Fin slapping, lip locking... Mating?

[MIKE D]

I saw my JD's lip locking and fin slapping today. Could they be doing the mating dance or just establishing domance?

[Nolapete]

It could be either if you don't know the sex of both fish. JD's are easy to sex. As with most other SA/CA cichlids the males have more pointed dorsal fins as opposed to the females more squared off dorsal fin. Males tend to be longer whereas females are more compact. Pictures would help.

[MIKE D]

Ill post pics when I get back from work tonight.

[Marxman187]

nolapete do you think you can help me sex mine or is it to young?


http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...pper2weeks.jpg (http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg303/Marxman420/JacktheRipper2weeks.jpg)

[Nolapete]

nolapete do you think you can help me sex mine or is it to young?


http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...pper2weeks.jpg

Looks like a male, but hard to tell since the pic doesn't show the dorsal fin clearly. Females tend to have blue splotches on the gill plate whereas the males have only spots if anything.

[Marxman187]

well its really hard to get a good pic of him because hes so skittish but i do have one more from when he was even younger does this one help any?

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg303/Marxman420/JacktheRipper1week.jpg

[Nolapete]

well its really hard to get a good pic of him because hes so skittish but i do have one more from when he was even younger does this one help any?

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg303/Marxman420/JacktheRipper1week.jpg

Pretty sure it's a male based on the two pics.

[MIKE D]

heres one of mine
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v207/sexyirishman/Fish/100_0963.jpg

[mostlycichlids]

nolapete do you think you can help me sex mine or is it to young?


http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...pper2weeks.jpg (http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg303/Marxman420/JacktheRipper2weeks.jpg)

I'm with Nolapete, I"m pretty sure you have a male there!

Back to the original post Mike I would say lip locking is the first sign of aggression a lot of time. I would just watch them more and monitor their behavior. You will know if they are fighting or dancing by monitoring their behavior more closely.

[Marxman187]

heres one of mine
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v207/sexyirishman/Fish/100_0963.jpg


wow hes very colorful nice! how old?

[Nolapete]

Mike, I think that one is a female. Note the squared-off dorsal fin. Even though it has a point on it due to being in good condition, the main part of the fin is more blocked than arrow-shaped. The gill plate has blue blotches rather than a few dots; another indication of female. The squat, compact body is the final decisive feature.

[Marxman187]

wait you think mikes is a female? i thought 4 shure hes looked like a male!

[MIKE D]

Thats The one I thought was a male. the other looks identical to this one. I picked up these guys at a place in mass called lovely pets in jan. at the time they no bigger than a pen cap so they are not even a year yet. Hikira Bio Gold is how I got them that colorful.

[Nolapete]

I guess we'll have to wait to see if they produce fry. JDs available are so far removed from the wild strains that sometimes only seeing their breeding tubes during spawning is the sure way of sexing them.