posted 03-23-2004 09:04 AM         

Just because you get a male & female, it doesn't mean they will acutally like eachother and want to breed. And unless they've been together since they were very young, there's a good possibility that they won't even like eachother.

But, to answer your question about sexing, there are only 2 ways to do it. The first is by actually seeing a successful spawning (I say successful because sometimes 2 females will try to spawn and lay eggs, but they won't be fertile). The female's breeding tube will be larger and more rounded whereas the male's will be smaller and pointed.

The other way to sex them is by venting. They will have two opening on their bellies. The one closest to the head is the anus and the one closest to the tail is the vent (reproductive opening). On a male, the openings should be the same size (oo) and on a female, the vent will be bigger than the anus (oO). However, sometimes the difference isn't that noticeable, so unless you have some experience venting cichlids, you may not be able to tell accurately. And like I said earlier, just because you have a male & female, it doesn't mean they will get along.