Male or Female?

[Bur01014]

So I have some trouble determining whether one of my fish is male or female. I posted the question on another forum....but got mixed reviews. I generally feel the community on this forums has far more knowledge, but don't see a lot of interest or posts on peacock african cichlids. Well, lets take a vote! Feel free to post why you may think the fish is female or male. I purchased the fish out of a "german red" tank and it is roughly 3 to 3 1/2 inches...large it seems to such lack of color....but it could not be a german red....I also heard that some female german reds show an exceptional amount of color....this seems "exceptional" for a female, anyways help me out!

P.S. I am hoping I don't get the answer "just wait a few more months and see what happens with the coloring of the fish" lol, but am afraid it might be the truth...

[Demjor19]

I'm guessing female, but take that lightly.

[Lab_Rat]

Have you tried to vent the fish? Then you'd know for sure. I'm thinking a sub-dominant male just with the color but am not sure. Do you have a more dominant peacock in the tank?

[Sarkazmo]

I vote for Female... "how YOU doin, baby? Wanna come over to my tank for a visit?" :beavisbutthead:

Sark

[Bur01014]

This may be a dumb question, but what does "vent" the fish mean? I have 4 other male peacocks in the tank. The dominate being a Sunshine Yellow benga...however, all the other peacocks are showing much more color than this fish. It is just strange the LFS owner would give me this fish....he netted the fish, grabbed it by hand, and said "ah, this is a male, he should color up good" lol.....I think he just ripped me off.....LFS website is [Only Registered Users Can See Links.] just in case that helps....well, so far I am getting mixed reviews, but sounds like everyone is saying female...

[Bur01014]

I also noticed there is no egg spots....but that isn't always a for sure thing....and the anal fin isn't really all that pointy, which they say is a sign of a male....but that hint of Red and sometimes I can see a tint of blue on the body and face just confuse the heck out of me....never seen such a colorful female....but came across a "German Red" informational site and they mentioned there are some exceptionally colorful females that people seek out to obtain a good breeding strain for male color....maybe buying another German Red would be the answer and watching the two interact....but they are too darn expensive...especially to end up having two fighting males or another dull female...

[Lab_Rat]

Venting is looking at the fish's genitalia to determine whether they are male or female. If all the other peacocks in the tank are male I'd suspect this one is a subdominant male and that's why he's not coloring. Also, I'd be surprised a female that size hadn't spawned a time or two.

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[William]

At this time I would say female but I am really not sure. Could develop into a male as well.

Venting is a good idea and really not that hard.

[Crispy]

Looks female to me.

[Bur01014]

I searched the net over and over and no german reds look like mine....however, I think I may have found a male pic german red of a similar strain to mine.......check it out....wow, I only hope my fish is a male lol....

[Jaster]

I'm going to say female because of the lack of spots.

[HorrorShowRot]

I agree with jaster. Lack of spots plus dull. Not going to be a male. Could still change. How old is he/she?

[Bur01014]

No idea how old the fish is....just picked it up maybe 3 weeks ago....3 1/2 inches or so.

[Bur01014]

if someone is gonna move the thread, please move it to the proper place....thanks

[thatcichlidguy]

I answered in one of your other posts, but this is most certainly female.
What sort of stock do you have in this tank?

[hybridguy]

I think that if it were female and you have males in the tank she would have carried fry by now, she is 3 to 3.5". Also if you have larger dominate male or males in the tank then this is probably a subdominate male. To find out you need to move this fish to a tank with no male peacocks. It should start coloring up in about 3 to 4 weeks.