Male Or Female Convicts?

[kniesh]

Hi guys, I bought these 2 guys as male Convicts, 1 for my 90gal (the smaller one as they will all start tiny) and one for my 4ft 40gal. They are both in my 40 gal now waiting for the 90 to be set up but I am worried that it is a male an female now and don't want them breeding. Could you help please.

that is the smaller one I fear to be female

This is the larger one, pretty certain he's a male, he is much more deeply coloured and has the red spots on his stomach. Thx in advance.

Oh and they seem to have done this to the sand in the corner of the tank, any ideas why?

 

[insanityseeker]

convicts dig a lot of the time. i couldn't comment on the sexes of yours though. i have mine in white sand too!!!!!!!!!

 

[Spike_ea_2k6]

yeh male and female, and they will breed if kept together

 

[kniesh]

Thx Spike, I have got to keep thim in here for about 2 weeks, they wont breed in that time will they? Been in about a week so far.

 

[Spike_ea_2k6]

well about 1 hour arfter putting them together they would of started to breed, there soo easy to breed so by 2 weeks they will have eggs

 

[vancouver]

youll need a better pic of the 2nd fish..

cant tell from that pic.. but the 1st one is definitely a male

 

[Spike_ea_2k6]

trust me its a female ive been breeding for ages, and i no the sexes VERY well, lol carnt u see all the red and blue colouring on the fins?

 

[kniesh]

The first one has only very slight red spot every now and then on its stomach and is much paler colouring all the time. The 2nd one is nearly twice the size and is much deeper colouring with constant red spots. I presumed the 1st one to just be a juvenile.

 

[vancouver]

on the 2nd pic you can see maybe 3 what look like orange spots behind the side fin..

i wouldnt say thats enough to determine its a female

 

[kniesh]

Sorry about the pic, he kept moving as I was taking it, like he was posing an this was his best side . He has got a lot of red spots on his stomach and on his back. I have heard that you can tell from the elongated finn on the back of their backs. Both on these seem very long which suggests male.

 

[kniesh]

Here is a pic of them together, it is slightly better than the previous ones, shows the red better on the larger one.

 

[vancouver]

Yea they are definitely male and female. Good luck with them