Buying baby african cichlid

[Bigtay]

When buying baby African cichlid, what do you look for to tell female and male? I heard different stories....

 

[mudraker]

What kind of african cichlid? And what do you mean by "baby?"

 

[Bigtay]

These are the pics of most of them, I also have two all blue ones with yellow fins and a bumble bee if that's what u call it

 

[hal.lc]

Congrats on the new fish.

Its hard to get a good idea of size from the pics, but I'd say they are at most 1.5", probably smaller. It looks like you have some Metriaclima estherae and Melanochromis auratus.

As far as sexing them, I doubt you will be able to tell any difference at this size( I'm not positive about the auratus). When they start to mature you will need to start weeding out the males. The quantity you will be able to keep depends on tank size and tank mates).

**edit:
I just noticed the other two darker blue cichlids in the pictures. Hard to say what they are other than that they are most likely mbuna as Aulonocara don't have color at this size unless they been treated with hormones.

Also, I would recommend returning the M. auaratus. They are one of the most aggressive mbuna in the hobby and have been known to wipe out entire tanks if not properly stocked. Generally they should be given at least 75g for a single species tank.

 

[Chunkanese]

Males typically have longer anal fins and more egg spots with mbuna. Peacocks usually the males start to color up. If their not yet coloring up check the finnage. Usually the longer identifies males as well.

 

[hal.lc]

While I do agree that fin size and egg spots can indicate sex, they are not a sure thing and should not be relied upon to control sex ratio. Although it can help when selecting young cichlids, you should still buy extra to allow for the removal of extra males. Your best bet will be to grow out your stock until the males of any dimorphic species you have begin to color up. Then it will be easy to remove any troublesome males.

For any monomorphic cichlid species, for instance Ps. demasoni, it would be best to overstock and then remove overly aggressive fish as they appear.

In my experience you will begin to see your mbuna males color up at around 2". Of course this will vary from species to species and even fish to fish.

What size tank are you stocking? Perhaps we could help you with your stock list to allow the greatest chance of success.

 

[Bigtay]

While I do agree that fin size and egg spots can indicate sex, they are not a sure thing and should not be relied upon to control sex ratio. Although it can help when selecting young cichlids, you should still buy extra to allow for the removal of extra males. Your best bet will be to grow out your stock until the males of any dimorphic species you have begin to color up. Then it will be easy to remove any troublesome males.

For any monomorphic cichlid species, for instance Ps. demasoni, it would be best to overstock and then remove overly aggressive fish as they appear.

In my experience you will begin to see your mbuna males color up at around 2". Of course this will vary from species to species and even fish to fish.

What size tank are you stocking? Perhaps we could help you with your stock list to allow the greatest chance of success.

I have an 60 gallon long tank

 

[mfdrookie516]

venting is the only way at this point

 

[Bigtay]

venting is the only way at this point

How many could I stock in the tank

 

[mfdrookie516]

You could do probably 24 right now, getting 8 of each fish. That gives you room to rehome any extra males and get a 1m-4f ratio. I with those fish, that would work fine.

From the pics, it looks like you have acei, red zebras, and auratus. Some swear up and down that auratus are the nastiest meanest fish alive. I have 2 males in my 150g and they get along fine. They're nowhere near as aggressive as my kenyi. The auratus wouldn't be my first choice, but if you are set on them, I think you'll be fine. Just make sure to provide lots and lots of rock for them all to claim territory and seek shelter

 

[Bigtay]

You could do probably 24 right now, getting 8 of each fish. That gives you room to rehome any extra males and get a 1m-4f ratio. I with those fish, that would work fine.

From the pics, it looks like you have acei, red zebras, and auratus. Some swear up and down that auratus are the nastiest meanest fish alive. I have 2 males in my 150g and they get along fine. They're nowhere near as aggressive as my kenyi. The auratus wouldn't be my first choice, but if you are set on them, I think you'll be fine. Just make sure to provide lots and lots of rock for them all to claim territory and seek shelter

The auratus is mean but it seems to only pik on his on kind, I have two more of them

 

[mfdrookie516]

That doesn't mean anything right now. You won't know how they're truly going to act until they reach maturity.

 

[redfisher1139]

Some swear up and down that auratus are the nastiest meanest fish alive. I have 2 males in my 150g and they get along fine. They're nowhere near as aggressive as my kenyi. The auratus wouldn't be my first choice, but if you are set on them, I think you'll be fine. Just make sure to provide lots and lots of rock for them all to claim territory and seek shelter

I'd have to agree that male Kenyi's can be just as mean and nasty. Mine dominates my tank.

 

[Bigtay]

That doesn't mean anything right now. You won't know how they're truly going to act until they reach maturity.

Ok

 

[Sparrk]

I'd have to agree that male Kenyi's can be just as mean and nasty. Mine dominates my tank.

mine too, I had to rearrange my tank many times, and separate some species, good thing i have 2 tanks, he is definitely one of the smallest male but the nastiest