# appisto problem



## patricka (Mar 24, 2011)

so I got these 2 appisto macmasteri.

now one of the has colors, tail has red at each end with red on the face so I know it's a male.

now he keeps chasing the other one if he seems her/he. I thought it was a she that I purchased but I'm not sure anymore.

the 2nd one has no colors, it's gray, a bit smaller. both have a dark black line from head to tail.

if the first large one with colors is chasing the 2nd one does it mean that both are males?

I'm not sure but I think the other one can't do anything except hide... every time I see the 2nd one it's hidden in the plants...

thanks.


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## carbonlist (Nov 8, 2009)

seperate the 2 apistos, through the use of a barrier, until you can identify their sexes. Or you can post the pictures up and we can sex them for you.


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## patricka (Mar 24, 2011)

damn after close look of the other one it seems to me that it's a male... it now has a tiny bit of red on the tail which did not have before... as far as I know females have no colors on the tails.

it must be a young one because it's all gray... I'll have to return it back to the store tomorrow.

the yellow ones, are they females for sure? I wasn't sure about the yellow ones... there were the males with all colors and larger and then yellow ones, smaller fins, smaller everything...

how can I be sure it's a female.

the guy at the store was sure he gave me a female but apparently not, I'll have to return it tomorrow or else this smaller one with die for sure.


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## patricka (Mar 24, 2011)

this is what mine looks like except

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Apistogramma&species=macmasteri&id=118
the left one is the female.

on the bottom of the tail there is a pink line and the face has red dots. the body is all gray with that same black line. everything else is the same, tail, dorsal...

I tried to take a picture but with my camera it's so blurry it's not even worth posting it.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

I am not sure but some are harem spawner's so you need one male with several females. If not the male will harass the female until she dies of stress. Need to spread out the aggression.

Yep on the link above states: 



Breeding
Provide very good quality soft water in a tank with one male Macmasteri and a harem of females. Female will guard fry whilst male guards wider general area. Macmasteri are relatively simple to breed.


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## patricka (Mar 24, 2011)

what would be the minimum setup for a male and 3 females for example? is 20 gallons ok?

I hear a lot of people with just a male and a female so what they all have this same problem?

I don't want to get 2 more females just to end up with a bigger problem  unless I'm sure that more females will fix my male going after that other one all the time as soon as he seems him/her but I think it's a her.

thanks.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

I have just started keeping Apistos myself. I have no experience with them breeding yet. But when you read about them being harem spawners then most fish like that in my experience need several females to spread aggression or you end up with just a male. I have a group of panduro's and the alpha male harasses the heck out of the other male. 

Unless you can get a bonded pair from the LFS you will have some issues.


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## patricka (Mar 24, 2011)

thanks tbemba,
I think today I'll just take the female out and put her in her own tank and figure this out otherwise she'll just die of starvation or stress... the only way for her not to be harassed is if she holds still in the plants, if she moves the male goes after her.

I have other fishes in that tank, amano shrimps, tetras and it all works fine it's just the male apisto going after the female all the time.

as someone explained to me the male will chase male/female out of it's territory. yes even the female if she's not ready to breed. in my case this is what's happening the female is not ready and he's chasing her away. I'm glad she's not ready otherwise the male would just kill all the tank mates  they become more aggressive during breeding time.

that's why I'll move the female away for a while until I get my larger 50gallons tank. then I'll get 2 more female appistos macmasteri and move them all in that larger tank with a lot of hiding spots.

now I'm starting to understand cichlids... and they say apistos are calm cichlids... can you imagine the other non gentle ones?  they would break your tank glass I guess and throw rocks at you


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