H. Carpintis “Escondido”

[danotaylor]

This thread will be dedicated to my carpintis pair. I believe they are male & female given the body/head shape.

At present they’re in a 125gal with some tropheus that I have sold & being picked up early Feb. The carpintis were 1.25 & 1.5” when I bought them and have grown up with this group of tropheus.

They wound up together kinda by accident when I bought them for my wife (her fav fish) but hadn’t thought through housing them very well.
The could have gone into the 470gal w my Mdoka group, but they were too small at the time as the mdokas were 6-9”.

Anyway, they have done well with the trophs and are now about 3.5 & 4.5”. Fortunately they share similar water param’s, higher pH & harder water, which is what comes out of my faucet.

Once the trophs are gone I will be rescaping the tank and will post some video at that time.

For now here’s a few pics of the pair…









I believe this is the female…

 

[danotaylor]

I believe this one is the male…

 

[jonclark96]

Females will have a black blotch in the dorsal fin. Both look male to me.

 

[danotaylor]

Females will have a black blotch in the dorsal fin. Both look male to me.

Thanks for your input Jon. I did wonder about that, but another experienced CA keeper said the angle of the forehead was a telling sign as well. Steeper being male, less angle slope being female. They didn’t comment about my specific 2 carpintis, just in the general sense.

When I pull the tropheus out next month I will just vent them. Hopefully they’re big enough & the vent is obvious enough for my not so great aging eyesight

 

[duanes]

With my pair , the dark blotch of the female was obvious, compared to the male.

And sometimes subordinate males will not show the steep cranial profile at all, if a more dominant male shares the same tank.
As an apples and oranges example (yet still cichlidic)
I had 3 Paratilapia polleni sharing the same 6 foot tank, and I was pretty sure, I had 2 females and a male, judging by the dominant males profile
Within 24 hour of the main male kicking the bucket, one I thought was female, changed over night.
Transforming into a dominant state with an exaggerated nuchal hump, and typically darker colors.

 

[danotaylor]

duanes so you think mine are both male then?

Since they were from the same source, likely the same spawn, I guess the size difference and the head shape (obvious difference unchanged since 1.5”) had me thinking M&F.

I would have thought they might have spawned by now if they were a pair, but being in a hectic tropheus tank hasn’t made for a great mating environment

Well, once I confirm for sure by venting next month, I may be on the lookout for a female

How likely is it they would cohabitate peacefully alone in a standard 125gal?

 

[Jexnell]

To me it looks as though you miss labeled the pics. The one you called female looks like a male. And the one you called male looks female. Going by head slope alone.

 

[danotaylor]

To me it looks as though you miss labeled the pics. The one you called female looks like a male. And the one you called male looks female. Going by head slope alone.

Oh boy Thx Jexnell . Looks like venting is gonna be a must!

 

[duanes]

When mine were only about 1", it was easy to tell males from females by thhe steep profile, because it was quite dramatic.


Below between 2" and 3"


When they 1st spawned, the female (left) was about 4" to 5"

 

[danotaylor]

The forehead profile on my 2 is distinctly different, and has been so since they were purchased at 1.25 & 1.75”, but neither have a black mark in the center of the dorsal fin