Too soon to vent?

[TheTerminutter]

I would take my paratilapia out of the water and get a picture of his vents but I want to make sure he's big enough. He's nearly 4 inches, mouth to end of tail.

Do you think he's gonna be a male or female? Should I wait until he's 5 or even 6 inches to vent? I hope it's a girl so it can keep living in my 75.

 

[Ansorgii]

I am pretty sure that is still to small to tell. And I would not bet on an unpaired female staying that much smaller than a male.

A bigger tank is always better for the fish.

 

[duanes]

Its a baby,
A dominant mature male usually has a prominent macho profile, like the one below

mature females the profile is less steep (below)

At about 4" gender difference start to show
The male below is about half grown in the pic below, at about 9".

 

[TheTerminutter]

I am pretty sure that is still to small to tell. And I would not bet on an unpaired female staying that much smaller than a male.

A bigger tank is always better for the fish.

Wait... the females only stay small if they're paired up? I actually had no idea about this.

 

[Ansorgii]

Wait... the females only stay small if they're paired up? I actually had no idea about this.

Yesn't

It is very dependend on the species and even individuals but it's often that paired up females stay smaller than unpaired.

An example would be my trio Temporalis where the paired female wasn't even half the size of the male while the unpaired was only a bit smaller. I saw this with other species aswell.

It could be due to stress, the cost of energy of producing eggs, the male dominating, ... etc.

With cichla I saw everything, from tiny females so some being even fatter.

It's not a given, but with most cichlids I had the lone females grew a lot more, and with the ones that do not have that strong of an dimorphism they grew very compareable to males.

 

[TheTerminutter]

Yesn't

It is very dependend on the species and even individuals but it's often that paired up females stay smaller than unpaired.

An example would be my trio Temporalis where the paired female wasn't even half the size of the male while the unpaired was only a bit smaller. I saw this with other species aswell.

It could be due to stress, the cost of energy of producing eggs, the male dominating, ... etc.

With cichla I saw everything, from tiny females so some being even fatter.

It's not a given, but with most cichlids I had the lone females grew a lot more, and with the ones that do not have that strong of an dimorphism they grew very compareable to males.

Well, either way if he ever goes past 9" I'm selling him off to a better home. Gonna keep him in good condition for when that day ever comes :.)