Sexing Apistogramma cacatuoides juveniles

[Rube_Goldfish]

I have four Apistogramma cacatuoides juveniles, about two months old (born in mid-January), and I'd like to know how to sex them, or at least when that's possible.

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Also, when can I expect them to reach maturity and/or become territorial (they get along just fine for the time being)? For those of you who have sold juveniles, at what age do you sell them?

Thanks in advance!

[Lennie]

@anewbie @tolstoy21 may help maybe

[anewbie]

What size are they; also domestic cacatuoides are very hard to sex when young since the inbreeding has muck with the colour and fin shapes. They should be fine as a group till they reach sexual maturity.

[tolstoy21]

On 3/26/2023 at 1:49 PM, anewbie said:

What size are they; also domestic cacatuoides are very hard to sex when young since the inbreeding has muck with the colour and fin shapes. They should be fine as a group till they reach sexual maturity.

Agreed.

With the fish I've been keeping/breeding -- a very domestic/tank-bred strain -- the females tend to have vertical black bars along the front of the  pectoral fins. Additionally, their dorsal fin rarely (or never) extends out past the base of the tail.  

As @anewbie stated, they can be tricky to sex when young. It's hard to go by coloration alone, as females can be as colorful as the males, and males take on what one considers the typical brighter yellow of the females.

Based on your pics, I'm inclined to call them all female, but they trick me all the time. You should probably just give them time. If there is at least one male in there, it will becomes obvious. The others could be males, but hold on to a more female appearance if one of the males is more dominant.

Edited March 26 by tolstoy21

[nabokovfan87]

@Lennie Check em out!