# Red Zebra gender



## truenorth

Hi,

I have two red zebras, is there a reliable way to tell the sex of this breed? Males have more egg spots on the anal fin than females?

Thx


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## malawimix

egg spots is not a reliable method of sexing. the males develop a bluish white tint in the fins and often over the whole body wile the females maintain the deep orange color.

with only two of them you may find that one gets harassed to the point of death. two males may fight for dominance and with a pair the female may be chased continually, stressing her out to the point of illness/death.


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## truenorth

malawimix said:


> egg spots is not a reliable method of sexing. the males develop a bluish white tint in the fins and often over the whole body wile the females maintain the deep orange color.
> 
> with only two of them you may find that one gets harassed to the point of death. two males may fight for dominance and with a pair the female may be chased continually, stressing her out to the point of illness/death.


Thanks. since I have other cichlids in the tank so I think I am ok there. In terms of behavior, do females also dig holes on the bottom of the tank or this behavior is only shown by males?

Thx
r


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## soulpride

only the male dig. what your tank size and what other fish are in there?


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## truenorth

soulpride said:


> only the male dig. what your tank size and what other fish are in there?


I have a 72 gallon tank, with 2 x elec blue, 3 x yellow lab, 2 x blue zebra, 2 x red zebra, and 2 hybrid...

Here is the pic of the red zebra I'm inquiring about










thx


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## Fighting Cichlids!

From what malawimix posted above, the front one looks like a male.


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## soulpride

i see more hybrid fry on the way from the yellow labs and the red zebra. possible the the red and blue too. for the ratio i will do 1m/4f of each species. the hybrid will likely breed with yellow labs, red zebra, and blue zebra. unless you can id the hybrid if you can't then likely the will breed. imo i wouldn't keep the fry unless you keep for pleasure only. not that i against hybrid it just to hard to tell their personality and behavior.


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## DJRansome

truenorth said:


> since I have other cichlids in the tank so I think I am ok there.


The fish will single out others of their species to fight with. With only two of the species they could focus on each other as competitors.


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## CichlidsTank

This might help. My Male Red Zebra:









My female Red Zebra:


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## truenorth

CichlidsTank said:


> This might help. My Male Red Zebra:
> Great Thanks!
> 
> Does your female have any egg spots on the anal fin? I am asking this 'cause the guy at pet shop tells me it is the only reliable way to tell with zebras - males have lots of egg spots and females have few...


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## DJRansome

My red zebra female has lots of egg spots.


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## truenorth

DJRansome said:


> My red zebra female has lots of egg spots.


So much for the pet shop guy's comments.... thanks.


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## Fogelhund

Agree with DJ. As they grow larger, it is pretty easy to tell the difference, but not when they are juveniles. At least when we are talking about red x red zebras. The blue x reds, the more common colouration in the wild are really easy... the males are almost always blue right from the start, females orange/red.


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## toume

malawimix said:


> egg spots is not a reliable method of sexing. the males develop a bluish white tint in the fins and often over the whole body wile the females maintain the deep orange color.
> 
> with only two of them you may find that one gets harassed to the point of death. two males may fight for dominance and with a pair the female may be chased continually, stressing her out to the point of illness/death.


Because of trait breeding, you can now find males with an orange/red color in red zebras... so you can't go by color. So, if it's bluish--definitely male, but if it's orange it could be either. But wouldn't it be so convenient if it were that easy... :roll:


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## CichlidsTank

truenorth said:


> Does your female have any egg spots on the anal fin?


Yeah 3 or 4 spots on the anal fin of the female, but not on any of the other fins. The male has a dozen or so on all his fins.


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## toume

CichlidsTank said:


> This might help. My Male Red Zebra:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My female Red Zebra:


Hm...I see the tint now! Wow, they're beautiful :thumb: 
So the females a more yellow look to the fins?


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## toume

truenorth said:


> DJRansome said:
> 
> 
> 
> My red zebra female has lots of egg spots.
> 
> 
> 
> So much for the pet shop guy's comments.... thanks.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you have to vent them to be sure. You can google that.


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## Sparrk

yeah, I had lot of problem to get females, trying to find females at many pet shops, they are hard to differentiate and most of em are too small to tell...


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## CichlidsTank

toume said:


> Hm...I see the tint now! Wow, they're beautiful :thumb:
> So the females a more yellow look to the fins?


Both the female and male look about the same until they sexually mature, then the male gets a slight blue tint and develops more egg spots. His pelvic fins also grow to probably twice the length of a female's. His dorsal fin grows to more of a point in the back compared to female's which is more rounded/square.


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## toume

[quote/] Both the female and male look about the same until they sexually mature[/quote]

And is there an approximate age on that?


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