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Xenotilapia spilopterus


gianniz

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Hi, I have a couple of these beauty and I was wondering if there are any way to sex these fish? I read from "ask Pam" that these biparental fish are impossible to sex :( is this true?

cause I read a post from gparkes that he can sex them apart!

any info will be appreciated.

ps mine always hang out together, and seems like the smaller one is more dominant.

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Grant is right. You may notice if you observe very carefully, usually once you know what the sexes are once they have bred, that the males anal fin is ever so slightly more pointed that the females. But it is very subtle. Also, its often hard to tell when younger females are holding because of the natural shape and disposition of their mouths, and small number of eggs. Unlike mbuna where is is pretty obvious. I found the first couple of spawns, the only real visual clue was the lack of feeding. Even then, as she matured she worked out how to eat food and not her fry at the same time. Maybe a virtue of being a sandsifter. As they get bigger they have larger batches and its a bit more visible. They have quite large buccal cavities.

cheers,

Jason

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It doesnt help that males display to each other as well as the females!! What about the little black dots they get on their anal fin?

My flavs are holding ATM and the male is now tumbling the eggs. But last night while watching I saw the male eat (3mm NLS) I thought craP! he's eaten the fry, but hrs later and the following morning, he is still tumbling?

Curious,

Ben

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But last night while watching I saw the male eat (3mm NLS) I thought craP! he's eaten the fry,

Have they been breeding before, or is this there first time? If they have had experience some cichlids develop the ability to consume small amounts of food from time to time which helps them regain there strength faster.

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