GeeTee Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 I have had a male Cobalt Blue for about 7 months and have just bought him a couple of females to see if they will breed. I have had the females now for 2 weeks and all he does is swim away from them and hide. After studying the breeding habits they seem to be doing things in reverse. The females dig in the gravel,one of the females got very fat as if to be carrying eggs and harrassed him no end.(If she was carrying eggs she dropped them for no result.Slimmed overnight.) He is meant to be chasing them all over the tank harassing them but both of them chase him. I know someone will ask am I sure it is a male,well he is very bright blue,has egg spots(and was sold as male) I have photos for venting if anyone thinks they can identify from a photo. Or maybe he is gay!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcon021 Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 i can help you vent them. So show me the picz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeTee Posted April 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 female male This is a pic of the two fish together,just for interest.Male at the bottom,see the egg spots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freakyfish Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 Honestly mate going by the vents i think you have 2 girls Its not a good idea to go by egg spots as i have seen quite a few females with them. When your vent sexing a fish they have 2 holes one is the anus and the other is the vent Now girls have 1 smaller and 1 large Males generally have then about the same size. Here is a great article that explains it well http://www.fishhead.com/articles/ventsex.htm Brad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 Looks like 2 girls, may just have to give them time. Just because you have a female and a male, dosen't mean u are going to get action. Sometimes it takes time, sometimes one of either sex might go, your not good enough to breed with. Keep up the vegie food to them, water changes...what size tank, other fish.....Mbuna are best in bigger colonies to, yellows(13) aceii (11) demasoni (12) in my cases. Heres a piece off the cichlid forum... There is almost no color difference between male and female. Mature males, however, will display a bright blue, almost white color while females remain a rather drab blue. Some females lack egg spots on the anal fin, but this is not the most accurate means of differentiating males from females. Males’ egg spots also tend to have a sharper, more defined color. Males can reach up to 5-inches in length, while females will stay slightly smaller. Breeding: Breeding this fish is not an easy task due to intra-species aggression. Males can be rather rough on unwilling females and if the correct ratios are not kept or sufficient hiding places are not provided, a male can easily kill off his females. It’s possible to keep more then one male in a 55-gallon aquarium, but it will make breeding more difficult. Unless your tank is over 48-inches long, the best way to go is to keep only one male. Additionally, they should not be kept in any ratio less the 1:4 or 1:5. I would not recommend keeping these in groups of less than five because they tend to harass each other to death. With a larger group, aggression is spread out and the chaser tends to lose the chased in the crowd. Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 ps; same for what Brad said about the egg spots to. Nice link Brad, I thought I had seen the optivisor before Brad. Funny, :lol: I heard you telling female customers it was to help correct a lazy eye. Now I know what it was really for Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi_man Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 8) those are some mint looking cobalts, sorry but edef. 2 females to me as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcon021 Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 nice fish 8) They are males for sure hehe... I am just pulling your leg...those are females. And nice colour too mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billaney Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 Honestly mate going by the vents i think you have 2 girls Its not a good idea to go by egg spots as i have seen quite a few females with them. When your vent sexing a fish they have 2 holes one is the anus and the other is the vent Now girls have 1 smaller and 1 large Males generally have then about the same size. Here is a great article that explains it well http://www.fishhead.com/articles/ventsex.htm Brad I agree that those look like two females , sorry about that :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeTee Posted April 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 Thanks for all the replies,not really what I wanted to hear as I searched for months to find females, only to most likely already have one. On the other hand I get to go shopping for a male. I had seen all the articals on venting,and was getting doubtful about the male blue when I had a look at a male crimson tide and red zebra that I had and the vent and the anus were the same size. Not to worry it will all work out fine I'm sure. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted April 22, 2006 Report Share Posted April 22, 2006 An idea; yep I am allowed one a month. :roll: I would buy 10 or more juvies, raise them up. When they start to breed, pull out holding females & place in another tank. Eventually you will end up with a bunch of girls{loa} keep 2 males, dominant one & next best or best coloured. Add these to existing 3. Great cobalt {or any other mbuna...} colony just like that. :bounce: Even if you buy a few small ones, that way at least its a start. Your mission to find a nice mature male & more females can continue. If your lucky, thats great. Only keep the females out of the small ones. Sell of excess males. If you have no luck, at least you have some growing up. It's a thought worth considering. Seeing as you have already been searching for months. What I have just written would of been great information for you back then, but by the looks of it, is still probably a good option now. Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeTee Posted April 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2006 thanks Frenchy,all information is good no matter when you get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeTee Posted May 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 I am glad to say that all that said my "male" was female were correct,as of this arfternoon "she" is holding. I bought a male of about 6 cm a few weeks ago and it would seem he has done the business.I bought the new blue to either breed with the others or to be a sub-dominant male to my supposed male. We'll see how things go but it really looks to me that "she" is holding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.