borelli's

[biogirl361]

so i just went out and got 2 a. borelli's... the people at the store said they did their best to get a male and a female but they aren't sure. they said it's their first time buying from their supplier and there's a possibility they could have all males and no females.
they look pretty much the same to me except one is slightly larger and has less distinct vertical bars than the smaller one. so they've been in the tank for a few hours and the larger/paler one is really beating up on the smaller/darker one, took a big chunk out of his tail, the whole deal. both of them are completely ignoring all my other fish though. anyways does this agression mean they are two males? will this continue or will they grow out of it when they get used to each other and their new tank? thanks in advance.

[Capps]

They should be ok after awhile. From my understanding they are generaly pretty peaceful.
How big is your tank?

[biogirl361]

10 gallons (see sig). I really hope they get over it b/c i'd hate to see one get battered to death. maybe when the little one grows a little it will be a more even match and the other will leave him alone. I really hope i have a pair but this chasing business sort of makes me suspect it might be two males.

[Z Man]

If they don't look different, you have two males. If they both have a lot of blue spangles on their faces then they are males for sure.

[biogirl361]

yeah they both have plenty of blue and red on their faces.. darn.. now where am i going to find two females :confused:

[Z Man]

If they are what they are calling "Steel Blue Apistos" or something like that. Sorry to say but there are no male out there.

[biogirl361]

the tank didn't say anything about steel blue... just said a. borelli. i guess i will have to wait for them to grow up and get some more color to know anything for sure. i just wish the one would cut out the chasing thing...i was under the impression that this species was relatively peaceful even with two males...

[Z Man]

Check this thread: http://forum.apistogramma.com/showthread.php?t=3087

[biogirl361]

so now what is happening is the larger one of the two, who is the one doing all the agressing, goes up to the smaller one so they are facing in the same direction, turns yellow, and kind of wriggles its body at the small one. it has hit the other one across the face a few times with its tail while doing this. the small one just sits there; i think it is worn out from being chased around constantly. finally the larger one starts nipping at the smaller one until the small one runs away. what is going on here? it almost seems like what i'd imagine breeding behavior would be, but since they both have the blue spangles i thought they were both males, and also i haven't heard of the female being the one doing the agressing. any ideas?

[Z Man]

If the larger one turns yellow with almost black markings, it is most likely a female and showing her breeding colors.

[biogirl361]

it turns yellow, but all the markings go away and it is pretty much pure yellow with a black stripe under the eye and those blue and red markings still on the face. it almost appears like it is a female that is trying to get the male to mate but he doesn't want to so she is mad and chases and bites him. i'm so confused about this sexing thing b/c they both look the same in almost every way but then at times the one of them turns yellow and does the tail wiggle thing. well i don't know but he/she/it better mellow out soon or it is going to kill the smaller one. i tried to get some pics but i don't think they turned out well.

[Z Man]

If the pelvic fins have a black front edge to them I would say it's a female.

[biogirl361]

both of them have some black on the front of their pelvic fins, though the black on the questionable female is defnitly more pronounced. have you ever heard of a female relentlessly chasing/nipping a male though?

[Z Man]

Sounds just like humans to me!

[biogirl361]

lol