D. compressicep holding or sick???

[sephir420]

my Dimidiochromis compressicep which is or atleas i think is a male looks like it might be holding. ?? it is aprox 6"-7" it dose have some color on its dorsal fin and on it ainal fin. inda a red orange color but not a whole lot. i have another d. compressicep that is about 3"-4" that also only has this red orange color on its dorsal fin. the larger one hasent eaten for about 2 days now and the soft area under his (her) jaw is bulging alittle and sometimes it looks like he(she) is swishing it around like it is tumbling. i wish i had a decent cam so i could take a pic. any opinions? iv alway hear that the females dont get color. maby im wrong or just misunderstood. im hoping its not sick. and if it is female can that small of a male be sexualy active?

any info would be grately apreciated.

 

[piranha45]

ive never seen a gravid d. comp, but it sounds like that's what yours is. Male d.comps get blue/turquoise in color from 3" up, females stay silver/black-striped (but they do have orange-tipped dorsal fins).

i dunno why she'd be holding though if they're both females... maybe the smaller one is a male who just hasn't gotten his color yet...

 

[straitjacketstar]

Sounds like you definately have a female holding. You most likely have a young male, not coloured up yet as mentioned above or you might have a fish in there that the D. compressiceps could have hybridized with. Not all that common with D. comps but it happens.