Juvenile female dovii

[pelleeklund]

Ive got a quick question that I can't seem to find a reliable answer for searching around online. I plan on trying to breed a dovii with a jag, and to the best of my knowledge this won't be possible if the dovii is a male, due to it's size and temperament. So if I am at the store looking at a bunch of juvenile dovii's and I need a female, what exactly should I look for? Is there any significant differences between the sexes at an early age? I appreciate any help anyone could give me, hopefully this will be easier than I think it will be. Thanks.

 

[qguy]

Not 100 percent sure, but your best bet is to get the smaller lighter colored ones.

 

[pelleeklund]

Thanks buddy. They aren't more yellow are they? I also heard that they may have less blue on their mouths and fins but im not sure.

 

[NWatson]

From my experience it will depend on how big these Juvi Dovii are. If there 3" or under it will difficult. Look for the smaller ones first, also the females have a lot less spotting on the body and unpaired fines. There is usually less coloring than the males once they start getting above 3". Also look at the body shape the males might start getting what resembles a nuchul hump...where the females have a more slender side profile. Sometimes it is just difficult to say until they get 5" or so. I could pick the female out of the 4 Dovii I bought by the time they were 3" under that it was a guess. Search the cichlid media forum to get as many pics as you can to notice the differences I listed....good luck.

 

[pelleeklund]

Very cool man thank you. I will definitely check out the pictures for help and the information is much appreciated. I was thinking they must be like sexing jack dempsey's seeing as they look somewhat similar and it sounds like that's not too far off. I'm on it, thanks again.