I might be able to help. show your pics of ventral view or side views and I can determine gender on your central or sa cichlids. I have many ways to determine gender.
Having trouble sexing your cichlid??
- Thread starter bluestarflowerfish
- Start date
If this doesn't help then here is my post from flowerhorncraze.com it works the same for sa and central cichlids.
ok, you want to test me? thats understandable. The fish you posted does appear to be male, but coud be female. Here is my diagram, and since it may not be able to help in this case here is the foolproof method, take the fish out of the water, if you need a better grip use a washcloth or towel to be able to hold onto the fish. Turn it on it's side or turn so it how it would be if in the tank, gently (GENTLY) apply pressure to the sides of the belly nearest the vert, if it squirts or drips watery substance it is MALE, if nothing comes out it is FEMALE. This method is used by salmon hatcheries in Alaska. FEEDBACK APPRECIATED
for artificial spawning:
anyway, this process is called "milking" and is also used to artificially fertilize eggs. for example: if a female flowerhorn lays eggs and you want to use a specific male, immediatley after shes finished laying eggs take the plate or whatever she laid them on out of the tank, they must have tank water on them still. so if you get a tupperware and place some tank water in it and then put the egg plate in it when you pull it out you'll be fine, after you get the plate out, you must have the male you want to use easily accessable, (I usually have him in a bucket so i can catch him right away) catch him and use the same process as above with a towel to grip him easily and then squeeze the sides and let the sperm drip onto the eggs so it squirts onto them. make sure you hold him down close to the plate and rotate him around the whole clutch as you are milking him. then just put him back in the bucket or whatever you have until you can place him back into his home. After you have artificially fertilized the eggs you will need to place them back into the original tank the were laid in and place a divider so the female can't eat them. or you can have a fry tank on standby. place the plate at an angle underneath the water flow of the mechanical filter (it is best to have the tank water low so the water hits the surface hard, you will be able to see where to position the eggs when the water level is down. you will see where the flow is. the agitation will produce oxygen and the flow will keep the eggs clean. it is best to also have a sponge filter set up in your fry tank as well as the regular filter. once the eggs hatch you can turn off the mechanical filter so you don't have to worry about them being sucked into the intake.
Fertilizing freshly laid eggs must be done very quickly after they are laid before the outer shell hardens and makes the sperms passage impossible. if you need more info please let me know.
no i wasnt trying to test you, i actually wanted to know.lol, thanks for all of the information provided it is definatly usefull. and why would you say this is a male and not a female. what makes you lean towards male. (not testing just for my own knowledge)lol.
lol, I didn't mean it to sound like that, I copied and pasted my post from the flowerhorn site. so thats why it's like that! haha
Will the male allways be ready with sperm? I was under the impression that he too had to go through the mating ritual to start producing sperm like the females having to see a male to produce eggs?
do i have male and female o.b peacocks?
also any idea why my 13 yellow labs do not breed?
are the other 3 fish male or female?
thanks if you can identify any it would be great thanks
also any idea why my 13 yellow labs do not breed?
are the other 3 fish male or female?
thanks if you can identify any it would be great thanks