Dimidiochromis Compressiceps sexing???

[tiger15]

This is what a male should look like, my formerly owned compressep. It colored out very late, at 8+ inch.

 

[tiger15]

This is what a male should look like, my formerly owned compressep. It colored out very late, at 8+ inch.

When I bought my current compressep at 2 inch, it was the tank boss showing hyperactive color similar to the one in the video. But two weeks after setting in my tank, the color is gone along with fading hormone effect. I never like buying fish with hormone treatment, but wholesellers do it regularly with Haps nowadays. I once bought a hormone treated OB Victorian cichlid that showed hyperactive male color, only to lay eggs with another hap a few weeks later after hormone coloring effect faded away. I still hope that my current compressep is a male but I am not certain it is or it is a male that will never color up again due to hormone damage.

 

[tiger15]

I have an update pic of my compressiceps. It’s a definitely a male as he has colored up losing the juvenile/female stripe pattern. So my venting interpretation is correct. The color is subtle, not as intense as in hyperactive male, not yet as is not the dominant fish. It’s about 9 inch and taken more than 1.5 year to shed the female pattern.

 

[tiger15]

The transformation was abrupt, just 2 days after it shed its female image, it turned hyperactive and colored up intensely, challenging its tanmates that used to bully it. I am surprised that it took a long time (1.5 year) and large size (9") before it finally colored up.