# Please help sex BORLEYI????



## lucky777*** (Dec 5, 2005)

I was told that the males were this color and the females were silver. I'm finding conflicting info online. I see green and blue males. Also i see males this color


----------



## aicardi (Sep 15, 2012)

Looks like young male starting to color up. How big is it?


----------



## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

Juveniles are silver grey with yellow-orange to sometimes almost red fins.

Females and non dominant males get more of a slate grey color with the color in the fins, less shiny as they get larger.

Males get dark shiny blue heads with the sides getting yellow-orange-reddish, the better quality fish get redder. Some fish can look quite dark at times, with almost a black tint. More pointed fins like most other Malawis.


----------



## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I agree with aicardi. The fish in your video definitely looks like a young male. His color looks like it's coming along, but could be suppressed due to tankmates. He looks like he's taking a bit of nipping along his flanks. His anal fin looks pointed as well, which noki touched on on.

I have a young group with a dominant male that keeps the other males from fully coloring up. Here's a video from about 2 months ago. You can see a male that looks similar to yours at around the 44 second mark. He's in the lower left hand corner. Since then, the extra males have put on a bit of extra orange on the flanks and blue to the head. Been trying to sell them off...


----------



## lucky777*** (Dec 5, 2005)

So is there 2 common types of borleyi. I have one with blue head and green body that I can identify as male borleyi I via cichlid profiles. When I was at he breeders house they showed me the females and hey were shiny silver with orange fins. She did state this was male, when I emailed her yesterday with video link she said female. He is ussualy more purple and black.

They all look beat up right now. 2 nights ago I got a call from wife while at work that my 150 gallon seams let go. Tank was perfecto and just over a year old. Absolute mahyhem. All fish were in rubbermaids for a few hours. Friend had a spare 110 which we were able to move them to in basement with stand and all. There were no fish losses except for the baenschi I gave to him for saving the day.

Perfecto is sending me new glass.

So you all think it is male?


----------



## lucky777*** (Dec 5, 2005)

I'm also confused about 1 more thing. Mine has orange fins, do they start out orange and turn blue? I only see orange fins on females. Also exactly what type of borleyi would it be?

He is 4 inches.


----------



## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

lucky777*** said:


> I'm also confused about 1 more thing. Mine has orange fins, do they start out orange and turn blue? I only see orange fins on females. Also exactly what type of borleyi would it be?
> 
> He is 4 inches.


You do understand that with all Haps and Peacocks, males AND females look the same as juveniles. Then males get male color as they mature and their male hormones kick in. Male color is dependent on pecking order and dominance with Borleyi, the same as 99% of other Haps. Alpha males have full color, subdominant males can look like females. This is normal for a large majority of Malawi cichlids (like 1000 species)... there are some exceptions.

The hybrids and albinos, which have unnatural genes which make them unusual, are a little different, but males still get male color the same way.


----------



## lucky777*** (Dec 5, 2005)

I thought that it would after body color more and not so much the fins. I am aware of how this works though thank you. Confused about fin color only.

This is supposed to be a 150 all male. I see every change as they grow and I see dominant and subdominant colorations but this one I was unsure of.


----------



## Protazerg (Aug 28, 2007)

Copadichromis borleyi "Kadango" a.k.a. Red Fin Borleyi, All have the orange fins when they are young. And females keep it. As the males mature, their fins will turn the black color with white edging, get the orange body and blue face. Females will remain silver/gray, but still have the pretty orange fins. It's one of the rare occasions where the females of a hap still have some nice color. Here is a random pic I found of some small juvies.


----------



## TTUhouston (Jul 22, 2013)

lol, that is my picture. I thought it looked familiar. That is an unsexed Juvenile 
He is getting bigger now though!!


----------



## jw85 (Dec 24, 2013)

I had a fish that looked similar to this I found at my LFS. Had the orange fins and some slight blue coloring on the body. I thought for sure it was a male.

When the vent came out and she started breeding with another fish I quickly learned I was wrong.

As much as I hate doing the advice I'm about to give, I think you'd have to vent it to know for sure, at least based on my experience.

Edit: I'll add that after I removed her, I got a new one online that is about 4 inches and shows similar color to the one linked above in the video, so my conclusion is at 4 inches they should have some decent color.


----------



## lucky777*** (Dec 5, 2005)

I did vent her and she was female. Thanks


----------

