Sexing Baby Fish

[vail94]

I have a whole tank full of baby Cacitoudes (Orange Flash) that are about a 1/4" long (my first sucess with raising a Dwarf Cichlid spawn ) the question is how big do they have to be to sex them? and what am i looking for at these first stages of growth to sex them? Is a 30 gallon large enough for a grow out tank of about 30 babies? any other thought or suggestions would be appreciated for this new dad.

 

[tjudy]

Some strains of cacs are easier to sex than others at an early age. I would look for two things to indicate female: black tips on the front two or three dorsal spines and black and orange in the pelvic fins. Orange flash females may not express these markings... I am not sure. For males I would look for orange in the fins... escpecially the tail. I think 1/4" is a bit young, but you will start to see differences at 1/2"-3/4".

 

[vail94]

Thanks for the info, it appears that i have a lot of males. Is it tempature or water hardness that determines the sex?:redface:

 

[aquaticclarity]

With Apistos temperature is the biggest sex detrminin factor. Higher temperatures equa more males. Aim for 77-78F to get a good split of both males and females.

Jeff