The festae looks male to me, too much spangling in the tail. And males can have alittle black on their dorsal, but females have a large patch. Not simply one dot.
I could be wrong, but in IMO male.
I could be wrong, but in IMO male.
festae and synspilum sexing
- Thread starter Jonnycichlid6
- Start date
above a male and female, below two females
now below a male, note the steep profile compared to the females more torpedo shape.
above a male and female, below two females
now below a male, note the steep profile compared to the females more torpedo shape.
Mine def has the torpedo shaped head , for mow at least. So you’re still thinking it’s a female then despite the lack of large black pigmentation on dorsal fin?
The females in my pics are about 5", the male 10-12".
Yours seems very young, and if so, it could be an immature male.
You may need to accept that patience will be needed.
If it is the only Festae in the tank, there are other things that come into play.
Lone females sometimes show male dominance traits. Lone males where another more dominant cichlid is in the tank sometimes show female traits.
When I put one of the females (from my pics above) into a tank without a male festae, it went generically dark, and drab, but being mature the dorsal dark area is still visible .
within moments of putting her back with a male, she brightened up
There are many variables in how a cichlid presents itself, age, tank mates, substrate, etc etc, and sometimes fewer, and often hidden absolutes.
Yours seems very young, and if so, it could be an immature male.
You may need to accept that patience will be needed.
If it is the only Festae in the tank, there are other things that come into play.
Lone females sometimes show male dominance traits. Lone males where another more dominant cichlid is in the tank sometimes show female traits.
When I put one of the females (from my pics above) into a tank without a male festae, it went generically dark, and drab, but being mature the dorsal dark area is still visible .
within moments of putting her back with a male, she brightened up
There are many variables in how a cichlid presents itself, age, tank mates, substrate, etc etc, and sometimes fewer, and often hidden absolutes.
The females in my pics are about 5", the male 10-12".
Yours seems very young, and if so, it could be an immature male.
You may need to accept that patience will be needed.
If it is the only Festae in the tank, there are other things that come into play.
Lone females sometimes show male dominance traits. Lone males where another more dominant cichlid is in the tank sometimes show female traits.
When I put one of the females (from my pics above) into a tank without a male festae, it went generically dark, and drab, but being mature the dorsal dark area is still visible .
There are many variables in how a cichlid presents itself, age, tank mates, substrate, etc etc, and sometimes fewer, and often hidden absolutes.
Thanks for the awesome explanation. Much appreciated. We shall see what happens
The females in my pics are about 5", the male 10-12".
Yours seems very young, and if so, it could be an immature male.
You may need to accept that patience will be needed.
If it is the only Festae in the tank, there are other things that come into play.
Lone females sometimes show male dominance traits. Lone males where another more dominant cichlid is in the tank sometimes show female traits.
When I put one of the females (from my pics above) into a tank without a male festae, it went generically dark, and drab, but being mature the dorsal dark area is still visible .
There are many variables in how a cichlid presents itself, age, tank mates, substrate, etc etc, and sometimes fewer, and often hidden absolutes.
What do u think now? Male or female?
He/she is around 4 inches
