in this :\
 

WindingVines

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1
Hey there,

I came across these specimens at LFS. I find it really interesting how the females that I have acquired look exactly like subordinate males. I say they are females because they certainly have shorter pelvic fins, a slight yellow tinge, and shorter anal fin. A tough specimen to sex really, at least the batch that I came across. and I must say they pair off so easily!
 

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