Jack Dempsey help please!

[Convict with convicts]

My first post here, thanks for any help. Love the site. Me and my wife have been trying to get our what we thought was a male/female couple of JD's to spawn with no such success in two years. Tried all the tricks and no action lol not even egg attempts like my O's. So I'm now questioning if I sexed them correctly in first place. I'm no expert but I know the basics, blue beard on females, rounded dorsal/anal, ect. Not to mention size alone(same ageish)so what do you think our big jack and little Jacks are? Wife's telling me it's two female, a say boy/girl, just not mature yet. I have a male in a 40 breeder just waiting for some company if so. I appreciate your time and help, not to mention pro ing my wife wrong

 

[duanes]

All 3 picks look male to me.
One of the best ways to get a spawning pair, is to buy 6-8 youngsters, let them grow up together, and allow them to select their own mates.
Cichlids can be very complex organisms, and simply putting together a male and female, doesn't mean they are compatible, and will spawn.
The more choices you give a group, the better chance of getting a pair.
If I really want to end up getting a breeding pair of a certain species, I will sometimes get 15 or 16 young cichlids. And expect to lose some to aggression as pairs form and acquire territory, but the options given them often leads to very strong pair bonds, and successful spawns.

 

[convict360]

I'd have said male and female...tried venting?

 

[~T~]

The smaller one is almost definitely female, the bigger one could be either really. Also some cichlids just never show signs of wanting to breed.

 

[Skalper666]

Male on top, female underneath. 100%.

 

[Skalper666]

Maybe they are just not paired up? Or just not right conditions. Or she is just never in the mood anymore lol.

 

[Guapoteguy291]

What's ur temp. When getting dempseys to breed I would do extra waterchanges, bump up temp feed nightcrawlers and they would spawn like clockwork. But then again with cichlids sometimes they are just incompatible.

 

[Guapoteguy291]

Def male on top. Thinking female on bottom bit not 100%. Need a good shot of the "beard" area with lights on