# SEX my Aulonocara Baenschi?



## SAVAGEE

I was really hoping male but leaning towards female what you guys think? fish is 1.5 inches


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## Corey

I would just vent it to be sure. Just looking from the pic it looks big enough. You can find how to guides on line or YouTube.

Good Luck

Corey


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## 13razorbackfan

Looks like young male


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## Cropheus

Wild guess says Male, but as mentioned above....vent rather


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## SAVAGEE

Are you guys thinking male because of black spot on dorsal fin? I was told only males have this


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## 13razorbackfan

SAVAGEE said:


> Are you guys thinking male because of black spot on dorsal fin? I was told only males have this


Yellow in body and fins plus it appears the anal fin is beginning to point. A better pic would certainly make things clearer but from the pic above I would say male.


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## SAVAGEE

Thanks for the responses! heres a kinda better pic its hard to take because hes always moving lol im 95 % its male cause i see yellowing and a little blue speckel starting to develop what you guys think?


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## SAVAGEE

Also i picked up a supposedly Yellow Benga from petco lol , im not sure because this one doesnt have any blue at all , is it even a Benga? do all bengas get blue on them? suppose this one is a male


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## Fogelhund

The full colour only comes in when they become mature, and are dominant. This can happen as small as 2-3" in species only tanks, but can often not be until 4" in mixed tanks. A baenschi is a Yellow Benga, so it seems you've purchased two of the same types.


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## SAVAGEE

Fogelhund said:


> The full colour only comes in when they become mature, and are dominant. This can happen as small as 2-3" in species only tanks, but can often not be until 4" in mixed tanks. A baenschi is a Yellow Benga, so it seems you've purchased two of the same types.


Thanks , That Explains the kinda dull look of the one i got from petco because he isnt the dominate one in tank . Do you think my smaller Benga i posted a pic of is male or female?


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## Fogelhund

Probably a male, but until it gets more colour and shows more sign, you can't be certain.


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## SAVAGEE

Yeah ill wait till it gets bigger and ill send pics , Heres One of the bengas from the same bloodline of mines from previous batch , hoping they turn out like him


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## Cropheus

Hi

Check out this video on Venting I made.....it might help you. Your fish might be to small, but it is worth a shot.






Cheers

Riaan


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## jcolella1

The second picture may not be a male because of the yellow color. My daughter came home with one a number of month ago and I thought it was a male because of the yellow. It has grown to almost 3" now and there is still yellow color. I has held twice already with the last time with over 30 eggs. I dont know if the color is there because of certain breeding or more likely, hormoned when young. Unless they hold, venting will be the best way to make sure.
Pic of her below.


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## SAVAGEE

Heres a update , definatley male , what you guys think lol


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## 13razorbackfan

Looks nice. Is that black on his dorsal?


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## m1ke715m

doesnt look like a benga to me.. looks like a german red, ruby red, or some kind of red shoulder.. bengas are bright yellow and shaped differently


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## aicardi

Corey said:


> I would just vent it to be sure. Just looking from the pic it looks big enough. You can find how to guides on line or YouTube.
> 
> Good Luck
> 
> Corey


Agreed. Learn to vent.


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## SAVAGEE

m1ke715m said:


> doesnt look like a benga to me.. looks like a german red, ruby red, or some kind of red shoulder.. bengas are bright yellow and shaped differently


anybody else think this isnt a benga? i would be very dissapointed if it wasnt


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## 13razorbackfan

SAVAGEE said:


> m1ke715m said:
> 
> 
> 
> doesnt look like a benga to me.. looks like a german red, ruby red, or some kind of red shoulder.. bengas are bright yellow and shaped differently
> 
> 
> 
> anybody else think this isnt a benga? i would be very dissapointed if it wasnt
Click to expand...

The updated pic you posted doesn't look like a Benga, or at least a pure one, to me. That is why I was asking about the black on the dorsal fin. I like it better though myself. If I had another Benga I would trade for your fish in a heartbeat.


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## SAVAGEE

Heres A video , Maybe itll help more. Btw im going to be soon removing the mbunas once my other tank is finish cycling


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## SAVAGEE

Full tank shot


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## Fogelhund

Indeed, not a baenschi/benga.


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## SAVAGEE

What fish do you think it is? Some Type of hybird?


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## Fogelhund

SAVAGEE said:


> What fish do you think it is? Some Type of hybird?


Looks that way.


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## SAVAGEE

would you say this fish isnt also a baenschi? its from the same line as my fish so i expect my fish would look like this when matured


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## 13razorbackfan

SAVAGEE said:


> would you say this fish isnt also a baenschi? its from the same line as my fish so i expect my fish would look like this when matured


That fish looks like a Benga/Baenschi to me and looks good. That is what yours should look like if that is what you are wanting. However....I really like yours a lot.

When you say came from the "same line" do you mean that you are getting these from a friend who you trust and have seen both the parents or do you mean you are being told from a third party at a LFS? The two don't look like they are from the same parents to me. I have been wrong before but I would bet $100 that they come from two different parents. Also it is possible if this person has a german red or something along those lines in the same tank with the Benga parents then it is possible that it spawned with a female and that could explain the differences.


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## SAVAGEE

yeah they are from the same parents but different batches , we got them from a local breeder I trust. he has every species he breeds in their own tank so im lil confused why you guys think Its a hybird , whats off about my fish that doesnt make it look pure sunshine?


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## Fogelhund

Your fish has black in the dorsal, so not a pure baenschi. Some hybrids will look like one parent or another, so you could hybrids that look right. You could also have a situation where a breeder has 10 females, and only one of the breeders females are the wrong one... so, only 1/10th of their fry are hybrids. Who knows, wouldn't use either for breeding.


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## SAVAGEE

Here are pics of parents , do they look full sunshine?


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## 13razorbackfan

I can't really tell from the top pic but it does appear to be a Baenschi. The bottom pic looks like a stuartgranti maleri Island. Both those fish are male. If the female is a Baenschi then your fish is likely a cross between the maleri island and the Baenschi/benga female. That would be my best guess. It is impossible to tell if the female fish yours came from is a baenschi or a stuartgranti.

Here is the two different profiles:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... php?id=632

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1410


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## Fogelhund

SAVAGEE said:


> Here are pics of parents , do they look full sunshine?


The pictures are of two different males??? Top one looks like a baenschi or Maleri Island. Bottom one is most certainly not a baenschi, maybe Maleri type, or German Red. You'll never know what the female is by looking at it. As far as your fish, no matter which type, Sunshines don't have black in the dorsal, so something went wrong in the breeding.


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## SAVAGEE

I dont see any black on the dorsal fin?


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## 13razorbackfan

The stripe between the white tip and orange fin and how it gets more black towards the head. Here is a pic of a pure Baenschi:








va

Your fish looks like either a German red type or a hybrid of the two or even a stuartgranti maleri hybrid. Just hard to say. All we can do is guess. Can you have the guy you bought these from post a pic of the male and ask him if it is the only male in the tank? Then can ask him how many females he has and if the female is known to be a pure wild caught Baenschi. These fish get mixed and interbred through the hobby all the time. When talking about many of these fish I just call them by basic trade names because unless you know they are wild caught or F1 fish it is hard to know if they are pure. So many of the yellow peacocks most just call "sunshine" because people get confused because they look so similar and the females get mixed up and they all breed with each other. Sometimes even though the females are different the offspring will look like mom, dad or a mix of the two. Just hard to say. I wouldn't stress too much about it. If you want one pure then I would order a wild caught online from a reputable breeder. PM me if you want some names. :thumb:


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