Auratus sex

[ashafer]

Is this male or female got it yesterday it was black and little blue with little yellow in fins, now it's almost yellow the lady at the lfs said males are yellow females are black so are the yellow and black one male or female and are black and blue one male or female please helpthose are my two I don't know the sex of

 

[sadaas]

Male is the dark blue and female the yellow golden colour. Think the lady at the shop is a bit misinformed. Juveniles look the same as the females though so depends on the size of yours.

 

[ashafer]

So are both of these female?

 

[ashafer]

Mine are about 3 inches

 

[Steli89]

Venting is the only way to tell. Females can turn blue also, as long as they feel like the dominant fish. Males will remain yellow if the do not feel dominant. So it could be a male or female despite the color.

 

[sadaas]

3 inches is still too small to conclusively tell. At that size the only way to really know for sure is venting.

 

[Steli89]

I have seen a 4 inch female in full male colors before, so color isn't very reliable. You will have to vent.

 

[ashafer]

What do you mean by venting?

 

[sadaas]

It's where you hold the fish upside down and examine the 'vent' by the anus. The female's is large and the male's small. Google it, there's lots of YouTube videos on it and it's easier than you'd expect.

 

[ashafer]

Thanks if it turns out they are 2 females should I just get 1 male?

 

[Steli89]

Auratus are really aggressive cichlids, much more than most other cichlids. I would keep at least 3 or 4 females.

 

[ashafer]

So I got 1 male and 1 female male is the yellow one black one is the male will they let me vent them at jacks pets?

 

[Steli89]

You can ask. They might look at you funny though lol. Depends on how experienced and knowledgeable the place is.