At first I thought "Pebs" was for sure a girl, but now I am beginning to question myself. I see no black "blotch" anywhere along the dorsal fin. He/she is currently just under 3", and growing pretty slowly (considering how much I feed it).
Sex my 3" Carpintis
- Thread starter Matikia1600
- Start date
For being in the 3" range it looks pretty female to me but I don't see the dorsal mark. Is it in a tank with a more dominant cichlid?
The pointed fins seem to be irrelevant with this species (I've had females with beautiful trailers on their dorsals). As for the black blotch, I have yet to see a definitive spot on the fish. She is in a 55G w 8 large Tiger Barbs (dithers) and a golden algea eater. She is the only Cichlid in the tank. He/She is in no way harassed by the other fish, and is caused no stress by the inhabitants. Below is a side shot of the fish.
Another side pic below. As I said, it lacks a black blotch on its dorsal, but doesn't have the typical male Carpintis shape (maybe that's because it's only 3").
From my experience at 3" if its male it should already have the male humpy head starting unless its a subdominant fish. Maybe it is a he, just a late bloomer.