I got my WC pair when the male was probably 5 inches. He really began to shine with color and streamers at about 6-7 inches. My avatar is when I first got him.
WHAT SIZE DID YOUR UMBEE START GETTING SOME NICE COLOR
- Thread starter Aquatik
- Start date
I have 10 in a 125. so the bigger ones are the males and smaller ones are females right? I ask cause I have heard so many different things when sexing Umbee, can get so confusing, every cichlid I have owned the males grow faster so that is what I'm assuming
^ Not necessarily but usually males do grow faster. This is not a reliable way of sexing groups of small fish because dominant females that have stronger genes and get more food might outgrow sub-dominant males from the same spawn, not only in Umbee but any other species, so you might end up mistaking less developed males for females. I've seen Umbee that were thought to be female but started developing dominant male traits once separated from the group.
You won't really be able to sex them until they are about 4", sometimes a little bigger.
Here's a side by side comparison of my young breeding pair (they are roughly the same size). You can see the male has a much stronger profile, much more color and well developed fin trailers.
Of course you can always vent them. But that can be tricky with small fish as well.
You won't really be able to sex them until they are about 4", sometimes a little bigger.
Here's a side by side comparison of my young breeding pair (they are roughly the same size). You can see the male has a much stronger profile, much more color and well developed fin trailers.
Of course you can always vent them. But that can be tricky with small fish as well.
Interesting, I would think the dominace of males out way females by alot, but I have now seen how dominate my female Trimac is. if she didn't have the two black spots on her dorsal I would assume she was male for sure. Yet she has no male Trimac with her, my male is alone, but if I put my male in with her there is no way she would be dominate over him! So your saying one of the big ones could be a female? That is why the stories of people growing Umbee thinking there male only to find eggs! I'm not saying I think your wrong but I find that really hard to believe males in my experience have always been bigger and act like males and vise versa when in a group and grown from fry.
Usually because males are larger it would appear to us that females are "weak" or less dominant but that is not the case, female Cichlids can be just as aggressive and dominant as males. There's several members here that have raised groups of different species (Festae and Istlanum come to mind) only to end up with a single female that killed all of her siblings, this is not common but it does happen. The size difference between both sexes becomes even bigger after they reach sexual maturity (and pairs start forming) because females spend so much energy producing eggs that it slows down their growth.
The reason why you can't assume all of the largest fish from your group are males is because there's too many variables that can affect the growth of a fish. For example, once a pecking order is established between young fish, the dominant males and females will start eating more (and developing faster) and bullying the weaker fish, thus leaving them behind in size. And because all of the fish from the same parents are not genetically identical, you will always have females that grow faster and males that grow slower than the rest - just like you might be older than your brother but smaller in size, even though you come from the same parents. Size alone isn't and never has been a reliable method of sexing young cichlids.
No offense, and not saying that your wrong but by the questions you've asked and statements you've made, doesn't sound like your very experienced to me. I've grown hundreds of fish from different species from fry to juvies and some into adulthood. I've come to the conclusion that its almost 50/50 on which sex grows the fastest. Seems to me that it always comes down to each individual fish reguardless of sex, on who becomes dominant. Just when you think its very easy to sex something, you get a phenomenal female that throws you a loop and looks like a male. For example; my current umbee female, I sexed as male until it was 4.5-5" at which I was able to distinguish.
To get fish to color up at small sizes has a lot to do with how well you care for your fish; water quality, amount of water changes, food quality, feeding schedule, possible tankmates, and dont forget genetics. I've had male umbees color up like an adult as small as 3.5-4" and then some took till 10".
Yay must be doing something right then, I really want a pair of umbees too see how they act together any one want to give a jab what size is unsafe to add other umbees? I read with dovii once they hit 6-8 inch if kept alone until that size its very hard to add others in hope for a pair where as a Serv or Oscar has a higher % of allowing a mate. not sure how true this is.
FWP, no offense taken I am not very experienced I have been keeping sa/CA for only about. 3 years. That info you guys have given me is crazy just made me enjoy keeping them way more, makes having a beautiful pair even more of a prize! Now I will have to keep all of them for longer, I was gonna thin them out a bit but do.tt want to pick the wrong ones. My wAter and feeding is very good, the only thing is I have a mean add female Trimac in there with them and is running the tank and I feel is restricting the Umbee, they way they act and color up, so I will be removing her tonight and see if I get some different results. Appreciate the dose of knowledge guys. There from Rapps so I hope I get a beautiful pair out of them, crossing my fingers.
