What is going on?

[MrsE88]

My auratus mbuna Is confusing me. The vent looks female, but it’s color and temperament have changed dramatically.

It’s always been slightly aggressive, but recently I’ve been losing fish. Two yellow labs. One was a holding female. Now today I observed the auratus chasing everyone.
This is a couple months ago.


And now.
You can see the vent looks wide and flat. To me that looks like a female who will spawn soonish. Not narrow and pointy like a male. What do you guys think?

 

[AnthonyFish20]

Could be male or a very dominent female I think yours is a male they take a little bit to get the black coloration.

 

[MrsE88]

Could be male or a very dominent female I think yours is a male they take a little bit to get the black coloration.

That’s what I was thinking, but..... the vent just doesn’t look male at all. Can dominate females get male coloration?

 

[AnthonyFish20]

That’s what I was thinking, but..... the vent just doesn’t look male at all. Can dominate females get male coloration?

They can be a little dark give it a couple more weeks and if the coloration gets darker you definitely have a male Im pretty sure that auratus is a male be prepared they are highly aggresive gl.

 

[Milingu]

M. auratus females can get nearly as dark as males.
Older auratus are one the most dominant mbunas in the whole lake. Males and females.
You either keep them in a big enough group or you give them the right sparing partners. Like Metriaclima/Maylandia, Labeotropheus, Petrotilapia, Tropheops and co. And you need a 5 foot tank with at least 120 gallons to keep them long-term.
Labidochromis and co play at least two leagues below.

 

[MrsE88]

They can be a little dark give it a couple more weeks and if the coloration gets darker you definitely have a male Im pretty sure that auratus is a male be prepared they are highly aggresive gl.

Ok, I’ll keep watching and see what happens.

M. auratus females can get nearly as dark as males.
Older auratus are one the most dominant mbunas in the whole lake. Males and females.
You either keep them in a big enough group or you give them the right sparing partners. Like Metriaclima/Maylandia, Labeotropheus, Petrotilapia, Tropheops and co. And you need a 5 foot tank with at least 120 gallons to keep them long-term.
Labidochromis and co play at least two leagues below.

Sounds like she might need a new home then. Thank you for your input.

 

[AnthonyFish20]

Ok, I’ll keep watching and see what happens.



Sounds like she might need a new home then. Thank you for your input.

They dont need a 5ft tank.

 

[Milingu]

They dont need a 5ft tank.

In my experience you need that size to have a descent chance to keep them longer than two or three years. M. auratus becomes way more aggressive when they reach a certain age.
Yes, there are people keeping them in smaller tanks long-term. But the amount of people with smaller tanks and auratus killing everything seems to be quite big.

I saw auratus freaking out from one day to another after two years being only a pain in the ass but not killing other fish within hours.
To avoid that you need a certain tank size. Just to be able to keep a big enough group or fish that can stand their ground.

 

[RD.]

But the amount of people with smaller tanks and auratus killing everything seems to be quite big.

Agreed. More room, more better.