Juvenile Cuban Cichlid Information

mahaffeywj1984

Feeder Fish
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Oct 13, 2024
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Wondering if I could get some help from the collective wisdom on here. On Monday I received my new wet pet Cuban Cichlid. It is about 2-2.5 inches. Currently living its best life in a 40 breeder until it gets a little bigger then an upgrade to a much larger home. I have been trying to do research on sexing them and short of the obligatory posted pic with what sex is this, it’s hard to find info. I am not one to do that, I find that the research is a lot more fun and then I can become that fun guy at parties that talks about fish. I have been on Cichlid Room Companion and I even have Ad Konings Cichlids of Central America, which I know is older but still an awesome book. Still not a lot of info. The internet is a scary place because there are lots of websites with “Care Guides” but I’m usually suspicious of those. So, my question is about the black dot. I have seen people say that females have a black dot, but on videos that I have seen of small juveniles they all look like they have a black dot. Is it just that there are way more females spawned or do all young juveniles have it and it fades over time for males?
 

duanes

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Isla Taboga Panama via Milwaukee
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Above is a young female, about 4 "Her profice is topedo shaped, the melanoin in the dorsal is dark, and so are the rest of her markings.
The male below, has a steeper profile, color in the dorsal os mottled, and genral colors are less dork.
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Males get much large, as is obvious when the paie is together
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Below the female guarding eggs
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Below the males guarding the fry, his colors also darken when in the spawning mode
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My male easily hit 10 ", female 1/3 smaller.
They ruled a 125 gal tank allowing no other fish to live with them.
 
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