Sexing Jack Dempsey

[Deadeye]

There’s no damage yet, but I would expect that to start pretty soon. Best to separate now.

 

[pix57]

Thank you

 

[Milingu]

I would say they look like males. Females generally have a more rounded forehead, and would have much more blue.
Two of the same gender for any cichlid can be problematic.

I don't know about the head shape, but they both have blue till the bottom of the gill plate which is usually a female trait (I know, in some strains it is less prominent). The blue in the body does not say much since they can control how much blue they show. They tend to show less when stressed or during certain phases of courting and breeding.

Here is a good example for male and female

The Cichlid Dojo on Instagram: "Rocio Octofasciata "Jack Dempsey" male and female breeders ☑️☑️ **DM if interested"

340 likes, 13 comments - the_cichlid_dojo on February 26, 2024: "Rocio Octofasciata "Jack Dempsey" male and female breeders ☑️☑️ **DM if interested".

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Do two females in a tank have problems? Will they try kill each other ?

In general two females (without a male present) tend to be less problematic than two males, but there is no guaranty that it works. If your are lucky they even might pair up.

But in this small tank size, no matter if two males or two females, I would do what Deadeye said and not take the risk and rehome one of them, before it gets problematic.

There’s no damage yet, but I would expect that to start pretty soon. Best to separate now.

 

[Deadeye]

I don't know about the head shape, but they both have blue till the bottom of the gill plate which is usually a female trait (I know, in some strains it is less prominent). The blue in the body does not say much since they can control how much blue they show. They tend to show less when stressed or during certain phases of courting and breeding.

I should have specified - I meant blue bearding as opposed to overall blue.
My male has a lot of blue bearding though, so I am not always keen to using that alone as an identifier (I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the captive bred Dempseys may have some EBJD in them).

 

[newworld]

Ive noticed that the blue “beard” was a pretty accurate sex determination in the past but with with inbreeding and the electric varieties it isn't that clear. Ive had cenote dempseys that both sexes had alot of blue making it hard to tell male/female…small area less new blood?

 

[Jexnell]

Here is a good Pic of this blue bearding.
It's not the blue dots, but you can see how portions of the "skin" itself is blue. And the females are more egg shaped. With the mouth area like the pointy end of an egg. The males are more elongated.
Yes it's an EB but still has the standard body shape.
Here they are side by side. You can she how the female is more compact egg shaped vs the elongation the male has.