Herichthys deppi sexing

[Brandonclark88]

Hello,

Just wondering if there's an easy way to sexing H. Deppi outside of venting? Are they similar to a Texas where the black spot on the dorsal represents a female? I've seen pictures of males that have a similar marking too though. Can't find much info on these guys. Thanks! Btw, these are my 3 I currently own. Sorry for the poor quality pics!

 

[cichlidfish]

They are very closely related to caprintis. The blotch isn't a reliable indicator. It seems all males and females show the blotch at a young age. The main thing to look for is head shape, where males have a sloping head. I have read also the red spots on the gill plate is an indicator too. Top is male, bottom female.

Edit: It also seems males have pointier fins.

 

[Brandonclark88]

Thank you. I can definitely see the difference in your male and female. Do males show the slope down foreheads as juvies or is it something that they grow into? All 3 mine lack the sloped forehead so maybe I got 3 females

 

[cichlidfish]

Thank you. I can definitely see the difference in your male and female. Do males show the slope down foreheads as juvies or is it something that they grow into? All 3 mine lack the sloped forehead so maybe I got 3 females

No problem, IME males start to show a sloping over 3". It took me awhile to figure out what they are. This is a large male I had. He actually grew to 8", which all sources they max out at 6". But I've experienced many CA species growing larger in aquarium conitions.

 

[Brandonclark88]

Beautiful fish. Yours are part of the reason I grabbed these when I did. Mine are still around the 3" mark so I guess time will tell

 

[cichlidfish]

Beautiful fish. Yours are part of the reason I grabbed these when I did. Mine are still around the 3" mark so I guess time will tell

Thanks

The pair I have now are F1 Rio Bobos from Rapps. The other one was a tank raised from Rapps.
I want to get the pair their own tank. H. Deppii seem to be shy with breeding in community tanks.
Yours look great, and will be just as nice
How big are they now?

 

[Brandonclark88]

I picked them up around 2.5" around a month and a half ago. Since then they've put on around 1/2 - 3/4" and some girth. I ordered these from imperial tropicals. They came in with some nasty looking damage from shipping but have healed up nice. Would love to keep a couple of these together but I've had to split them up due to agression. Mean little guys lol

 

[cichlidfish]

I picked them up around 2.5" around a month and a half ago. Since then they've put on around 1/2 - 3/4" and some girth. I ordered these from imperial tropicals. They came in with some nasty looking damage from shipping but have healed up nice. Would love to keep a couple of these together but I've had to split them up due to agression. Mean little guys lol

Yes they can be very aggressive. This is another reason I want to remove mine from the community 150g. Right now they are peaceful, but waiting for the day the snap like my large one did. He kept all tankmates in the 150g on the one end of the tank including a larger JD and much larger melanura. Watch your dithers too. The big guy used to bite swordtails in half, and nearly killed a large astyanax bimculatus.

 

[Brandonclark88]

The last pic I posted is by itself. It seldom swims and hides most of the day. The other 2 are in a community setting. The first one is in a 40g with 8 tetras and 3 Cory cats and seems to ignore all them so far. The middle one is in my 150 with 3 severums, an aureus, male HRP, female GT and some other dithers, plecos, and cats. I had a koi angel in there with those tank mates peacefully for nearly a year and all of a sudden it died about a week ago... guessing the deppi had something to do with it. So far the only cichlid it shows any agression towards is the female GT who is similar in size

 

[cichlidfish]

The last pic I posted is by itself. It seldom swims and hides most of the day. The other 2 are in a community setting. The first one is in a 40g with 8 tetras and 3 Cory cats and seems to ignore all them so far. The middle one is in my 150 with 3 severums, an aureus, male HRP, female GT and some other dithers, plecos, and cats. I had a koi angel in there with those tank mates peacefully for nearly a year and all of a sudden it died about a week ago... guessing the deppi had something to do with it. So far the only cichlid it shows any agression towards is the female GT who is similar in size

Deppii can be silent killers. They tend to pick off one tankmate at a time. Often going for the belly rather than jaw lock.
But they seem to get intimidated by more aggressive tankmates. Right now they seem to get intimidated by my meeki. Even ones half their size. But like I said, that can change in a heartbeat. I hope the deppii don't get too aggressive with each other when I move them to a smaller tank (55-75g).
I think a GT should be a good tankmate. You never know with these guys though.