Bumble Bees Cichlids

[Ao_Cp]

I'm always wondering how do you tell the differences between a male and female bumble bee cichlid or can you even tell the difference??? I have 3 bumble bees 2 are like a brownish yellow with black stripes and one is dark almost black. I figure maybe the dark one is the male and the other 2 are females but i'm not sure. So whoever have ideas let me know, Thank You!!!

[Rudy]

Males are a dark brown almost black in color, and females are brown and yellow striped.

So you may be right :D

[kameronesdiablo]

actually I think it might be kind of hard to tell sometimes...I have had that question for a while...my bumblebee actually is brownish - black striped and does also turn almost black sometimes...

I read somewhere in the wild they hang out with some other fish (sorry I am bad because I cannot remember the other fish) usually "cleaning" them or picking off some kind of stuff (I really suck at remembering stuff!!) and the other fish lets them, but bumblebees actually eat this fish's eggs, and in order to do so they go almost black and get the eggs...so it is possible I guess for both sexes to do this...

my lfs said that sometimes they can switch sexes???? i do not understand what he means by that...but ...

he says that sometimes they could be hermaferdites (spell???)

other then venting (which I will probably never be able to do) I really do not know any other way then to say...if you see eggs..female!!!

sorry not very helpful

[Rudy]

You are right about venting. It is the most foolproof way to sex a fish.

What your lfs means by changing sexes is that every tank will have a dominant male fish. The one with the most color and most aggressive. If the other males feel threatened they will change their colors to look like a feamle so they do not get beat up so bad.

To give you an example if you got the the lfs and find a tank full of auloncarna peacocks. There will be one very colorful one and the rest will be faded or all look like females. If you pull that male out of the tank another one will turn dominant.

Cichlids are very good chameleons.

[kameronesdiablo]

that is what I kind of figured...I guess I took him literally...funny thing is I have 1 bumblebee, 1 female kenyii, 1 female Red Zebra, 1 acei sex unknow..believe male, 1 yellow lab...believe also male...acei and lab are still about 2 in and the RZ and BB are about 4 in.


I am going to be getting a new 55 soon and will get it cycled..etc..may add some more fish then when do the transfer

[M_sfan87]

I also own a male Bumblebee...Well my mom does. The males are way darker then the females. http://web.mit.edu/lxs/www/cichlids/bumblebee.html This will answer all of your questions. :)

[jonah]

My male is almost black, all the other crabro in the tank have female coloration. He must be doing his job right, one of the females is holding.

[M_sfan87]

Cool! Bumblebee's are nice, but cheap. Good color in them too!

[jonah]

I cut back on some of my more common fish recently to make room, but I had to keep the bumblebees, my electric yellows and electric blues. I want to get more into Malawi haps and Tanganyikans.

[kameronesdiablo]

I sware mine must be confussed....most of the time it has the female coloring but then every once in a while it goes all dark like the picture of the fish "nancy" on the link...oh well....I call it Tibadauex/Tibby...so eitherway...

I guess when I get my larger tank I will worry about figuring it out when I add other bumblebees