How do I tell who is male and who is female later on? Am I just waiting to see which is the Aggressive fish and if I have 2 aggressive ones than I have 2 males and one has to be removed? What do I do with that fish? Give him to my lfs? Or sell him?
Males almost always show more or deeper color, are larger and their anal fins can differ but venting them is a way to be sure. Growing fish until theyre sexable should be managable as their aggression towards other males definitely grows the maturer they become. My males in my rusty species tank each hold a territory and will generally stay in their area most of the time with the Alpha occasionally blasting around the tank to remind everyone whos the daddy. They treat females differently and tolerate them for short time aslong as they interact with the male in a way he likes and thats up to his standards! As soon as she turns away or shows the tiniest disinterest in his dance advances, like lightning chases her off.
Removing males is a recommended practice 95% of the time unless you have a huge tank but it isnt a cut and drawn case and isnt always needed. It really does all depend on the species of mbuna and the individual temperment of the male that becomes dominant. In some species once the alpha is fully established the subdominants know their place and can be chased off. Its funny sometime because all my alpha rusty has to do 99% of the time is poke his out of his cave when he sees another approaching and the sub male scatters or stops still and slowly backs up.
Again raising them together helps also as theyve always been around males. The reason why i mention the character of the alpha is because if hes a **** he'll bully the other males to a point of doing nothing else but searching for another male to attack. If i were you and you unfortunatly got afew males, before removing all but one i would recommend that you watch first, then secondly remove the most aggressive first and see if the others can coexist in my experience but i believe some mbuna species simply wont tolerate others period!
Selling or giving them away is sometimes the only option and doesnt fill you with warmth thats for sure.
I probably dont need to mention that huge problems come when adding mature, unformiliar and evenly matched males together. If the added fish has been dominant in its previous enviroment a fight to the death isnt uncommon.
Keeping males together can be done just be vigilant from day1. As the fish you buy will be unsettled and juvi it may take months for their true colours to show through when they arnt influenced by new surroundings. As they grow their attitude can change also so what seems to be working now can turn.
