At what age can you sex dwarf cichlids?

[Maroonostrich]

I got two baby golden eyed dwarf cichlids a little while ago. They were dinky little things rather lacking in condition with frayed fins, at just over full grown Neon tetra size and looked identical.

They 'scrapped' like I have seen groups of boys scrap and so I concluded initially that they were little chaps!

THEN when they were feeling a bit threatened by the two large elegant corys I was given and who seem to cruise around like sharks, I noticed them displaying dramatic colour changes to a mottled pattern that had been displayed in the past by my female fish. So I guessed they were both female.

Last night, I watched one of them flaring out his fins and puffing out his throat as I have seen a mature male do. 'He' looked paler and lighter 'green-gold' than 'normal'. He seemed to be attempting to court the other fish who did not attack him but brushed against him repeatedly and swam with him a couple of times. However once the displaying was over, he seemed to go darker again so that the two fish looked virtually identical.

What on earth is going on? They are at least 2 maybe 3 months old now and I still have no idea what I have here!

Any record of spontaneous sex changes in cichlids?

Or have I just got 2 males where one is more dominant and the other is feigning femaleness to avoid attack?

 

[Griz]

oops

never mind

 

[Katchan]

most dwarf cichlids do take longer to "colour up" part of their defense for being small, they tend to stay a colourless grey.

Anychance of a pic? would help bundles

Andrew

 

[Maroonostrich]

I am currently the bemused owner of 3 of these guys, one at work 'camping out' and two at home.

I am going out on a limb and saying I believe one has got to be female. When I turned on the tank lights this morning she was 'napping' between the leaves of my dwarf anubias (sp!!) and she was almost jet black with the cream bits that the spawning females display.

I will try and photograph all three fish tonight and tomorrow. Bear with me!

 

[aloaring]

Just to warn you that when i had a pair i was told that a less dominant male can disguise itself as a female so as not to get beaten up and to be able to sneak on in with the females!! how true this is i don't know. When i had my pair it took over a year to be able to differentiate between the sexes !!

 

[Maroonostrich]

Oh yes, I have also heard this and I really believe it! When I bought my mature male -Dave RIP - from my aquarist he was the biggest baddest fish among his siblings. Returning just a week later for supplies almost all of the other fish had grown on and developed the mature male colouring, from all looking like little girls when he was there! Almost as if his removal had prompted a growth race to become 'top guy'.

I am learning all the time watching these lot and asking about things on here, ironically it's difficult to be sure without a mature specimen of each sex in your tank to make that distinct contrast!

I'm hoping to set up tank 3 as pretty barren and get my hands on a large male, then procees to make cautious introductions to his 3 potential suitors- all of whom have been bought as 'female' but heaven only knows...

 

[Maroonostrich]

Have pictures!

Just too knackered to post em right now.. but I will try tomorrow!

 

[Maroonostrich]

Ok everyone, pictures are up!!
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...&st=0&p=902818&

Please guess away!!