will a male venustus be able to breed with larger females?

[Foti]

hello i never thought it to be an problem till i seen the 2 males that were in with the female when i bought them! they were quit big much bigger than females

my male is the same size as the smallest female but the other 2 females are bigger just

so my question is would it be a problem with them breeding? since he is not bigger?

since males grow larger than females im sure in afew more months he will be bigger than the females but will he have to wait till then ?

i might be able to purchase one of the 2 males but not to sure since they would be from the same batch/parents as tmy male is different blood line to females would be good to breed

not in a rush to breed them but would like to know peoples oppinon (would be good if they did tho!)

[noxious_nasties]

As far as I know if the male is mature then there should be no problem with

any breeding to occur.

Cheers,

John

[Foti]

As far as I know if the male is mature then there should be no problem with

any breeding to occur.

Cheers,

John

mature meaning coloured up ?

if so yes his face is blue with the gold strip on his forhead but his body changes from yellow with that blue ting, to that gold and dark markings they start off with!

thank you for your help

[noxious_nasties]

I'm not sure how you can tell with venustus as I've never kept them, but I'd

say generally when cichlids colour up they would probably be close to

maturity if not already at it. This obviously wouldn't be for all cichlids though.

If you see him courting with a female or attempting to then thats probably

another sign of a mature male.

John

[dobbin4]

I've had males breed from 12/13cm,, so your fellow should be courting the girls

Females seem to breed much smaller than the male.

Its age not size that counts.

[Pilly]

I've had males breed from 12/13cm,, so your fellow should be courting the girls

Females seem to breed much smaller than the male.

Its age not size that counts.

As above i have had spawns from 12cm fish. They did not hold term at that size but the eggs were fertile. They were basically practicing.

If you have a male over 10cms and in colour i think he will be fertile and there wont be a problem spawning them even with much bigger females. These are a truly colourful hap in spawning mode. A sub dominant male will make him display better but will be beaten up in a small tank. I sold my colony recently to a budding breeder and have missed then ever since. They can be quite agressive towards themselves and especially other species at spawning time. I have had some males though that were pussy cats and others that were pitt bulls.

[Foti]

I have had some males though that were pussy cats and others that were pitt bulls.

yes i had a total of 5 of them lol they all ended up being males this was the only one that was not aggressive out of the bunch which develpt late so kept him!

tank is 6foot with 14 2 of them being cuckoo cats