Gender of my African Cichlids?

Question

I have two african cichlids which I am interested in breeding. The problem is is that I can't really tell if one of them is a female. I know one is a male because of the distinct two egg spots (I believe that's what they're called?) on it's fin. The other one only has one spot, and it is very subdued, not distinct, and very small. Also, the one that has the not distinct spot is a duller blue color and not as much of an aggressive, dominant fish. How can I tell? If this one is in fact a male, then I will need to buy a female, so I need to know how I tell a difference. Thanks!

Answer 1

As mentioned you really need to mention the species.

Unlike many New World cichlids, they don't pair for life - they don't really pair at all. Males tend to be very hard on the females, and as was mentioned already it's ideal to have several females per male (3 was the number provided, but really the more the better).

Now, there are too many species of mbuna that are blue, so you can't get a correct answer. Some are very easy to sex, others near impossible. Egg spots can't be relied on.

Answer 2

Well the simplest most no hassle way is to put them together. If you find babies in there in a month you will know. I don't remember how to tell the differenc.e But if they are indeed of different genders they should start a courting dance soon, if not already. Also cichlids mate for life. If they do mate and you don;t want a second batch of children, then decide to move the male out they will die. Which is also why a lot of cichilds don't reproduce easily in captivity. Because if the female is uninterested the first time around there is no chance she will ever be interested.

I am familiar with the particular kind of specie you are talking about. If the female is already pregnant you should watch her mouth very carefully beause they eggs usually gestate in the females mouth. The reason that this species evolved so that the male have two egg like features in the tail is because of predation. In the wild after this species mates the female will often panic and bring the eggs back into her mouth before the male has a chance to inseminate them. So evoluvtion developed the two eggs on the back of his fin to that she would think that they were also her eggs and when she attempted to bring them into her mouth hewould shoot sperm into her mouth and viola they are inseminated.

Answer 3

Most cichlids can have their gender known by one of two things. 1) The size of the hole above their anus. This is very subjective, but if you have multiple fish, you can compare. Bigger is female, smaller is male. 2) This applies to most, but not all cichlids. The anal fin (That is the fin just below the tail, but not the two long fins near their midsection) is pulled up close to the body in females, and hangs down spread out in males. Colours only show the dominant fish. There could still be more males, or there could be only females.

Answer 4

you have to be careful here..if you already have 1 male you dont want anymore..too many males and not enough girls causes horrible problems.You need 1 male and at least 3 girls. Best policy is to wait awhile with what you have...one might not be mature as the other...go back to wherever you got them and ask some advice there or try to log on to google about the matter...but for now just wait.

Answer 5

What species? It sounds like a pair,but we can't answer the question without more information. Because you mention egg spots they are probably Mbuna,but that entails thousands of possibilities. The Latin names would really help.

Answer 6

try looking for some websites on google