# Can someone sex my Jack dempsey cichlids



## BluEwOrM (Jul 2, 2010)

i took as many pics as i could

























and this is the second one


































thanks


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## gmachine19 (Apr 21, 2010)

Just my guess. But 1st look female and the 2nd look like male. U tried venting them yet? What are their sizes?


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## SinisterKisses (Apr 21, 2010)

First one is a male for sure. Pretty positive the second one is also.


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## BluEwOrM (Jul 2, 2010)

the problem is one is much bigger than the other, but i do want to breed these guys, anyone have a large JD female up for sale?


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

How big are they? The second one is male for sure, but the 1st one could be either a female or an immature/subdominant male.


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## BluEwOrM (Jul 2, 2010)

the first one is maybe 4in and the second is near 7-8in


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

Well then the first one is probably female; how does the bigger JD treat the smaller one? And how big is the tank? BTW, u should try cichlid-forum, the people on there may be able to help sex them better.

Cichlid-Forum.com


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## SinisterKisses (Apr 21, 2010)

How do you figure the first one is a female, exactly? Because the fish I'm looking at is definitely a male.


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## gmachine19 (Apr 21, 2010)

the 2nd picture looks like the vent is coming out


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## SinisterKisses (Apr 21, 2010)

The vent shows on BOTH sexes. It's the shape that matters. Plus, the easiest way to sex jack dempseys is the colouring or lack thereof on the gill plate. Males have none. Females have blue or green smudges, essentially. Fish number one is definitely a male. Fish number two is IMO, 90% likely a male.


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## jordonsmum (Mar 1, 2011)

They ARE all males with 98% certainty.


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## jordonsmum (Mar 1, 2011)

SinisterKisses said:


> The vent shows on BOTH sexes. It's the shape that matters. Plus, the easiest way to sex jack dempseys is the colouring or lack thereof on the gill plate. Males have none. Females have blue or green smudges, essentially. Fish number one is definitely a male. Fish number two is IMO, 90% likely a male.


Agreed. Males have thousands of pin size blue specs all over. The females have what look like blue "lines" or "smudges" on the gill plates. Although it is also correct that once they are old enough and IN SPAWNING CONDITION you are able to vent them. You have all males there. Also the males often tend to be longer, slimmer and more broad in body height where the females tend to be a little more stout and rounded at the belly (Depending on water conditions and food).


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## jordonsmum (Mar 1, 2011)

Here.. I managed to find a decent photo without hours of searching...lol

If you note the J.D. on the top. (He) has very fine blue "freckles" on his body. Much less though on his face (although they can display these speckles on the face as well). The female on the bottom has the blue "lines or "smudges" on her gill plates. Hope this helps


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## jordonsmum (Mar 1, 2011)

BelieveInBlue said:


> Well then the first one is probably female; how does the bigger JD treat the smaller one? And how big is the tank? BTW, u should try cichlid-forum, the people on there may be able to help sex them better.
> 
> Cichlid-Forum.com


Size is no indication without knowing age... How the first treats the second can also not be counted on. The adult may not pay attention to the juvenile until it starts to mature and challenge for dominance... however, if there is no female in the tank to fight over, then there is nothing to fight about and there may be no aggression at all if it's an all male tank.


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

Hmm I was comparing the two fish; suppose that was not the best idea.

In my experience, males of just about any cichlid species tend to chase each other around regardless.

PS: did NOT know about the operculum thing =P


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

Raised manny JD's, those both look male to me


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## jordonsmum (Mar 1, 2011)

Good morning I found a few more pics of the juvies in my grow out tank. Most of my buyers are looking for breeding pairs. I guarantee a breeding pair or a swap. I've never had any come back after pairing them for people.

Here are a few more examples. Hope it helps 

This is actually my Elec blue male with his Blue Gene wife. You can see the eggs on the dish. Unfortunately her gill plate is on the dark side of the lighting. But if you look really close, you can see some blue lines on the gill plate faded by poor lighting. 









The fish in the from is a C. Salvini, but behind him is a female.









Very top is a female and two lower are males:









Electric male and Blue gene female pair again, better lighting:


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## Pamela (Apr 21, 2010)

BluEwOrM said:


> the problem is one is much bigger than the other, but i do want to breed these guys, anyone have a large JD female up for sale?


There's a large (about 7") JD at Island Pets Burnaby, but I didn't look at it closely enough to see what sex it is. Maybe give them a call & ask if it's a female.


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## KVD88 (Jul 21, 2010)

Agreed.
I Had JDs for a couple years.
1st one is female
2nd one is Male


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