Convicts!!!

[em_witt]

Another question about the cons...do the males or the females grow faster?? I bought 3 at the same size and now 2 are like twice the size of the 3rd!!

 

[Aski247]

Another question about the cons...do the males or the females grow faster?? I bought 3 at the same size and now 2 are like twice the size of the 3rd!!

That just means they are the more dominant of the three, it doesn't necessarily mean they are male or female, but more dominant.

 

[em_witt]

I mow bot iced that one of the big ones is getting a sort of orange ish on its stomach! Does this mean it's a girl??

 

[em_witt]

Sorry(auto-correct)!!

 

[em_witt]

I now noticed!!

 

[Malawi Freak]

Pinkish coloration indicates females. Males are darker and much less colorful.

 

[em_witt]

I thought more color was a male. Like not the orange for the females...

 

[Malawi Freak]

The wild-type of the species has 8–9 black vertical bars on a blue-grey body, along with a dark blotch on the operculum.[1] Juvenile convict cichlids are monomorphic until they reach sexual maturity. Unusually for fish, the female is more highly coloured.[14] The male is mostly gray with light black stripes along the body. Males are larger than females, and they have more pointed ventral, dorsal and anal fins which often extend into filaments. In addition, older males frequently develop vestigial fatty lumps on their foreheads. She has more intense black bands across the body, and pink to orange colouration in the ventral region and on the dorsal fin.[15][16] The average standard length of mature males in the wild ranged from 6.3–6.6 centimeters, while breeding–sized females ranged from 4.2–5.5 centimeters.[14] The maximum standard length has been reported to be 10 centimeters, with total length near 12 centimeters (4.7 in).[1][17] Body weight has been reported to range from 34–36 grams (1.2–1.3 oz).[1] Selective breeding has resulted in a leucistic strain of convict cichlids, in which the dark barring of the wild type is absent.[15] These are also known as white convicts, pink convicts, gold convicts and A. nigrofasciata "Kongo",.[1][16] The leucistic colouration is caused by a mutation in an autosomal gene and is recessively inherited.[18]

 

[Malawi Freak]

ahhhh....sorry for all the links, that was pulled off wikipedia to save time from typing.

 

[em_witt]

Thx for the info but I think their still too small to tell!

 

[em_witt]

When do u think the approx. time is when u can tell the sexes??

 

[Gillie]

What about a jack Dempsey (good size)???

Convicts are spunky as it is but they turn into murderous devils when defending a spawn.

 

[em_witt]

So...
No jack??
And when can u start to Tell the sexes??

 

[em_witt]

Also what about firemouths? I
Have 3 cons and 3 fms and I'm wanting to get a pair of both.
Sorry for all the questions!!

 

[Malawi Freak]

So...
No jack??
And when can u start to Tell the sexes??

When you pull it out of the tank and vent it.

 

[em_witt]

How can I do that?? Not very familiar w/ doing that!!

 

[Malawi Freak]

Read this article.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/gender.php

 

[em_witt]

Is there a easier way with cons and fms?? And if not then will venting work in SA cichlids??

 

[DragonFish71]

Firemouths are a little harder, you need to look at a few things. The females are smaller and plumper, their fins usually are less flowing and rounder than the males. Usually, however that is not always the case. We thought we had two females, until we found our first bunch of wigglers. Also, their are sometimes facial features you can notice. The females face can be more rounded than the males, the males tend to have a larger mouth (ahem, not going to add a snark here *smiles*) the males forehead slopes more than the females, as they age, the male might develop a small hump on his forehead that is normal for most cichlids.

Convicts: the males are darker, females smaller, plumper and have that pinkish, orange coloration to their stomach. Also their fins (dorsal and anal) will usually be a bit less dramatic than the males.

But, all of this depends on age too. Average LFS sells them at about 4-6 months, they are barely starting to develop the hormones for sexing.

If you can get really good pics of them with their fins open, I can try to help. I bred convicts for years and now breed firemouths.

 

[em_witt]

Cool to meet someone that's interested in the same as me!! I'll try for the pics...hold on a min!!