# Sexing Convict Cichlids



## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

I have 9 convicts: a pink and the rest are regular. 5 of them have fat red bellies, so i know they are females, but the ones that don't have the red bellies have no different tails they all seem to have a pointed tail even the pregnant females. How do you sex convicts?


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## MonteSS (Dec 8, 2008)

Correct. Females have orange on the bellies and males dont. Fins wont tell you much at that age.

Cichlids dont get pregnant. Females lay eggs and the male then fertilizes them.

....Bill


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## FedEXguy (Feb 24, 2005)

I don't know the size of your Convicts, but even at a pretty small age, there's a good indicator of sex. Take a flashlight and shine it on the fish. If you see a greenish sheen on the dorsal fin, then it's likely a female. I don't know if this method is 100% but I've used it and it hasn't ever been wrong for me.


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## pablo111 (Dec 10, 2013)

Egg laying fish don't get pregnant, they get gravid. Only live-bearing fish get pregnant.


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

I know they dont get pregnant that was the term that was used when i got them. They range from 2 inches to 4 inches.


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## sweety (Jan 10, 2010)

Think i'm one of the very few but I had a male convict which had a small amount of orange on his belly but once he got to 2.5" you could tell the difference in the fins sadly he killed the female after the second batch of fry  he was a nasty fish


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