Amatitlania septemfasciata

[Hybridfish7]

So I bought two juvies awhile back, and am wondering whether or not both are female. They are both around an inch, one being about a quarter of an inch longer than the other. The smaller of the two is definitely a female, she has a bright orange belly. The larger one however is more confusing. It has the purple fins reminiscent of a male, but then a little orange blotch around its pectoral fin. I'll try to get pictures in a second.

 

[jonclark96]

At 1", your fish are still quite young and it could be difficult to gender at this point. I've only kept septemfaciatus once (and still have a trio), but i did not notice any orange bellies on my females. This is typically only seen in the convict species (nigrofaciatus, siquia, kanna). My female septemfaciatus have a black blotch in their dorsal fin, while the males do not. Once they get some size on them, there is a significant size difference in the females, similar to other cryptoheros/amatitlania species like sajica and myrnae. My male septemfaciatus is 4-5", the females are half his size.

 

[duanes]

Although the cichlids below re myrnae, they are very close cousins, and gender differences are basically the same.
Female below note the color in the dorsal


now a male

not the lack of color in the dorsal

and note the shape of his head compared to the female
below pair together


and obviously, at the same age, the males will grow much larger

 

[Hybridfish7]

I should have also specified these are the f1 Rio cornitos from Max cichlids, (their mother pictured below)

So I do expect an orange/blue belly at some point in their lives. Their father is a pinkish purple
If I get two females I'll be fine with that because they're still gorgeous, and if I get a pair that's obviously the main intention and I will be ecstatic. It is a win win situation
Both of them however are not showing dorsal spots yet. My size estimates were also wrong, they are closer to 1.75-1.5 inches each.