Jeweled Cichlid sexing

Hi fish friends,

I am very new on this site. I live in Jamestown, NY. I have been raising Sailfin mollies for almost 2 years. In the last 3 weeks, I have started collecting a few species (each in their own tank) of cichlids.

I have: 2 pair of Pelvichachromis taeniatus Moliwe, Breeding pair of Rainbow Cichlids, 3 Jewel Cichlids, 6 Electric Yellow Labs, and 6 Red Point Honduran. (I can also use more information on Red Points. I think I have 2 males and 4 females.)

I am coming to the conclusion that my yellow labs are almost all males. My rainbows are spawning fine, but haven't been allowed to raise the fry at this time. The rainbows are sharing their tank with 3 spotted pim catfish, and I don't trust the catfish with fry.

But I need help with my 3 Jewel cichlids. Do ALL the male Jewels have 3 black dots? Is this reliable? If it is then I have 3 female Jewels and ALL of the are wanting to breed. Two of the red ones, like each other and chase the 3rd one away. (So, I removed the 3rd Jewel.) All of them have one black dot. One of the RED Jewels has a ballon looking stomach and is not blotted or constipated (I am fairly sure). The other red one is slightly large in the stomach.

All the Jewels are adults and are around 2 to 3 inches, but I have seen breeding tubes down of on the first 2 fish, for almost 3 weeks now. I have been searching for any help that I can find.

I have around 10 fish tanks setup for almost 2 years. I am trying to buy more tanks. Most of my tanks are 20 gallon and 20 gallon long. I also have a 43 gallon and a 36 gallon tank - for the catfishes and large pleco. I also have rubberlip plecos, clown plecos, and a variety of cory cats.

the only way to be 100% on sexing of your fish is venting. here is a link on what to look for when venting a fish,

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Typically when jewels pair, they turn super red and kill anything else in the tank..... so you may have a pair already.... Try puttin in clay plates, and clay pots for plants... small ones of course.... make sure PH is pretty low, nice and acidic, think mid 6.... and water is softer.... good luck.

Hi sandnuka,

Thanks for the link, but I am not going to know which picture is like my fishes. I have 5 kinds of cichlids and even with their full scientific names, I expect I will still have problems finding and identifing the right pictures. I also am unsure, how you get the fish to hold still for that; without hurting them. I would feel like I would need another 3 pairs of hands, with the hands I already have.

kitty2234

Those pictures just give you a general idea of what to look for like the difference in size of the vent for males and females. The female's will usually be larger.

The way I have done it is to gently hold the fish with wet hands and have a helper take a closeup picture. Then I can zoom in on it once I have it on the computer.

Here's another article you could take a look at. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]