how to tell male from female?
- Thread starter phantomfe3
- Start date
most common way of sexing is the egg spots on the anal fin. But the only 100% way of sexing any cichlid is by venting them, this is done by fliping the fish upside down and looking at the pee pee hole and the pooper hole. If both are the same size it is a male, if the pee pee is larger then the poo poo then it's a female vice versa 
venting is mostly only effective in mouth brooders since their eggs are BIG and therefore the female needs a noticably bigger hole. Even then it can be difficult if the female is a virgin. Most Cichlids have obvious differences but in others you have to look at their behaviour and make an educated guess. Some are close to impossible to sex as juveniles like all Tropheus, angels, Discus and Bolivian Ram's.
as the others say, it can be very very dificult - my adult oscars are inpossible to tell apart, and I'm not prepared to start taking them out of the water to find out.
Some species will naturally form pairs, this helps but in most use the dorsal and anul fin suggestion.
What species are you trying to sex?
Some species will naturally form pairs, this helps but in most use the dorsal and anul fin suggestion.
What species are you trying to sex?
Venting is the only sure-proof method of sexing cichlids. Species such as oscars or angelfish are virtually impossible to sex (outside of spawning) by any other method. Venting works with any type of cichlid, doesn't matter their breeding pattern.
Here's a link that explains it well. (although the author states that you look at the dorsal side of the fish...but as we all know, their anus is on the ventral side)
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/gender.php
Also, it is possible to use this method without actually taking the fish out of the water. After a large feeding, their genital papilla will sometimes distend, allowing you to examine and compare them without disturbing the fish. Males will have a small pointed papilla, and females will have a larger more blunt papilla.
Here's a link that explains it well. (although the author states that you look at the dorsal side of the fish...but as we all know, their anus is on the ventral side)
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/gender.php
Also, it is possible to use this method without actually taking the fish out of the water. After a large feeding, their genital papilla will sometimes distend, allowing you to examine and compare them without disturbing the fish. Males will have a small pointed papilla, and females will have a larger more blunt papilla.