my belly crawlers

[HiImSean]

picked these guys up in late may. the larger one is suppose to be male and the smaller female. the larger one would beat the crap out of the other so i have them in different tanks. the larger one got real yellow with the light colored sand, it use to be like the smaller one.

smaller

"her" tank

larger

 

[Scatocephalus]

Very cool! I hate to say it but it looks like all males...

 

[HiImSean]

so much for being "vented" by a reputable sell oh well

 

[Cookie*]

Gorgeous fish. What kind is it?

 

[thefishmaster1]

they look nice

 

[Scatocephalus]

so much for being "vented" by a reputable sell oh well

Belly Crawlers don't need to be vented. They have very obvious, external differences.

Males have small spots all throughout their caudal and soft portions of their dorsal and anal fins. Looking at your pics you can see this.

Female's fins will all be clear. In addition, females will have an ocelli, sometimes 2 in the middle of their dorsal. When in breeding condition they develop a bright red streak along the base of her dorsal and second along their fore flank.

Here's a female:

Note the absence of any spotting on her fins except for the large ocelli in the middle of the dorsal. These characteristics will be visible regardless of the fish's mood. When "happy" the females develop the red.

Here's a female out of breeding condition. You can just see the dorsal ocelli

http://www.****************/images_01/pike_kyle_w360.jpg

 

[HiImSean]

oh well

 

[little guppy]

Nice pictures!!

 

[Hao]

Dang nice! I'm tempted to keep pike cichlid.

 

[Peanut_Power]

Snap! Mark beat me too it! There is no arguing with his words for they are the truth!

Btw...how do you vent a pike?! I can vent just about any other type of fish, but Crenicichla elude me. I suppose if they were breeding or fixing too you could vent them. . . but we all know how often that is. . .