Dwarf Cichlids!

[TheCommunityCichlid]

A female
B male
C female
D female
E male
F female

[Sillyfishies]

My male colored up, and he's chasing the woman(;

[TheCommunityCichlid]

Looks like a nice mikrogeophagus ramirezi!

[Sillyfishies]

Originally Posted by TheCommunityCichlid

Looks like a nice mikrogeophagus ramirezi!

I'm 99% sure they are wild caught. The LFS I bought them from have sold me plenty of wild caught fish, and these definitely look wild caught. Especially my females.

[FWmom]

Aloha! I've recently taken the leap to add two small 1" German Blue Rams to my 20G long tank. They were the only two at the only LFS I totally trust for healthy stock. They swam side by side in the tank, one had prominent black spots (M?), the other had blue dots over faded black spots (F?), but otherwise quite similar. Hoping they were a 'pair' I brought them home. After acclimation and release, they colored up and started foraging for food, basically on their own all over the tank. The supposed female started hanging out on the side I had expected them to stay, a cichlid stone cave with a flat stone and sandy area surrounded by wood and plants. The male would look in, but continued to roam the rest of the tank. Now, it is day five, and I notice the male never changes color, very vibrant. The female pales each time she comes out and gets chased off by the male, but colors back up when they are apart. He always chases her, never the other way around. Yesterday I added a second area on the opposite end of the tank, incase they are not going to pair off, or give them a choice of locations.

My question is... After observation, BOTH fish have pink/purple bellies. Fins are different, but all the online info conflicts in interpretation, except the pink belly. Is this definitive of both these fish being female???

[TheCommunityCichlid]

First ones male the seconds is to hard to tell. Can you get a clearer pictures?

[FWmom]

Thank you TheCommunityCichlid, that is promising news. Here are more pics. First is another one of the 'male' that is at an angle which does not show the pnk belly area, believe me, it is there at a tail-first angle, as in the first pic of the previous post. Pics 2 & 3 are both the suspected female. Sorry so grainy, I only have my phone camera.




Male?



Female?



Female?

[TheCommunityCichlid]

They are defiantly male and female. Males can be a little stressful sometimes if they want to breed and the female doesn't. Sometimes a pair just doesn't work.

[Sillyfishies]

Originally Posted by FWmom

Thank you TheCommunityCichlid, that is promising news. Here are more pics. First is another one of the 'male' that is at an angle which does not show the pnk belly area, believe me, it is there at a tail-first angle, as in the first pic of the previous post. Pics 2 & 3 are both the suspected female. Sorry so grainy, I only have my phone camera.

Male?

Female?

Female?

I would say definitely female and female. There's a lot of inbreeding and bad genetics in blue rams. The only definite way I know to sex is red bellies. And they both of red bellies.

[Wailing Banshee]

My first apistos arrived this morning. I'm in love!

[TheCommunityCichlid]

Originally Posted by Wailing Banshee

My first apistos arrived this morning. I'm in love!

Not an apistogramma but still a dwarf very nice ram!

[TheCommunityCichlid]

Originally Posted by Sillyfishies

I would say definitely female and female. There's a lot of inbreeding and bad genetics in blue rams. The only definite way I know to sex is red bellies. And they both of red bellies.

Red belly is not a defiant sign. The best is to combine multiple signs and then make your assumption. Unless its a big red blushing stomach it doesn't necessarily point female.

[TheCommunityCichlid]

Where did you get your rams fwmom

[Wailing Banshee]

Originally Posted by TheCommunityCichlid

Where did you get your rams fwmom

Here in Florida shipped from Aqua Research Center near Tampa.

[Sillyfishies]

Originally Posted by TheCommunityCichlid

Red belly is not a defiant sign. The best is to combine multiple signs and then make your assumption. Unless its a big red blushing stomach it doesn't necessarily point female.

Well both of them have red bellies, rounded foreheads, and black on the bottom fins. Which are all female characteristics.

[TheCommunityCichlid]

Originally Posted by Sillyfishies

Well both of them have red bellies, rounded foreheads, and black on the bottom fins. Which are all female characteristics.

In low quality rams (No offense fwmom, this is why I asked where you got them from. I would recommend not buying from there again) colors are the worst way to sex. Also black on the fins is not a way to tell sex. The "male" doesn't have a bright belly like the female does. Also his black dot has no sparkles in it, females does. Third he has the very pronounced dorsal spike and his fins scream male. Finnage is the best way to sex. Even after looking at the pictures multiple times still think they are male and female.

[Sillyfishies]

Originally Posted by TheCommunityCichlid

In low quality rams (No offense fwmom, this is why I asked where you got them from. I would recommend not buying from there again) colors are the worst way to sex. Also black on the fins is not a way to tell sex. The "male" doesn't have a bright belly like the female does. Also his black dot has no sparkles in it, females does. Third he has the very pronounced dorsal spike and his fins scream male. Finnage is the best way to sex. Even after looking at the pictures multiple times still think they are male and female.

In low quality rams the dot is worse way to tell. This is the case even in high quality rams (not wild caught).

And tbh I was only looking at the last 2 pictures (which were the same fish lol) and didnt realize there was one above it. And looking at it I still think it could be a female. But male is a possibility too.

The only way to tell is to tube em! ( can u tube dwarfs?)

[TheCommunityCichlid]

I wouldn't tube a dwarf lol.

[jwh0818]

Originally Posted by TheCommunityCichlid

I wouldn't tube a dwarf lol.

Whats tubing a dwarf mean?

[Sillyfishies]

Originally Posted by jwh0818

Whats tubing a dwarf mean?

Well to tell the sex of mbuna you could flip them over and check their breeding tubes.