any one any good at sexing juvinile festeas? I just got eight of them from a breeder in Florida. I had a large male before, he was my favorite of my cichlids. So, I had to get me some more of them.
Sexing Juvi Festeas
- Thread starter shierkahn
- Start date
Well, how big are they? If you can get pictures up its really not that hard to sex them....yup yup. Females will have black/purple in the dorsal fin, males will lack this, but its kinda hard to sex them below 3"....
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Peanut_Power said:Females will have black/purple in the dorsal fin, males will lack this, but its kinda hard to sex them below 3"....
The pointed fin shapes isn't a very reliable thing to go by. My female festae has a pointed dorsal....so yeah. Some cichlids I'm sure it works, but from my experiences it can prove to give you inaccurate results...
as juvies its always worked for me. after about 6-7" then its better to look at color. thats my experience.
not long but the female fins start to make a point. the males are longer. Ill try to take a pic of the pair @ my lfs. The male is nice and bright with long fins and the female is dark with shorter fins but still pointed.
Also, someone told me a few yrs back that females get a Y shaped striped right behind the eye. Most of my females had that as well.
Also, someone told me a few yrs back that females get a Y shaped striped right behind the eye. Most of my females had that as well.
both males and females have a Y-shaped stripe, however on males above 4" the vertical striping rarely appears. the only time my male ever shows his vertical striping is during extreme displays of aggression or during the entire spawning and post spawning care of fry. once the fry are gone his striping disappears.
the most reliable way to sex festae, imo, is to wait till they're ~3-3.5" and watch the color of the pelvic fins and the front half of the dorsal fin. these fins on a female will turn blue or black and a male's fins will remain red with blue spangling on the dorsal.
Jason,
Will the color of the pelvic fins and dorsal fins you describe stay with the fish as they mature beyond the 3-3.5" size? In other words, can a 6" Festae be sexed as you described?
Thanks for the info - this is just what I needed to read!
Jim
Will the color of the pelvic fins and dorsal fins you describe stay with the fish as they mature beyond the 3-3.5" size? In other words, can a 6" Festae be sexed as you described?
Thanks for the info - this is just what I needed to read!
Jim