Hi i think i have a male and female convict?

Question

Hi i have a two convicts, one is an inch and a have but still seems liek only an incha dn one measures to be only an inch and is less fisty then the toher, they were botht he same size when i baugth them and oen grew so much faster, I asked for two females but i think i got a male because opf the fin and the lump on the head growing in and all the signs ive read about and the toehr seems to eb a famale, these guys r in a 15 gallon but will be put into a 55 shortly if these guys have all the babies they r siupposed to what cna i do with them i dont really want to have a million babies or a million grown up convicts for that matter, But i would like to observe their parenting habits like my friend convict parents when feeding they attacked and bit my finger it was very cool hehe

Answer 1

The best way to determine the sex of these is by the length of the tips of the dorsal and anal fins and color of the abdomen. The males' fins will have a longer point where the females' will be more rounded, and the females will have orange/pink color to the sides of the abdomen. You can tell these when the fish are about an inch long (and it's not much longer until they're breeding size - I've had them spawn at around 1 1/4 inches!). Male convicts don't get a very large nuchal hump like other cichlids do (especially not at a size when they can be kept in a 15 gallon tank), and even some females can have a more pointed appearance to their fins, so look for the abdominal color to confirm the females.

See photos:

male: http://centralpets.com/critter_images/fish/freshwater_fish/FWF_0004497_20030220143439.jpg
http://www.acvarist.ro/poze/cichlasoma/cichlasoma_nigrofasciatum2.jpg

female: http://www.azgardens.com/images/Cichlid-BlackConvict.gif
http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/other/DSC_4797_t.jpg

pairs/groups:
http://www.ekzotika.com/ekzotika_img/fish/1070475621.jpg
http://www.akvaryum.com/foto_arsiv/332.jpg
http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Cichli632.jpg
http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Cichli566.jpg

If you don't want fry (beyond a first batch to observe parenting or otherwise), about all you can do is to return the male and get another fish so that both of yours are females or to use a tank divider and separate them.