Midas hybrid thing

[Synirr]

My little Marie Antoinette is growing up ! I just felt like making a thread about her, so if you're only in this for the pics, feel free to ignore my rambling and scroll down.
Unlike her sibling who I had to give back to the LFS, I believe I'm going to be able to keep Marie; and I am so, so glad. Dispite warnings that she would probably end up being a terror, Marie has thus far been the perfect little lady... as far as cichlids go . In other words, she has her moments, but isn't too aggressive overall. She wanted to pick on my bichir for a while, but since he has basically ignored all her little nips, she gave up entirely. The only aggression I ever see from her now is at mealtimes, when she tries (unsuccessfully) to chase my pig of an oscar away from her food. I've been toying with the idea of breeding her with a con in the future (no bashing, please,) but if I did, no worries, most of the fry would end up as feeders... I'd only keep a couple for myself and possibly give a couple to trusted friends -- that's all in the future, anyway
For now, I'm just enjoying her for the charismatic little (soon to be big) fish she is.

By the way, does anyone want to venture a guess at when she might reach sexual maturity, if she hasn't already? She's about 4 inches. I just want to know when I should look out for a possible jump in aggression.
Now, on to the pics!

Look at that big forehead of hers . I hope it stays a big forehead and doesn't become a massive nuchal hump...

Being her demure little self

A little flare of the dorsal...

 

[Ben]

awsome Midas

and great pics
sorry cant help on the questions

DD

 

[lilmolly]

It looks like she skined her nose

 

[Vip]

cute, but i hate to tell you this...............im pretty sure that a male lol, i could be wrong but its starting to look like one.

 

[Synirr]

cute, but i hate to tell you this...............im pretty sure that a male lol, i could be wrong but its starting to look like one.

Could be
I've just been calling her female because she's much less aggressive than her sibling was, and kinda "looks" more female than some of her siblings at the LFS... I honestly haven't a clue, hehe. She might be in for a name change later, if that's the case

Edit: Out of curiosity, what characteristics about her make you think she's male? I'm horrible at sexing the more ambiguous species...

 

[fufanu360]

i think he means hes sorry its a male cuz of males aggresion

 

[Synirr]

i think he means hes sorry its a male cuz of males aggresion

Eh, that's alright. I'm prepared to buy her/him a new tank if ever she/he needs one all to her/himself... I'm way too attached at this point to get rid of her or any of her current tankmates
For the time being, though, the aggression in my tank is almost nill except for at mealtimes.

... It's a shame I don't have more experience sexing cichlids, because for a few minutes today Marie's "bits and pieces" were showing for some reason... It was a short tube-like structure that was slightly backwards-facing.... ovipositor, or male bits? Anybody know?

 

[littlefishie]

I still think s/he's adorable. Such a cute face! I love the second-to-last one.

 

[SirMinion]

You can tell what sex she is if you look at her tail................oh... )

 

[Synirr]

You can tell what sex she is if you look at her tail................oh... )