Is auratus a stressed female or changing male?

[mattlll]

Hey guys! I know I've been asking these fish gender questions a lot lately but I still can't come to a consensus on a few of them... Pretty much the main bit of confusion would be with my "female" auratus... I can't tell if it's a stressed female or a changing male... I vented it and it kinda looks like a female but I'm not a great judge of vents... It acts so much like a male and is pretty much one of the most dominant fish in my tank (most dominant is male johanni, 2nd would be the auratus). It digs ALOT and sometimes even chases the for sure male out of her territory... Every day it looks different. Some days it will have bright colors like a female and some days it will be real dark and ugly. I'll post some pics to see what y'all think...

1st pic is when it looks bad (bad days)
2nd pic is when it looks like a female (good days) 3rd pic is the vent.
4th pic is when I first got it.

So I don't know what to say!
-Do females dig
-Can dominant females be aggressive to the males?
Why is she so agressive!!! Sorry for the long essay haha thanks In advance!

 

[Medx]

How big is your auratus cichlid ? It could be changing into its adult male colors. There seems to be an egg spot on your auratus anal fin which indicates that it is most likely a male.

 

[mattlll]

About 3 inches... And I was kinda thinking that too but the vent seems to look like a female..

 

[snowman17]

That first pic says male

 

[snowman17]

Pic of my guy for comparison

 

[Medx]

If it's 3 inches already then its most likely changing into its male colors.

 

[mattlll]

See I already have one male with male colors and I DEFINIITLY don't want 2 males...

 

[snowman17]

Do they fight? And you can rehome or trade for another female

 

[mattlll]

Really she only fights with the alage eater pretty much... And I have one more Q, will females dig sometimes?

 

[snowman17]

I was asking do the two males fight

 

[mattlll]

No not really...

 

[mattlll]

See this is a pic right now and it looks like a female!?!

 

[erikmoseley]

I def say its a male. They waver back and forth and almost pull back from changing if there's already a Dom male. My saulosi did it he would be solid yellow then start showing blue stripes and keep going back and forth. For months. The. When he finally want all male - boom he was killed in 2 days. Watch out for him

 

[mattlll]

That's the thing is he IS the most dominant...

 

[mattlll]

How do you think this would work out? I was thinking bout getting a 20 or 30 long and jus getting a few more female auratus to make a breeding tank...

 

[erikmoseley]

I guess that may work. I'd look for a 40 breeder/long. 1 m and 4 females with good rock work. I think it's weird that your non Dom male is more colored than this one but maybe its a female. I honestly have never tried keeping them due to their rep!