# Firemouth gill flaring?



## Wspchef2001 (Mar 6, 2012)

Do only the males flare there gills with red coloring or do both sexes?


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## Anthraxx8500 (Feb 11, 2011)

i understand its a dominance thing.. or at least from what *** seen. and its males that do it more often then females but both will defend an area they laid claim to.


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## Wspchef2001 (Mar 6, 2012)

Thanks for fast feedback. I thought it was the males that did it more often. My FM's are still to small to tell sex but one does it more often than the other. The one I think is female is a little bigger and chases the smaller one all around. Only very small and short bitting goes on. I can't tell if this is bonding or aggression.


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## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

What size tank are they in and what size are they? aggression depends on size.

As for the gills, these are semi-aggressive fish. both sexes will flare but usually the male will do this more often because he is the one who claims a territory and will need to 'defend' it


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## Wspchef2001 (Mar 6, 2012)

They are in a 29g by themselves. One is about 2.5" and the other is 2".


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## brandon O (Oct 23, 2010)

*Wspchef2001*
same with me but i have 3 in a 29 and 2 of them chase one other one


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## Wspchef2001 (Mar 6, 2012)

It's more like the bigger one doing the chasing. I wonder if they are just setting up boundarys. This is my first time with cichlids so I got FMs because I did a lot of reaserch and they seemed to be the easiest to care for.


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## Wspchef2001 (Mar 6, 2012)

Male?








Female?


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