luis Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Years ago I started with a big group of saulosi with the intention of reaching 1m/4f, which I did. That is until one of those 4f matured and turned out to be a male as well and I had to go down to 1m/3f.Here is the largest female, she's older than the dominant male and about the same size now. Is it normal for a dominant female to have a bit of blue showing?Or even black bars and edging on fins when she gets a bit more stressed.On the one hand I'm thinking it could be a male in disguise but on the other hand things are quite peaceful, nothing like when I had the other male start to mature and all hell break loose.For comparison here is one of my other females who is always just yellow.Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimB Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Has happened to mine before, one female made the full transition to a pale blue with dark barring, like a male but with less intense colours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DFishkeeper Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 I agree, I have had dominant female mbuna including saulosi show a paler imitation of male colouring and even become territorial.If you want to make sure Luis, turn her upside down and vent sex her. At that size the vent behind her anus should be obviously bigger than the one on the male.Cheers, Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vadnappa Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 My current breeding colony of Saulosi is 6 male 15 female. There is a dominant male and if you turn the light on at night the other males are fully coloured up when sleeping, about a month ago one of the females looks just like your first pic. Blueish tinge, darker dorsal and egg spot. But at a glance blends in with all the other bright yellow females. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luis Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Thanks for the feedback all. Looks like the consensus is it's just a dominant female. I guess someone always has to be next in the pecking order! I have thought of vent sexing but I am loathe to take out all the rocks and stress the fish just so I can know for sure. I've even tried to sneak a peek when they're hanging around waiting to be fed but that hasn't worked out so well yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxib Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Female being harrassed to breed but is unwilling. Adopts male coloration to deter him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellow Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 It's just an old female, nothing to worry about.Side note, do you own the Afra in your profile pic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luis Posted April 3, 2015 Author Share Posted April 3, 2015 You are probably right.. Normally I wouldn't care but my dominant male saulosi is rarely all coloured up so I was wondering if it had anything to do with this fish.. But then again he is a bit of a wuss, always first to go into hiding and last to come out.The profile pic is my cobue male, he's awesome and always looking good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luis Posted April 18, 2015 Author Share Posted April 18, 2015 Ok, let's play a game. I think it's pretty obvious but since it's my first time doing this it would be good if someone could confirm.A)B)C)D) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 FemaleFemaleFemaleMale. The second last one could be male. Have any bred before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxib Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 Now thats some close up private parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luis Posted April 19, 2015 Author Share Posted April 19, 2015 @Josh: they have bred before but quite a while ago, before I removed the previous dominant male. This one has matured but doesn't seem to get any traction with the ladies.The 3rd pic is the fish that I originally made this post about.@maxib: ha ha, yes. Maybe I should've put a warning at the top of the post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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