thought all my cobalt blue cichlids were males!?!?

[mariah]

I just did a water change on my 55 gallon tank. I found a blue cichlid baby.. it had blue and was quite big. Wondering how old it was? When i turned my filter back on, he popped out. I do have a picture of the baby. I also have a picture of all five of the cobalt blue cichlids. I have to do those pictures later though since i took it on a camera and have to upload them. They all have yellow dots on their back fin!? I had a female yellow lab but she was rehomed a while ago. I thought i was in the clear. Any suggestions??

 

[SonicsDC25]

I wouldn't judge a cichlid's gender from whether they have any egg spots or not, there are VERY few species that have males with egg spots and females don't.

 

[mariah]

I wouldn't judge a cichlid's gender from whether they have any egg spots or not, there are VERY few species that have males with egg spots and females don't.

How would you tell the gender then??

 

[SonicsDC25]

Try venting them, check out this vid from YouTube

 

[mariah]

I wouldn't judge a cichlid's gender from whether they have any egg spots or not, there are VERY few species that have males with egg spots and females don't.

The two pictures with two in them is the same fish i think... i think i got all five of them. Does this help any? For my yellow labs. They all had dots but one. Thought she was a female and after two batches of babies oh confirmed it

 

[mariah]

Try venting them, check out this vid from YouTube

I can't vent haha. I am un able to do it

 

[SonicsDC25]

In those pics they look like males to me (though I have no personal experience with them), but best bet is to try to catch them and vent them for a 100% accurate answer

 

[mariah]

In those pics they look like males to me (though I have no personal experience with them), but best bet is to try to catch them and vent them for a 100% accurate answer

I can not handle the feel of a fish hahaha! Yes i know they all look like males!! That's why i was like WHATTT! It was blue so it has to be them. There isn't even any other females that I KNOW OF

 

[SonicsDC25]

I can not handle the feel of a fish hahaha! Yes i know they all look like males!! That's why i was like WHATTT! It was blue so it has to be them. There isn't even any other females that I KNOW OF

Lol yeah my wife feels the same way, the most she'll do is hand feed them and have them nibble at her fingers, hopefully someone with experience with these guys can chime in with some insight

 

[nathanden]

the last picture looks like a female to me

 

[mariah]

the last picture looks like a female to me

Why do you say that?

 

[nathanden]

looks smaller and not as bright as the rest but I am not an expert by any means

 

[Wy Renegade]

So truthfully without venting or finding one holding, it is impossible to tell. However, if I were going to guess, I would have guessed the 5th one as well. It has only a single egg spot, also, it looks totally harassed (like a female being chased by four males). However that is a complete guess - venting is really the only way you can tell for sure with Cobalt blues.

 

[mariah]

So truthfully without venting or finding one holding, it is impossible to tell. However, if I were going to guess, I would have guessed the 5th one as well. It has only a single egg spot, also, it looks totally harassed (like a female being chased by four males). However that is a complete guess - venting is really the only way you can tell for sure with Cobalt blues.

That one is one of the small ones. It is the darkest cobalt other then the one with stripes. I have NO IDEA.. BUT i might recall the mouth on the higher one being bigger...? I don't know. I do remember thinking maybe it was about 2 months ago?? :/ how old is that baby do you think? It had blue coloring already

The biggest fish in picture 2 and 4 is the one i believe it was

 

[Wy Renegade]

That one is one of the small ones. It is the darkest cobalt other then the one with stripes. I have NO IDEA.. BUT i might recall the mouth on the higher one being bigger...? I don't know. I do remember thinking maybe it was about 2 months ago?? :/ how old is that baby do you think? It had blue coloring already

The biggest fish in picture 2 and 4 is the one i believe it was

Could be, but without catching it in the act of brooding or venting, you are not going to know for sure.. Hard to say how old it is, since growth will vary depending on how much food it has been getting.

 

[cheryldooley]

The first pic with the pale blue has a rounded dorsal fin, the others have pointed. That's another way to tell but not always accurate.

 

[mariah]

Could be, but without catching it in the act of brooding or venting, you are not going to know for sure.. Hard to say how old it is, since growth will vary depending on how much food it has been getting.

It would have eaten every day. I have been feeding flakes for the last two months ish. My pellets are expired so i only feed every so often them