Need help in sexing this Sajica

[duanes]

Above is a male, the dorsal is clear of any stripe (band) also note the shape of the profile. In immature individuals, this may not show.
Below a female of the same age, even if the dark band is not there, note the extra color.
Also note the more torpedo shaped profile.


This is not only true of sajica, but of most others in the genus

above a similar gender difference pair of myrnae, and below Honduran "red points"

male above, female below

 

[duanes]

Above is a male, the dorsal is clear of any stripe (band) also any other dramatic color, note the shape of the profile. In immature individuals, this may not show.
Below a female of the same age, even if the dark band is not there, note the extra bright color in the dorsal.
Also note the more torpedo shaped profile, and she is @ 1/3rd his size.


This is not only true of sajica, but of most others in the genus

above a similar gender difference pair of myrnae (dorsal yellow and shape/size), and below Honduran "red points"

male above, female below , she is guarding fry.

 

[Dragonis95]

Thank you, that picture shows pretty good what the difference is...
So the ones in store with the red fins who didn't have a coloured stripe on their dorsals can all be males? They have bright red coloured fins. Not pointed yet but red.
If thats the case I will buy one or two.
The females don't get along that well right now...

 

[Dragonis95]

Gourami Swami,

do you know the gender of your Sajica?

If it is a male and you have no other Sajica, I guess I know why you are surprised about the colouration of my two "girls"
Either way I will visit my dear Fish store again to buy two of the male looking ones, since the dominant female is slightly bullying the new one. Not picking on it, but showing her the limits.
I found out the T- Bar is a sign of dominance, propably not of gender... the new one does show nothing of the bars right now, while the old female has a clear T visible on her side.

Wish me luck, I hope to be successful after that. If not... we will see

 

[Gourami Swami]

I am not positive on the gender of my sajica, I thought it was a male because it has always been a pretty dominant fish and has a steeper profile, but lately I have been thinking maybe a female. Because there is some black in the dorsal, and because I have had this fish for around 6 months and it doesn't seem to be growing anymore (at least not quickly) at only about 3". Other fish in the tank which were smaller, have been growing like weeds and surpassed the sajica.
Here is a pic from a month or two back

 

[Rocksor]

Thank you, that picture shows pretty good what the difference is...
So the ones in store with the red fins who didn't have a coloured stripe on their dorsals can all be males? They have bright red coloured fins. Not pointed yet but red.
If thats the case I will buy one or two.
The females don't get along that well right now...

Personally, I would only get one male, and I would also increase the female count to about 4 so that any one female is not picked on by the pair or just one other female. Are you just trying to get a mated pair?

 

[Dragonis95]

hello again,

I found two fish with beautiful red fins, and took them with me.
Big interest from the females.
The big female is still chasing the smaller one, but I will separate it and watch carefully what happens.

Seems to me my dominant Sajica is an a**hole... she doesn´t like ANY fish.

Taken her out now.

New colouration of the smaller female:



colour of the new ones, who look both the same:


The female is in the background:


Are these ones finally males?
Should I look for even more females or just let her choose on of the two "boys"?

The red they are I would not suggest they are female.
And they don´t have the black lining on top of the dorsal fin...
They are still pretty small, maybe 3cm... she might be 4cm...

Right now something very weird happens...
She somehow flashes with her T- bar when she comes near them...
So first she lets it fade and then it comes back in a strong black colour... but only the vertical part... the males only have the vertical bar shown right now...
Is that a flirt? Or just social behaviour of these fish?
She doesn´t attack them, ignores them pretty much...
she only does this bar- thing... and her head turns dark when one of them appears...

 

[duanes]

Maybe because mine started spawning early, the females didn't grow (lots of energy used producing eggs). My females remained about 3", whereas the males, hit around 7".

Notice the size and shape difference of the pair above.
I find any dark vertical band in the dorsal, and/or any bright colors in the dorsal usually mean females.
Most of the OPs photos above look female to mean (doesn't mean I'm right of course) because if there are other cichlids in the tank that are more dominant, a male may adopt female traits.
And even from one week to another, markings change.
The photos below, are all the same female individual.
[/URL[URL=http://s70.photobucket.com/user/dstuer/media/sajica/female/IMG_8830_zps46a219d2.jpg.html]
[/URL]

 

[Dragonis95]

So it could be both, male or female?

What is very different now, is the tolerance of the two red finned ones towards each other.
The females were obviously agressive/ territorial against each other, and in direct comparison the two newbies are peaceful towards the female AND with each other.
Maybe thats because they are immature, maybe it changes.

In the store there was not one fish with no bright red or blue in the dorsal.
They had either a golden yellow shine with black bar indicating a female, or a bright red with no horizontal black bar, what looks very very much like the big male in the pics... and some were of that colour difference in almost the same size...
Time will tell. I hope for one male now.

Wish me luck...

 

[Dragonis95]

New things happening:

She digs a hole since a few hours...
Swims there, takes one or two pieces of gravel into her mouth and spits it out at another place...

She continues that very consequently, so I hope there has been an influence of the two newbies... They are trying to get close to her, but she does not want them yet...

What will happen next, any idea?

The two little guys are not even mature, so I am a little confused about her behaviour...
She wears an intense grey with golden shimmer on her sides, while the yellow fins glow like a fire...