gender of blood parrot cichlids

Question
How can you tell the difference between male and female on blood parrot cichlids? We have 3 and believe they are all male but just wanted to make sure. Thanks.

Answer
Hi Rocksanne,
  The challenge with blood parrot cichlids is that they are a man-made hybrid fish. Males and females look very much alike. The only time you can really tell which is which is during spawning. At that time, the male has a more pointy spawning tube, while the female has a more flat-ended cone-shaped tube.  

-- Ron Coleman
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>