Horrible time trying to ID male from female! Convicts

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Garrett812

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 6, 2010
6
0
0
Terre Haute, IN
Ok I am wanting to get a male and female convict from Petsmart to start breeding. I am having a horrible time IDing them! I have read a lot about telling them apart, longer fins, pink spots, everything. But they literally all look the same in the tank they have. They're about 1 inch, none are showing pink on them, all fins are equally long. The only difference is the color contrasts, some are grey/black and some are white/black. But seeing other convicts pairs online, I can't really be 100% sure just by this. Someone help! Oh and employees don't know either.

When will pink start showing? Should I wait another week or two and hope it starts showing? Or is there something else I should do?
 
im not sure about convics but with other fish you should wait till they are older. like babies sometimes you cant tell. look up when convicts start mating that should tell you when they are sexually mature and easier to sex. they might both be dudes or dudettes keep that in mind
 
Ya none of them are showing orange, I said pink in the post, wrong color, my bad!

I will take pics of the tank tomorrow. I read that under an inch they should start showing color so I just find it weird they're not yet.
 
yeah i dont know about under an inch, but definitely at an inch to 1.5in at least some of them should start showing orange on their bellies, if none are showing it then wait a couple more weeks and see if they are showing orange then, they usually start showing it pretty young so should be coloring up soon
 
i would look for a fish that is dominant and one that is submissive. cichlids will often change sex to fit their roles.
 
Swervo513v - can you give me some examples of sex role changing in cichlids? I don't think I've ever heard of any cichlid species that have done this.

Young can be tricky to sex - I'd honestly just buy a few (6 seems to be that number that everyone suggests) and raise them up. In theory, the pinkish orangish belly ought to be there, but sometimes it's hard to see in less than ideal lighting or environmental situations.
Also, trust me when I say that even some old pros can be tricked. I'm doing some basic research with convicts in college, and what we thought to be an all male group was... not. A few females started showing up after we had kept the group for several months, at 2-3" in length. Hence me saying that buying a group is probably the best way to do it.
 
The one way I have found is not fin length but shape males fins come to a sharp point and femails are more rounded points. By fins I am talking dorsal and ainal fins. Hope I have helped if you plan on breeding them I wuld buy the group of six as was sugested. This will almost gurante a pair. As well as providing some dither fish. As for the decor I have always had luck with convicts breeding in clay pots. Good luck.
 
swervo513;4367802; said:
i would look for a fish that is dominant and one that is submissive. cichlids will often change sex to fit their roles.
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Dude! Here you are again with the fish changing sex. Cichlids don't change sex bro. Seriously I understand your trying to help but what your saying is untrue with cichlids.if your Not 100% sure of what your saying then don't say it. If you feel the need to comment Then say something supportive instead of misinforming people who are new to the hobby And are asking for factual advice or personal experience. And by no means do I know everything or claim to. And I'm sorry to derail.

As for op's question, I'm with Sarah on this one. It could be that They're all males or just too small. But once the orange shows up Its a dead give away bud. Good luck and convicts are so cute and fun:)
 
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