# Cacatuoides sexing help



## GanonCichlids (Aug 12, 2020)

http://imgur.com/xF48aK3


I know the big one is for sure a male, but is the 'female' actually a female? I've looked at references but I cannot tell for sure.


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## sir_keith (Oct 30, 2018)

The second fish looks like a young male to me.

There have always been way more _A. cacatuoides_ males than females in the hobby, no doubt because most breeders keep their breeding stock at temperatures above 27°C, which encourages breeding but results in a heavily male-biased sex ratio. When I was keeping these fishes, years ago, I was careful to keep the temperature of all the breeding tanks below 24°C.


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