# Male Saulosi starting to color up



## Stussi613 (May 8, 2009)

Some of my male saulosi are starting to color up, black on the top and bottom fins, as well as bars starting to show up...finally. Does anyone have any idea how long it will take for me to figure out exactly how many males and females I have in my group of 10? I know that venting is the only sure way to tell, but I have no idea how to do it, even after reading online about the process.


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

If they're all the same age it could take a few weeks at least. My original batch of 12 turned out to be 7m/5f. It was pretty obvious who was what by the time they were 2 1/2", but they certainly didn't all colour up at the same time. As long as you're not seeing prolonged chasing or ripped fins you should be able to wait for the colour changes to take their course and not have to deal with venting. I don't know how to do it either, but I bet catching them is even harder than venting them!

kevin


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Without venting, you might never know. I have seen cases where full sized adult males had full female colouration, until more dominant males were removed.


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

Fogelhund said:


> I have seen cases where full sized adult males had full female colouration, until more dominant males were removed.


That's not what _I_ wanted to hear.


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## Cento (Mar 30, 2005)

I agree that to know for a certainly is difficult without venting, but I was able to guess what mine where when I brought them home.

There were 6 and they were at about an inch, and at that time, if you looked REAL close, you could see an egg spot forming on 3 of them. Also, you could see an ever so slight speckling or dusting of black. The men even start looking more robust, or manly, if you will, in shape and in their face.

I know that egg spots aren't definitive, and at times of extreme aggression, even females can put on a little black, but its a good start. At least you have an idea of where you stand, and how bad (or how good) your ratio is, and start preparing to tackle potential problems.


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## Stussi613 (May 8, 2009)

Since I last posted this I've had a few more fish start to get barring and dark fins, but the first one to start showing has actually gone a very pale color outside the bars. He's eating fine and very active, is this normal in Saulosi when they start to change color?


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

Stussi613 said:


> the first one to start showing has actually gone a very pale color outside the bars.


This is merely an educated guess, but I'd say that your first male to colour up has realized he's not the tank boss and is "showing down" accordingly. Of my three males, two only turn on their bars and colours when the boss is away. Otherwise they are fairly pale blue with little barring or black in their fins.

kevin


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## Stussi613 (May 8, 2009)

ridley25 said:


> Stussi613 said:
> 
> 
> > the first one to start showing has actually gone a very pale color outside the bars.
> ...


He hasn't actually turned blue and black yet, he just went a really pale yellow that looks like there is a shade of blue to it. I'm just trying to figure out if this is how they transition from yellow to blue and black, or if there is something wrong with him. I've never kept saulosi and I'm not sure what to expect as they mature and transition.


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## Cento (Mar 30, 2005)

By the sounds of things, I think your fish is fine... There could be a few factors why he's "pale'd out" his colours.

As *ridley25* mentioned, dominance issues are always a factor and are constantly changing, which is normal. Also though, it could possibly be water conditions. A fish can survive quite a long while in less then perfect water conditions, but he/she won't reach full display/health potential if things such as hardness, pH, ammonia (etc, etc), are way off of what it should be.

If you check parameters and things seem to be fine, I wouldn't worry about it. It'll be possibly the dominance/aggression issues or even fish "quality" issues, both of which are mostly beyond your control...


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## csaxe21 (Jun 7, 2009)

Hey,
They all pretty much said it, how you may never actually know without venting. Males can look identical like females, and at times, females may colour up a little like the males (Like during aggression). But if you were interested in the colour changing, here's a nice picture. Unfortunately it doesn't give any timelines, but I'd say a couple of months. I've had mine for a little over 4 weeks, and he has black fins and bars, and has blue on his face.

http://www.african-cichlid.com/SaulosiChange.jpg

best of luck! :fish:


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## bluebbo (Feb 7, 2009)

From my saulosi, turning pale is a normal progression. My dominant male was pretty pale before all the bars became dark along with his face. I have another male who is pale atm but wont color fully because of the dominant. I have 8 saulosi and I'm pretty sure I have more than 2 males although none of the others seem to be showing any changes yet.


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## ice (Jul 26, 2003)

i dont know whether youre keen to try this, but in Australia theres always a higher number of males available than females- whenever i had a male take charge and become agressive and begin to colour up, i would sell him off. Id continue to do this until i had a group of females (never more than 3 at a time i might add). And then id buy back a really nice, fully coloured up male. Worked every time.

Although i might add, i gave a coloured up aggressive male to a friend who had saulosis and he said it turned out to be a female and was holding within a week. I bought her back


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## Stussi613 (May 8, 2009)

csaxe21 said:


> Hey,
> They all pretty much said it, how you may never actually know without venting. Males can look identical like females, and at times, females may colour up a little like the males (Like during aggression). But if you were interested in the colour changing, here's a nice picture. Unfortunately it doesn't give any timelines, but I'd say a couple of months. I've had mine for a little over 4 weeks, and he has black fins and bars, and has blue on his face.
> 
> http://www.african-cichlid.com/SaulosiChange.jpg
> ...


It's been a few weeks and he's somewhere between two and three in the picture, I would say. there are other fish showing bars, but he's the only one that looks to be morphing. I guess I'll just have to keep an eye on him. I checked my water params and they are bang on...so I don't think it's the water.


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## ice (Jul 26, 2003)

*** had a male fully colour up within 3 weeks, and another male that took almost 7 months to fully change :/


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