# How long for Red Empress to Colour up?



## avalanche333

Just wondering if anyone know how long it takes for red empress to colour up?

Mine are probably about 3-4 months and are not showing any signs of colouring yet. They are about 2" in size.


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## Fogelhund

Another 2" or so.


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## PiePuncher

Some show at three inches and some will not show until 4+ inches. It depends on the other inhabitants of the tank, dominance, and quality of the fish. At 2 inches you will have a shiny little silver fish...lol


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## avalanche333

Thanks for the info.
Is this same case for other cichlids that range in the same size as Red Empress?
More at 3-4" they color up?


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## mmz3

i have found that there horazontal strip fades first then they start to get colour in the head first here is mine hes about 3 inch's big i have had for about 2 months.

warning very blury....

















good luck i hope u have a male (not sexiest at all)


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## Riceburner

mine at about 2-3"









at 4"


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## bacondaddy

i got mine 6 months ago. i'm not sure how old it was when i got it, it was about 2 inches. 3 months ago it started showing color. now almost his whole head is colored, but only a little on his body. my guess is about 1 year to reach full color


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## PiePuncher

mmz3, try using a flash, it will help with the blur. 
This dude was full colored at 3 inches and is four inches in the photo.I have had other red empress that didnt color until 5 inches or so. I have also seen some poor quality 5+inch sub-dominate males that resemble females.


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## DCEyeBiter

I just bought 2 red empresses and one of them is already showing red in its anal fin. They are about 2" now and run amuck in the tank with the big'uns. lol


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## avalanche333

Thanks for the replies and pics. I can't wait for them to show some colours. Still nothing though.


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## Christoffer

4" to get mine colour up


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## Christoffer




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## sgwn73

Beautiful fish


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## thevein

been looking for a thread with developing pics on these guys, i've got 2 that are apprx 3+" and no color yet, maybe i've got 2 females


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## sakie

I'm curious about the red empress as well since I got one for free from my friend. He gave it to me and told me it's a male because of egg spot on the anal fin. Now it's around 2.5-3", but I don't see any sign of coloring. Can a female red empress have 6 or 7 egg spots on the anal fin? I know that if we are looking for male, the anal fin should be pointy...but mine is not pointy and it's not round neither. It's like a 90 degrees angle with a little curve at the corner. So can female delevelop egg spots? Thanks.


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## papasmurf

My male does not have any egg spots but some variants seem to have them to some extent. If the dorsal and anal fins have the least bit of what you could call a point developing, then it is most likely male. Females will have a constant curve to the dorsal and anal fins. It's about the only way I have been able to sex them when they are 1.5-2" in size.


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## sakie

papasmurf said:


> If the dorsal and anal fins have the least bit of what you could call a point developing, then it is most likely male. Females will have a constant curve to the dorsal and anal fins.


 :lol: My Red empress is a male then. I guess it doesn't show color yet due to a weak genes. I guess I've have to wait till it grow to 5-6 inches. Thanks for the answer and tip papasmurf.

P.S here's the photo of the red empress, around 3 inches long from head to tail. My tank is glass so it's very easy to be scratch.


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## Benaiah

Yes, also the first thing that colored up on mine was the lip and gill plate - and I'm seeing some iridescence there on the pic. Plus the red on the dorsal and tail fins is another sign it's a male.


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## thevein

wow, my post on these guys was jan of 10, here we are in jun of 11 and my 3" is now 4" and def male but minimal red coming in his tail and body, lost what I think was a female during a move, had to break down all of my tanks and a fight broke out in transport and lost one.


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## papasmurf

it took mine about a month to come close to fully coloring up but you can usually see the difference every day as he develops more color. He still varies from time to time with some subtle barring on the sides like most of the common red empress forms have, but when he is in top form he is pretty much solid red on the sides and the fins become very dark. Mine has more of a blue/green face then most of the other pics I have seen on the net.


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## Robchester_2000

mine is about 5" and there is minimal color on him so far. He has pointy fins so is defo male, but he just doesn't wanna color up for some reason. He's the biggest fish in the tank and probably the second most dominant, so I would have thought he would color up just a little by now. :-?


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## DanniGirl

*Robchester_2000*,
Do you have a picture of him? What else lives in the tank?


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## Robchester_2000

IMG_0464 by Robchester_2000, on Flickr

IMG_0465 by Robchester_2000, on Flickr

IMG_0472 by Robchester_2000, on Flickr

He actually looks more colorful in these pics than when i see him in the tank. Maybe i'm being too harsh??


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## Matman1110

I've got 2 red empresses, both are about 2.5" but have no color. I have them in a tank with an even smaller venustus and vc-10 and the red empresses get bullied by them. Their dorsal/anal fins are rounded too.

At what size do males develop the pointy fins and do all of them start out rounded? Also does this apply to most haps?

Thanks in advance


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## papasmurf

and peacocks. Females can develop some fin extensions particularly as they get older and some species (C. moori) are not really able to be easily sexed based on fin development or color alone.

You can start to see fin development around the 2" size if you look carefully. At smaller sizes the fins should normally all be rounded. If you see what look like males at really small sizes with very developed fins, chances are they have been hormone fed and may/may not be males. Purchasing hormone fed fish is a gamble and frequently they lose color and their male appearance in a couple of months and may take longer to develop if they are male.


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