Male or female Jack Dempsey Cichlid?

[Ace of Honey]

Hey guys, this is my first post. I am new here, I encountered this page upon doing research on my fish. A bit of background: my brother passed away recently and he was a fish enthusiast. He had several fish that upon his passing needed a home. So almost a year later and here I am endlessly buying bigger fish tank setups, aquarium gear, and researching a ton! He left me a couple fish that have me scratching my head in confusion. Specifically 3 fish that I either don't know the species or this one in particular that I don't know the sex. It is a Jack Dempsey and it is BEAUTIFUL. But I do not know if it is a male or female! It is driving me nuts! Based on what I have read I BELIEVE it's a female. What do you all think?

View attachment 1538007

 

[SilverArowanaBoi]

I want to say male because of the coloration, but then again, I'm not sure. I'm not an expert at gender identification for fish, perhaps these guys could help: duanes , tlindsey , Deadeye .

Also, as a side note, I think you should put that JD in a quarantine tank until its fins grow back, the fins look pretty rough. I looks like he is w/ African cichlids, and that isn't a good pairing. American cichlids need to stay with American cichlids, and African cichlids need to stay with African cichlids. I would seriously consider moving the JD to another tank or moving the Africans.

 

[Deadeye]

Welcome to the forum! So sorry to hear about your brother.

I would say that you have a really good looking male Dempsey. It’s got thick blue bearding, but it usually if fully continuous on a female. Furthermore, it has the concave head and pointy snout of the male.
My male to compare:

 

[Ace of Honey]

I want to say male because of the coloration, but then again, I'm not sure. I'm not an expert at gender identification for fish, perhaps these guys could help: duanes , tlindsey , Deadeye .

Also, as a side note, I think you should put that JD in a quarantine tank until its fins grow back, the fins look pretty rough. I looks like he is w/ African cichlids, and that isn't a good pairing. American cichlids need to stay with American cichlids, and African cichlids need to stay with African cichlids. I would seriously consider moving the JD to another tank or moving the Africans.

Nice catch! I have actually fixed this issue with my Demsey but yes you are right he was going through a tough patch with my CONVICTS! That's how my brother had them so I kept them like this for a while but then started noticing some bullying. The Dempsey was eating some of the smaller Convicts so I isolated him for 3/4days while I moved around everything in the tank so they would all stop being so territorial. The Dempsey did stop eating the convicts BUT as the Convict males grew they got more and more aggressive with the Dempsey. And of course they started mating, making life more impossible for the Dempsey.

Sooo.... I left the convicts in their own 75gal and I have the Dempsey with the Africans in a for now 75gal tank but I'm looking for an upgrade as they will all outgrow the space sooner rather than later. Regardless, since I made the move, he's been really happy. Unfortunately these pictures are not up to date (just what I had in my gallery) and don't show him post move, as you can see the convicts making cameo's in most of the pictures. But he's made big improvements. His upper fin has started growing out quite beautifully. I notice he is happier and enjoys the peace and quiet. It's actually a very calm tank. Surprisingly! Once I started doing research I was hesitant on having him stay with the Africans too but I also didn't want to leave him in a tank on his own, and given the number of fish I already have... Don't want to buy anymore for the time being. And that being one of my brothers favorites, I'm reluctant to let him go.... So here we are. A true conundrum! I've heard other fish keepers that have been able to keep African and central American fish like this together with minimal issues so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for the best while keeping a close eye on them. I do notice he has different habits then the Africans, maybe due to difference in origin location...? My Dempsey prefers a lower light setting, the Africans don't seem to mind either way. And the Demps prefers darker caves and nook's, he's very territorial too. He has a cave that I tailored for him and though he will allow some of the Africans to enter when he's in there, he will let it be known when he wants to be alone.

As the Africans grow the bumblebee is actually becoming one of the more dominant ones but even he stays away from the Dempsey. Needless to say Demps rules the roost here but yet isn't very aggressive or confrontational. It's odd, his presence is known and it's just that, no one really messes with him .....

I honestly still haven't figured out what the long term for Demps is. If he stays healthy and happy I think he might stay with the Africans...? Again not sure but I'll be playing it by ear.

 

[Ace of Honey]

As for the gender identification.... I was reading about the blue beard being an indicator for a female Dempsey? So I was under the impression that it might be a female because it has so much blue around the eye and gill plate. I read the females have more of a blotch and males have more spread out like dotted sparkle. I'll add newer pictures in a couple hours so you guys can see how he's developed, I'm clearly an amateur and have no idea I'm just trying to research so your gender identification is better than mine!

Also thank you for the condolences and the help/ advice. Much appreciated

 

[Ace of Honey]

Welcome to the forum! So sorry to hear about your brother.

I would say that you have a really good looking male Dempsey. It’s got thick blue bearding, but it usually if fully continuous on a female. Furthermore, it has the concave head and pointy snout of the male.
My male to compare:
View attachment 1538045

I was so sure Demps was a female due to the coloration! Dang, I'm new at this so it's all a blur when it comes to the compact/continuous color vs the not continuous/ spotted coloring. Such different variation of this are out there it's so hard to tell! But I do see what you mean about the concaved head and snout. Your comparison picture really was a huge help! Thank you!
Just wondering how big/ old is your JD? When I received mine he was maybe 3inches and has grown an inch or two. The pictures in my gallery are from September-ish. I'll add a couple new ones just so you guys can see his growth.
Again, Thank you. I appreciate your help and information. I have Soo many questions! I'll be adding a few more posts, hope to hear from you again!

 

[tlindsey]

Hey guys, this is my first post. I am new here, I encountered this page upon doing research on my fish. A bit of background: my brother passed away recently and he was a fish enthusiast. He had several fish that upon his passing needed a home. So almost a year later and here I am endlessly buying bigger fish tank setups, aquarium gear, and researching a ton! He left me a couple fish that have me scratching my head in confusion. Specifically 3 fish that I either don't know the species or this one in particular that I don't know the sex. It is a Jack Dempsey and it is BEAUTIFUL. But I do not know if it is a male or female! It is driving me nuts! Based on what I have read I BELIEVE it's a female. What do you all think?View attachment 1538005View attachment 1538004View attachment 1538005View attachment 1538008View attachment 1538006

View attachment 1538007View attachment 1538009View attachment 1538010View attachment 1538011View attachment 1538012View attachment 1538013View attachment 1538014View attachment 1538015View attachment 1538016View attachment 1538017View attachment 1538018View attachment 1538019View attachment 1538020View attachment 1538021View attachment 1538022View attachment 1538023View attachment 1538024

Welcome aboard

 

[Ace of Honey]

As for the gender identification.... I was reading about the blue beard being an indicator for a female Dempsey? So I was under the impression that it might be a female because it has so much blue around the eye and gill plate. I read the females have more of a blotch and males have more spread out like dotted sparkle. I'll add newer pictures in a couple hours so you guys can see how he's developed, I'm clearly an amateur and have no idea I'm just trying to research so your gender identification is better than mine!

Also thank you for the condolences and the help/ advice. Much appreciated

About the coloration..... I was noticing on my pictures that Demps can go from light with faint "sparkles" to dark with very vibrant "sparkles" why is that? I know it's not stress, when he's stressed the coloration is very different. He gets dark in color and the "sparkles" are not vibrant. Is that what some people refer to as "mating dress"..?
Sorry I'm adding questions galore, I'm picking your guy's collective brain as much as you'll allow!

 

[duanes]

Because of the blue area of coloration visible on the lower jaw, this usually indicates your JD is female.

 

[Ace of Honey]

Welcome aboard

Thank you!