# Help Needed With Orange Blotch Cichlids



## LittleFish8662 (Nov 10, 2010)

Hello, I am new to the forum. I am an experienced fish keeper but I am new to cichlids. I bought two Orange Blotched Cichlids about a month ago and they are in a 40g breeder tank. In the pass week one has been chasing the other all the time and is nipping at the other one. They have 4 decorations and lots of plants to hide in but the one still chases the other.

I was wondering if they were both males if that's why they were fighting or if this was just normal? I also wanted a pair but I couldn't find any sites on sexing them if anyone could tell me how to do that that be great.

Thanks for any help.


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The problem is Malawi are not pairing fish, they are harem breeders. You would want one male and four females. Is it a 48" long tank? If yes, then I'd get a bunch more and try for 1m:4f. If it is a 36" long tank I'd trade them in for something that will fit better...a dwarf mbuna perhaps.

When you have a pair the male will chase the female until she is exhausted, gets sick and possibly dies. So you have a bunch of females to spread the aggression.


----------



## LittleFish8662 (Nov 10, 2010)

Thanks I am able to get more. I have lots of tanks and am willing to move them up to a bigger one if needed but I want to make sure I get females and not males.


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

At this point it would be good to find out exactly what your orange blotched cichlid is.
Is it this?
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=2316


----------



## LittleFish8662 (Nov 10, 2010)

They came from Petsmart and they had it label as Peach Blotched Peacock Cichlid and under it it said Orange Blotch but the scientific name said Aulonocara so it isn't the one you posted. I shouldn't be surprised Petsmart always uses different names.

Here is a link on petsmarts website, it doesn't give any info but that is what they look like.
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=3954156


----------



## soulpride (Aug 30, 2009)

petsmart and petco usually sell hybrid but once in awhile you will find some nice fish. the one in the pics of the fish from petsmart you post look like a hybrid to me. but i can always be wrong too. for a 40g breeder that is 36" you can only do 1 type of peacock only of the smaller and less aggressive kind like the ruby red peacock. with the ratio of 1m/4-5f.

here a link to the ruby red profile.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1311

the albino ruby red profile.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1312


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

With aulonocara (peacocks), sexing is easy because females are drab. You probably do have two males, and one per tank works best.

If this is a 36" tank you might try getting 4-5 females and exchanging the extra male. They might be OK or they might be too aggressive and still need the larger tank.


----------



## CatCityGary (Nov 3, 2010)

Yes the pic is of OB Peacocks. They are different from what most people refer to as chiclids as there is an OB in the mumba family as well. I have OB peacocks and they tend to be a very peaceful fish in the tank. Have them mixed with electric yellows and they all get along fine. As for coloring the males are definitely a little bit more colorful, but the females in this group are also of very similar coloring. The OB's are a mix so every fish is different in the coloration. 
Sexing is pretty easy as the Males have whats called egg spots on the bottom fin in the back. It is a colored spot on the back fin that is suppose to resemble a females egg. It helps with the breeding cycle as the female reaches for the spot thinking she missed an egg and wham the male fertilizes her. On the petsmart pic you showed it looks like in the pic it could be a male. If you look very closely on the bottom rear fin it looks like there could be one tiny egg dot. Most males will tend to have 2-4 of these dots. But its definitely the easiest way to tell male from female. 
And yes you need to add a few more females for the male to chase around.


----------



## toume (Oct 7, 2010)

Well, I agree, except I still say you shouldn't use egg spots as an indicator for sex...

It's common for males to have egg spots (sometimes more than females), but females can have them too. For peacocks, I'd go by coloration first and foremost.


----------



## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

CatCityGary said:


> Yes the pic is of OB Peacocks. They are different from what most people refer to as chiclids as there is an OB in the mumba family as well. I have OB peacocks and they tend to be a very peaceful fish in the tank. Have them mixed with electric yellows and they all get along fine. As for coloring the males are definitely a little bit more colorful, but the females in this group are also of very similar coloring. The OB's are a mix so every fish is different in the coloration.
> Sexing is pretty easy as the Males have whats called egg spots on the bottom fin in the back. It is a colored spot on the back fin that is suppose to resemble a females egg. It helps with the breeding cycle as the female reaches for the spot thinking she missed an egg and wham the male fertilizes her. On the petsmart pic you showed it looks like in the pic it could be a male. If you look very closely on the bottom rear fin it looks like there could be one tiny egg dot. Most males will tend to have 2-4 of these dots. But its definitely the easiest way to tell male from female.
> And yes you need to add a few more females for the male to chase around.


Just a couple of notes/corrections.

OB Peacocks have a wide range of behaviour, ranging from your experience, to some specimens who are quite aggressive. The range it due to being hybrids.

The existence of egg spots, do not determine gender in cichilds. Sure, there are some lines, of some species where they can be fairly predictable, but it just doesn't work on a consistant basis. I've had Red Zebras/Metriaclima estherae, where most of the females had more eggs sports than the males.

From a taxonic naming basis, Mbuna (not mumba) are not a family, but rather a flock.

:thumb:


----------



## LittleFish8662 (Nov 10, 2010)

The fish that is the aggressor is pretty dull in color, it has a lot of spots but compared to the others I saw and the one I have it's dull. Does that mean its a female or just a dull male?


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

A female peacock is silver brown, it is not a dulled-down version of the male. So it still sounds to me like you have two males. Unless the fish have been hormoned in which case a female might show color.


----------

