Wolf cichlid gender clarification?

[Zaythefishkeeper]

That is a male. Spotting in the unpaired fins, and above the lateral line is a sure sign. The tank however is going to have serious territory issues sooner rather than later. Dovii will just decide at some point that no one else gets to lives in their space. Also I have kept five star generals in the past and they are very territorial, not to mention they are African cichlids. And then there's the other species in the tank. I'm surprised you've made it this long. Not trying to be rude here, but I've learned over the years that most of these aggressive cichlids command a space large enough in the wild that we simply cannot reproduce that in normal tanks. As such I only keep mine singly, or in mated pairs, and even then I have to take steps to protect the females at times.

I don’t take it as rude u are giving me knowledge that I don’t have that’s what we are here for Yes the tank is very territorial but if u look every fish has its own place to protect and after being in there so long together each fish basically has a certain level of respect for one another Ik that will go out the window once maturity is hit for most of these fish but as for the last year I have been ok as for the five stars I have three and they stay in a pack to me they are a top water fish because in my tank that’s were they hang around up top with my South American gar no other fish like being up there so they get left alone and even when a fish does try them they can handle there own and tbh I just feel like it depends on the fish because if I would of showed this tank a year ago with a list of all the fish everyone would of told me it wouldn’t of worked and it has been doing amazing but I think it has something to do with getting them all around the same young age

 

[Zaythefishkeeper]

I consider the size of tank as the most important factor in reducing aggression.
Way back then, I decided my tanks were not of a sufficient size for dovii.
I believe a 500 gal seems minimal to keep more than 1 adult dovii with other cichlids..
I moved to Panama a few years back, and plan now to keep only Panamanian cichlids.
At the moment my largest tank is only 180 gallons, so the Panamanian cichlid Andinoacara coerleopunctatus is about right for that size tank.
That said.....a fisherman supplied me with about a dozen wild caught individuals for the tank at the time.
Even in that size tank, the alpha male (7")whittled the group down to himself, and 3 four inch female Andinoacara, and some non-cichlid dithers.
View attachment 1471775
The alpha male above
One of his females below, and a dither.
View attachment 1471776

Those fish are beautiful any successful mating and shout out to that fisher man wild caught are amazing to me I’m looking to get a bigger tank size if u know of anywhere help me out

 

[duanes]

Those fish are beautiful any successful mating

After the 1st season with them, ((after the alpha reduced competition (often lethally)) they had 1 spawn.
The second season (they normally spawn between Dec and Mar here in Panama) they had 2 spawns.

The tetras usually reduce the shoal of small fry to around a dozen, when larger, all 1"+ fry were eliminated by a large goby in the tank.

The 2nd breeding season here, and after the 2nd spawn, the older fry from the 1st spawn and tetras reduced the second spawn significantly.
In the shot below an older fry (@1.5") is hunting his younger siblings.

There is no market here for native Panamanian fish, they are in fact illegal to sell, so I allow attrition of fry to occur naturally.
As far as tanks go, I tend to buy them all used.
When in the U.S. I scanned Craigs List, here in Panama on Encuentra 24.
The Covid epidemic has hampered my ability to collect other species, but as isolation ends, I'm after a few other target species.
Not my photos below

Geophagus crassilabrus above, Isthmoheros tuyrense below

 

[robmcd]

I would understand why u would say that but I have been running this setup for about a year now all fish bought at about 1-2 inches and have been doing perfectly fine I’m still waiting for my Red Devils to hit maturity and I know once they do that the crazy switch will flip on the new wolf cichlid is the only new addition that is going to play a big role in that to ticking time bomb u we’re talking about my Oscar is a big softy and had pop eye when younger so only has one eye not to much bomb In him and I feel that none of my fish in my tank will be able to turn killer on me until they pass my spotted face pike (crenichicula lenticulada) in size and they have some time befor that hopefully I can upgrade tank sizes by then View attachment 1471783

You might want to get another ID on that pike. I am not an expert at crenicichla IDs but I can 100% tell you that you do not have a c. lenticulata. It is for sure a lugubris type but I can't tell you exactly what species.

 

[Zaythefishkeeper]

You might want to get another ID on that pike. I am not an expert at crenicichla IDs but I can 100% tell you that you do not have a c. lenticulata. It is for sure a lugubris type but I can't tell you exactly what species.

Thank you after taking my time and doing research on the lugubris I have found that it is a Crenicichla sp. Venezuela striped pike it can turn its colors on and off when it’s feeding time or time to defend a territory spots decorate the face and a black line come into play throught the whole body as juvenile the colors do not fade as they mature they loose color and turn from marked up to a gray with a pinkish red tint to the belly as shown below now this is my pike it will finnaly get called the right name you can kinda see the marking right here when my flower horn and pike are fighting they were on a wierd side of the tank hard to get the pic

 

[Rocksor]

Pink in the belly is a sure indicator for female in the lugubris family of pikes.

I'm pretty sure Gourami Swami has pics of his pair of Vennys somewhere on this site.