cichlid sex

Question
QUESTION: how do you tell a cichlids sex? i have heard a lot of different things and the last one was that they will change sex to even things out and one other thing, how long before they start laying eggs??
thanks
mike
ANSWER: Hi Mike,
  The reason it is a difficult question and you get many answers is because there is no simple rule for all species of cichlids.  In some species it is simple: the males are blue and the females are orange.  In others, both sexes are the same color. In some, the male has longer, pointier fins; not true in others.  And so on.  

 There is some anecdotal evidence that a few cichlids can change sex but they do not do it very often and it would only be under very special circumstances.   Most people confuse sex change with the fact that many young males resemble the females of their species and only show their male colors when they are the dominant male (this helps them avoid getting beaten up by the dominant male).  

A cichlid will start laying eggs when it is mature.  When it is mature again depends on which species we are talking about.  Keep in mind that there are over 2000 different species of cichlids.  

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


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thank you for the help. ill try and be a little more specific for you. i have two albinos, one has an egg spot on the lower back fin, and i have two Malawi, a solid blue one, not sure what kind it is except that it is a African. then there is another one that i am not even sure what kind it is, its a chiclid that is like a silver color with dairy cow spots on it. ive tried to look this stuff up but it seems to many people have posted stuff that it seems they dont know what they are talking about. think you could answer how to tell each of those gender and about when they should start laying, or if they will lay eggs at all?
thanks again
mike

Answer
Hi Mike,
  The "egg spot" on the anal fin (the lower back fin) is most likely a male.  The difficulty with albino fish is that because they lack the colors, it is extremely difficult to say which species they are, since most cichlids are most easily identified by color.  Most likely it is a cichlid from Lake Malawi, in East Africa.  

  The blue one is also really tough because Lake Malawi has about 1500 species of cichlids, the bulk of which are blue! :)  

 The diary cow spots is one I can identify.  Most likely it is a species called Nimbochromis livingstoni, and it too comes from East Africa.  Males and females in that species look very similar.  

 Keep in mind that your fish are likely four diffferent species.  They can breed with each other if there are no appropriate mates, but it is not a good idea and most people in the hobby strongly discourage creating hybrids.  

  Many of the typical Lake Malawi cichlids can breed when they are about 3 inches long for the females and a little larger for the males, although with so many species, there are tons and tons of exceptions.  

  Lake Malawi cichlids lay eggs, but only briefly. They are all maternal mouthbrooders, meaning that the female lays an egg and quickly picks it up in her mouth. In some cases, the eggs are fertilized in the few seconds before she picks them up, and in some cases, they are fertilized after she has picked them up.  In either case, she carries the eggs and fry in her mouth until they are large enough to "release".  It's totally cool stuff to watch.

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