Hi All, Im trying to determine the sex of my Jag... Its still young, so its hard... here are a few pics that might be able to help... Im leaning more towards a male...
Jaguar Cichlid Gender? (Parachromis managuensis)
- Thread starter PaiLum92
- Start date
hey, yeah i still think it is most likely a male. how big is it? another inch or so and we should be able to tell 100%
theres no real way that i can tell right now... i dont wanna take him out of the tank and m,easure, so i make educated guesses... i may be able to hold up a measurer and hope he swimms by...
Ok, never mind, i put the ruler up to the tank and he flipped out... i gues just from the glimpse i got he is more than what ive been saying, maybe about 3.5 - 4.0 inches...
Ok, never mind, i put the ruler up to the tank and he flipped out... i gues just from the glimpse i got he is more than what ive been saying, maybe about 3.5 - 4.0 inches...
If it helps, a couple of weeks ago it got real fat (NO over feeding) and something was sticking out of its butt... PetSmart said it may be Constapated, but all of the videos ive seen on youtube that had female Jags breeding and laying eggs looked the same... My water temp is usually 82, which is ideal breeding temp... i didnt think it would be possible for them to lay eggs without another Jag in the tank... might be though? Shoulda mentioned that earlier, no?
EDIT: It also cleaned a bunch of rocks out of the cave before and after it got fat...
EDIT: It also cleaned a bunch of rocks out of the cave before and after it got fat...
yeah fish can and will lay eggs without a mate being present if they feel they want to breed, but IMO thats really a bit young for one to be laying eggs, especially by itself. and all cichlids will dig rocks out of their cave to make it to their liking. did you feed it more than usual when this happened. sometimes when i accidently feed my fish a bit much for several days they get fat and this causes their breeding tubes to stick out but all of my fish are males it just happens from them getting obese and i have to feed less for a couple days so they go back to normal and then just make sure to feed the right amount again. could this have been what happened?
and yeah i say i think its male because of the spotting on its lower belly but i could also see where people are thinking female because of the darkened lateral spots and upper patterning, IME only dominant males show the spotting like that at an early age but then i have only grown out a couple jags so someone with more actual experience with growing them out from a small size could chime in on the early differences they noticed. but like i said before it is going to have to grow more before anyone can be 100% sure either way, i think in another month it should be very clear which it is
and yeah i say i think its male because of the spotting on its lower belly but i could also see where people are thinking female because of the darkened lateral spots and upper patterning, IME only dominant males show the spotting like that at an early age but then i have only grown out a couple jags so someone with more actual experience with growing them out from a small size could chime in on the early differences they noticed. but like i said before it is going to have to grow more before anyone can be 100% sure either way, i think in another month it should be very clear which it is
I wasnt feeding more than normal, i even let him fast for 3-4 days when he did get fat, thinking he was constipated, feeding him 1 pea (Out of its shell) a day, and it was still pretty fat, for about a week it was fat...
Do the males have any traits or enything they exhibit that are diff than a female, like backing off when you approach the tank, hitting food really hard, etc?? if they do i can tell you what they do...
Do the males have any traits or enything they exhibit that are diff than a female, like backing off when you approach the tank, hitting food really hard, etc?? if they do i can tell you what they do...
no not really both sexes of jags are going to be pretty in your face, they are both aggressive eaters and dig and everything. but yeah like i said these guys grow super fast so i think if you give it another month or so then we should be able to tell for sure, if its female the large spots will become more predominant and the spotting on the belly will go away and if its a male the large spots will start to go away and pattern will break up more into the spotting "jaguar" pattern of the adult males
I may have solved the problem then. When i first got him the spots on top (From the fin to the black dots) were very big, reaching down almost to the center of the body, and they were almost connected, like one giant dark spot, now theyre little spots.
The black spots that go horizontaly almost formed a long black line, now theyre starting to seperate.
Also, he didnt have any spots on the belly when i first got him...
Does this mean anything?
(Also, this doesnt relate, but on the 31st im going to Denver for my b-day... were leaving saturday morning and returning mid monday, if i feed him a little more than normal just before we leave, should he be ok while im gone, or should i find a feeder?)
The black spots that go horizontaly almost formed a long black line, now theyre starting to seperate.
Also, he didnt have any spots on the belly when i first got him...
Does this mean anything?
(Also, this doesnt relate, but on the 31st im going to Denver for my b-day... were leaving saturday morning and returning mid monday, if i feed him a little more than normal just before we leave, should he be ok while im gone, or should i find a feeder?)