How to tell male and female apart??

[Cichlid*Newbie]

I have two kenyi's on is bright blue/purple and the other is a pale pink/yellow..i think the brighter one is the female and the pale would be the male?

Then my zebras are both bright orange...how can i tell them from male and female??

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

The Kenyi are destinguished by their color. As juviniles they are all blue but as they mature the male changes color to yellow while the female remains blue.

As for the Zebras, if they are both a bright orange then they are both likely the same sex. You can be sure of this by venting them.

[Cichlid*Newbie]

The Kenyi are destinguished by their color. As juviniles they are all blue but as they mature the male changes color to yellow while the female remains blue.

As for the Zebras, if they are both a bright orange then they are both likely the same sex. You can be sure of this by venting them.


venting them?? im a newb haah.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

You have to flip the fish over and look at their underside. Behind the anal fin there will be 2 holes on all fish. The first on is the vent and the second one is the anus. On males, these hole will be the same size, on a female vent will be larger. If you are going to vent them I would recommend not taking them completely out of the water.

[Cichlid*Newbie]

ohh haha..okay.

Well for sure i think i have one male..and if the others are females it should be a pretty good tank id think..aren't there supposed to 3:1 with cichlids?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Well, with Zebras there are so many color morphs it's crazy, but as a general rule, only one sex in any give morph will be "red". Both of those species are from the same genus and so they could very well cross-breed.

You definitely have one male Kenyi and depending on the size, I'd say you likely have a female one as well. As for the Zebras, I'd have no idea without venting them.

[RainMan]

Tricky business mbuna.

A quick google reveals that the Kenyi are easy to distinguish because they turn yellow.

The original or wild red zebra (Metriaclima estherae) male is blue while the female is orange. I had a breeding pair females and a male once. But, they have been overbreed so much... that now a female and male can be orangish in color. This page has a a perfect example of what they should look like: Maylandia - Metriaclima estherae (red zebra) with picture (http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/estherae.htm)

[RainMan]

Here's another site with some info on sexing the red zebra:


Sexing Information: The colorations of this fish differ from most of the Mbuna, as the females are typically the ones displaying the deeper and more brilliant colorations. The orange males are larger but often become pale on the lower sides of their bodies, and may even show a brilliant "freckling" of spots along the dorsal and tail fins. While the smaller female, may not have any color variation, with the deep orange color extending out to the tips of her fins. The males typically will have numerous (4-7) "egg spots", while the female may show fewer (0-3) and less prominent "egg spots". -Fish Profile for Red Zebra, Orange Zebra (Metriaclima estherae) (http://www.aquariumlife.net/profiles/cichlidae/red-zebra/100019.asp)

That's totally different then the last site... LOL

[Cichlid*Newbie]

Tricky business mbuna.

A quick google reveals that the Kenyi are easy to distinguish because they turn yellow.

The original or wild red zebra (Metriaclima estherae) male is blue while the female is orange. I had a breeding pair females and a male once. But, they have been overbreed so much... that now a female and male can be orangish in color. This page has a a perfect example of what they should look like: Maylandia - Metriaclima estherae (red zebra) with picture (http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/estherae.htm)


mine are both def orange...haven't change colours at all...

[Dixie]

It's really hard to tell with red zebras while they are young. As they mature the males will get lighter in color. They will still be orange but will get a lighter peachy color sheen to them. I have 3 and they all started out a pretty deep color orange but by the time they got around 3 inches or so they started getting a little paler. I think I have 3 males and will probably trade them in because the biggest one is a real bully.

You are right, you should have 3-4 females per male.

[Fishguy2727]

For some species egg spots are considerable, but not truly reliable. It seems that the females will have 0-3 egg spots on the anal fin, while the male will have 3 or more. So if one has 9 spots and the other one, you have a good idea. If you look at a group and they all have 2-4, it is far less helpful. This is one method that can be considered for red zebras.

[Cichlid*Newbie]

I haven't notice any more than one egg spot on all the fish, one zebras is growing bigger than the other...the smaller one is slimmer too. But they are still both bright orange. It would be good if they were females..then my tank might be alright. The male kenyi is prolly 3 inches now....ive only had the fish a month or so, i didn't realize they grow so quickly