# "Male" identification help. Can fish be Gay? Not b



## scarecrow1f9 (Dec 8, 2011)

This guy is a "cherokee" cichlid, a hybrid from live fish direct. I'm not sure what "he" is a mix of. Purchased him as an adult male - which I certainly thought he was as well.

He's not colored per say, but does have a sheen of blue around his mouth you can see in the light:





I didn't go a great job of capturing it.

He's 3.5"ish, maybe a bit more.

I recently added him to my male tank after a month or so, and after a day or two the ice blue tangerine (my alpha) started going nuts and began mating behavior. Became aggressive, cleared a flat space, etc.

After watching for a bit, these two were getting together in the cleared space and shimmying around each other in a circle - which I've always known to be mating behavior. They were also hanging out together. They act just like a mating pair...

The commanche was drawing a lot of attention in general, they either really like or really dislike it.

I went ahead and removed him/her. Now she's back in the growout tank.

My question is, without hormoning, which I don't think Livefishdirect would do, is there any reason a female would have blueish sheens to her face? Is he a gay male? Is that even possible?

Is it a female that looks malish because of whatever it's hybrid'd between?

Thanks for any input. He was a little pricey, if he's a she I have to take her to the local pet store and give her away.

Thanks!


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

Well....hard to tell for sure with the glare but it looks like it might be a male that is just not showing colors. It is almost impossible to tell what it is a mix of exactly especially right now being mostly grey.

Males can often shimmy around each other in a behavior similar to spawning but rather it is a show of dominance and submission. Your dominant fish was letting him know he is the boss and the new fish is just accepting that bu following around his anal fin in a show of submission.

This fish, not knowing what it is a mix of, may or may not ever fully color while not being the dominant fish. If he does start to show then your dominant male will likely really harass him.


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## Guest (Mar 28, 2012)

is the anal and dorsal fin pointy at the tips? if so its def a male.. usually if theres a blue sheen to the lips its a male and liike razor said your dom male might just not let him color up..


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## KraKstar (Aug 15, 2011)

alright heres my two cents. i live very close and know those guys personally. they diff dont hormone fish. now, if you asked for a male my bet is its a male. i have an apache peacock(hybrid) from them also. i wanted a cherokee but they were out. i believe they are a red shoulder crossed with a hap. maybe red emp? i cant remember. now this is just a theory that *** witnessed, i have a dimidochromis comp that was just starting to lose his stripe and gained his blue, he cornered all the rest of the males up in the corner of the tank and was trying to mate with my red emp! at first i thought it was some territory problem but it wouldnt stop. the red emp i think was thinking he was a female or just went along with it to save its self from being beat up. it diff looked funny tho. i thought maybe there was something funny in the water that day.anyways my guess youve got a male and live fish has never let me down with quality yet.


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## Guest (Mar 29, 2012)

lol first off.. on a farm that big.. they shouldnt be crossing fish at all.. those guys have sent me misidentified fish.. fish that were all supposed to be the same that looked different from each other... and lied to me on the phone telling me that an ob fryeri is a naturaly occuring morph in the lake...

that being said they are pretty good with sexing juvies and most of the time *** asked for males *** gotten males even when they were under 2" and i had plenty of good experiences with them.. but the few bad ones i had made me not want to mess with them anymore


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## KraKstar (Aug 15, 2011)

They dont ship from a farm. They have a seperate building in draper where they stage for shipping and have the store side. Thats crazy they sent the wrong fish. Seems like all distrabutors have their ups and downs.


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## RKG (Oct 21, 2011)

LFD has shipped me the wrong fish like 4 times now and i doubt i will buy from them again. Shipped all females one time and then made me pay for a male that wasnt even close to what it was suppose to be. Vics especially. Then they all of a sudden were out of the males when i tried to get one. hmmm. Sucked! so i probably will order from Dave's since i live in tx.


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## JAyliffe (Feb 29, 2012)

m1ke715m said:


> lol first off.. on a farm that big.. they shouldnt be crossing fish at all.. those guys have sent me misidentified fish.. fish that were all supposed to be the same that looked different from each other... and lied to me on the phone telling me that an ob fryeri is a naturaly occuring morph in the lake...
> 
> that being said they are pretty good with sexing juvies and most of the time I've asked for males I've gotten males even when they were under 2" and i had plenty of good experiences with them.. but the few bad ones i had made me not want to mess with them anymore


I recently bought a batch from them, the service was good and for sure two of the three haps I ordered look very much male as requested. The third I'm still unsure, only time will tell on that one. However, I did get a very odd fish http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=243257 in my batch which based on my order and the ones I can identify/count should actually be what they call Orange Johanni (Melanchromis (or Pseudotropheus) Johanni. but the shape is just wrong. It's a pretty fish and I'm keeping it but definitely an oddball.

I would agree with Mike, they are pretty good at sexing and if your fish has the pointed fins per KraKstar's comment you should be ok, just a matter of either time where he is or moving him to a tank where he feels confident enough to show his true colours


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