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?
Juvenile Cuban Cichlid Information
- Thread starter mahaffeywj1984
- Start date
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.
Males get much large, as is obvious when the paie is together
Below the female guarding eggs
Below the males guarding the fry, his colors also darken when in the spawning mode
My male easily hit 10 ", female 1/3 smaller.
They ruled a 125 gal tank allowing no other fish to live with them.
So, mine has a dark spot in the dorsal area on both sides. It isn’t very dark though, it looks like it is faded.
When young its hard to tell, because colors are not set, and head profile has yet to develope, like this 2" juvie
Post a pic of yours, it may clear things up a bit.
Below a maie.
Compare to the slope of the cranial profile above, to the less steep female profile below.
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Post a pic of yours, it may clear things up a bit.
Below a maie.
Compare to the slope of the cranial profile above, to the less steep female profile below.
\
Too young to determine sex at this point.
If I was forced to take a guess, i'd say looks male,but....that could easily change as maturiy and true colors develop.
If I was forced to take a guess, i'd say looks male,but....that could easily change as maturiy and true colors develop.
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Thank you, I now know what to look for as he/she grows in size. That was the main point of this post. Although, there was the curiosity of what I had. Appreciate the information and the amazing pictures.