I believe in general CA cichlid species males grow faster than females...I know there were some experiments done on sex determination in midas cichlid on whether or not it was social interactions that caused the biggest fry to mature as males....whatever the reason the bottom line I get is that in a group such as yours and mine that were observed starting out the same size the fish that are growing the biggest are males...yours does not have a male pattern yet but based on growth and size relative to the others I would not get rid of if you are looking for a male...to me pattern aside it does have a male look...will be interested in following your fishes development also...
Jag growth thread....
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I believe in general CA cichlid species males grow faster than females...I know there were some experiments done on sex determination in midas cichlid on whether or not it was social interactions that caused the biggest fry to mature as males....whatever the reason the bottom line I get is that in a group such as yours and mine that were observed starting out the same size the fish that are growing the biggest are males...yours does not have a male pattern yet but based on growth and size relative to the others I would not get rid of if you are looking for a male...to me pattern aside it does have a male look...will be interested in following your fishes development also...
Thanks....the biggest looks to be at least around 1.25 inch with the smallest just under an inch...70 days post hatch...since they are very responsive to eat I will try to post a pic with a ruler in the water...don't want to take them out to measure in order to not make them skittish...
Thanks...and that thing would not sink for nothing...lucky I had an old base I was able to nail it to....
After reading this thread and and a few others on SA cichlids, am I correct in assuming that males tend to be the rarer of the two sexes? I'm talking about from one spawn from a breeding pair like yours and also in general?
I ask because I just got 2 jags about 3 weeks ago, with one being @ 4" and the other about 5" and I'm hoping they'll turn out to be one male and one female. Both have grown about an inch in that time and are starting to adjust to their new home. They're still quite shy when I approach the tank and don't seem to want to be photographed or I'd post pics to get opinions one their sex.
I ask because I just got 2 jags about 3 weeks ago, with one being @ 4" and the other about 5" and I'm hoping they'll turn out to be one male and one female. Both have grown about an inch in that time and are starting to adjust to their new home. They're still quite shy when I approach the tank and don't seem to want to be photographed or I'd post pics to get opinions one their sex.
Thanks..I don't think male jags are more rare in terms of what develops from a spawn...its just that they are the more desired of the two sexes with people keeping them more so when they have the chance...The male in most SA/CA cichlids is larger more colorful more brutish looking than the female and more of what most people want if they are looking for one show fish of that species.(female festaes being one exception in terms of color).The pattern of a top notch male jag makes it a bad@#$ looking fish. I originally did not want a pair just a male for my 120 gal.I have a pair only because the first one I got turned out to be female.I continued looking out for one until I got a male and the rest is history.. I have since gained greater appreciation for female managuense as I think mine looks very good prior to spawninig and during fry tending...usually when trying to get a pair the best way is to get 5 or 6 juvies and let them pair off naturally then sell/trade get rid of the ones you don't want...I will post some pics of my male and female when they were the size that yours are now to give you an idea of what to look for...good luck....
Great looking jags. Both of mine look like the first pic of the female most of the time. They do however have a lot of spotting on the face and lower jaw area, expecially the larger one. The larger jag is starting to develope more spotting on the rest of its body, but from looking at your pics I'm guessing I have two females. Hopefully time will prove differently.
