Help me sex two Apistogramma cacatuoides

[gwand]

First three pictures I think are a male. The last two pictures a female? Don’t mind the snail eggs.

 

[GaryE]

The colourful one is a young male. The final two could be female. What's the colour of the pectoral fins?

I've always been a wild type purist, but I was in another city and saw some 'triple reds'. They were juveniles, and I took a chance on a probable pair because I thought if I bred them there are local fishkeepers who have talked about wanting them. They were cheap.

I got fooled by the colour patterns on the linebred ones - they are so different from wilds. I ended up with 2 females, although I had just made a guess given their size.

In my city, they're rare. In my daughter's city, there's a local breeder selling them to all the stores. I'll get a male eventually. I'd go for the one in the top picture any time.

 

[Back in the fold]

Correct me if I’m wrong but with Apistogramma’s and especially cacatuoides isn’t it always the tall elongated first dorsal fin rays that distinguish the male ?

 

[emeraldking]

Looking at the dorsal and anal fin, I'd say both males. The last photos concerns a young male.

 

[gwand]

Two males!! I thought the last two pics were of a female. Well no spawning going to happen there. I have six other cacatuoides born December 24. I hope at least one is a girl. The mother was killed by her partner on January 11. I need some girls to continue the breeding.

 

[fishorama]

IME (limited) w/cacs, the smaller "omega" males can "look" more female as a protective disguise. As they matured, they couldn't hide their longer dorsal & anal fins or some tail coloration but kept to yellowish girly body color.

Keep in mind too, that there could be some that don't show all the triple? red genes, sort of throw backs to more wild looks. The last looks like a smaller male but I'm not as sure about the 1st. Females are usually much smaller too, so don't get rid of all your Xmas fish yet.