# Please Sex My Carpintis



## OscarDempsey (Apr 5, 2011)

Heres a couple pictures, sorry im awful with a camera


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## mlancaster (Jul 24, 2009)

Hi *OscarDempsey*,

You have an awesome Carpintis. Based on what I have read and discussed with others, female Carpintis should have a black splotch in the middle of thier dorsal fin. However, I have found with my Carpintis and other pcitures it is hard to tell with thier coloring.

With all that said it is hard to tell with your Carpintis. Like i said, I could not tell with mine until she began trying to mate and i could see a large tubelike vent.

Thanks,
Matt


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## YELLOWRAVEN (Feb 12, 2011)

is that guy also known as TEXAS CIChlid ?


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

Quote--"is that guy also known as TEXAS CIChlid ?"

No, "Texas Cichlid" is a similar, very closely related fish. It has smaller, white colored spots . It is H. Cyanoguttatum , while the OP's fish is H. Carpinte....which has larger, greenish/blue colored spots--it's sold as "Green Texas Cichlid" in the aquarium trade.

The fish are easily confused, and they readily hybridize. Often hybrids are available, and sold as one or the other--just like many "Red Devil" or "Midas" cichlids found in the industry are actually a hybrid between the two.

The OP's fish looks like a pure H. Carpinte to me, but you can't really be sure unless it was purchased from a reliable source.


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

By the way--my guess would be that you have a female H. Carpinte...I see a black spot on the dorsal, and the fins look like the females that I've had. But I am not the best at sexing fish without venting--except for Malawi cichlids. I can determine them, usually with about 80% accurately.


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

oldcatfish said:


> --except for Malawi cichlids. I can determine them, usually with about 80% accurately.


I'd be curious on your methods for malawi cichlids. I know the sex of any CA/ SA cichlid with in weeks or months based on observing their breeding tubes in the water over the course of a few weeks or months. But mbuna never seem to show enough breeding tube for me to tell. The only way I know their sex for certain is if they are holding and/or I witness the mating act.


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## terrorizer (Dec 31, 2011)

I recently found a site that tells you about almost every cichlidideal you could think of I don't know how to link a web site so I will just tell u wat to search for type in the name of the cichlidideal your looking for in your case carpitinis then put a slash animal world and it will tell you everything their is to know including GENDER DIFFERENCES :thumb: hope this helps


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## terrorizer (Dec 31, 2011)

The website is animal world


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

Quote: "I'd be curious on your methods for malawi cichlids. I know the sex of any CA/ SA cichlid with in weeks or months based on observing their breeding tubes in the water over the course of a few weeks or months. But mbuna never seem to show enough breeding tube for me to tell. The only way I know their sex for certain is if they are holding and/or I witness the mating act."

Bernie, it's hard for me to describe. I have much more experience with Malawi cichlids than CA's or SA's. I've kept and bred most of the commonly available Malawi's. I'll try to describe it though, and it does vary by species:

First, I observe a tank full of one or two species. The biggest one is usually male. For species that both sexes have the same coloration such as M. Estherae (red zebra) or M. Callainos (cobalt zebra), there are subtle color differences. With red zebras, the females will be more of a deep orange/red, while males will be slightly more faded. In the case of cobalt zebra, the males will be a bit brighter/lighter blue colored, females will be a little darker/less bright. If the species have different male/female coloration, you have to look at signs of slight color fading or changing from the female coloration, to determine the males. Also, the number of egg spots--males almost always have more. Finally, in the case of Haplochromines or Aulonocara (peacocks)--you also look for egg spots, and any hint of coloration around the face, gill, tail, or dorsal fin. If I want a male with several females, I'll choose the largest one that looks different from several smaller ones that I choose.

All of these things are subtle though, and you have to look at a tank full of juveniles from the same brood. If you mix a bunch from different sources, it's less accurate. Even within the same brood, I'm sometimes wrong. I use a similar method with CA's and SA's--but it does seem to be a bit less accurate. This method doesn't work with hybrids and the infamous "mixed Africans" either--since even if they were pure species, there isn't enough of any one species to compare.


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