Plz help me

[D-Lo]

i need to know how to tell which of my african cichlids are males and which are females. Does anyone have any tips on telling the gender apart?

[Seedy]

tell us what species and that will help a lot...other than that the general rules of thumb apply...males have more eggspots (gennerally) and sharper pointier fins...females tend to have 'blunter' fins and in many species are less colorful than the males...it reallly depends on species though...(there are lots of "exceptions" to these loose generalities...

[D-Lo]

i dont no the species yet and i cant take a picture right now cuase im out of film but i can discribe one of them to you. it blue with black on the top of the fins and sometimes he has black line down his body.

[Seedy]

Sounds like a Melanochromis sp. possibly a male...kinda hard to go off a description though..just a guess...

[D-Lo]

ill try to get a picture and get it on here soon thanks for your guess

[Seedy]

look through this site and tell me if any thing looks "right". Try the Melanochromis genus first...http://www.malawimayhem.com/profiles.php?filter=AB

[D-Lo]

well ive been looking at some yellow labs and my cichlid looks just like them except it is blue where the yellow lab is yellow. It has that black strip along the fins just like a yellow lab. if this helps any

[Seedy]

Welll...the name "yellow lab" is something of a misnomer because the fish is usually blue in the wild...the yellow is actually a fairly rare color morph...Post a pic...it's the only way we can really tell...

And if it is a Labidochromis caeruleus "blue lab" then it may come down to size/fin shape/does it "hold"???

[SGypsyMermaid]

here's another possibility--melanochromis joanjohnsonae:

male: http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/img/joan2.jpg

female: http://www.malawi.cichlids.ru/images/fishes/melan_joanjohnsonae_f.jpg

[Seedy]

Yep, could be a lot of things...a pic is really needed...

[Feelingfishy]

Pseudotropheus socolofi that what it sounds like to me...http://www.cichlid-forum.com/photogallery/images/Pse_socolofi_01.jpg