how to tell difference between m/f convicts?

I dont think I have ever heard of a convict changing sex especially at 2 1/2 inches. Cichlids don't change sex at that size or age. If they do change sex it will be at a very early stage.

Check out this link explaining Cichlid sex changes...
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99723

To the origional poster females will have a good amount of orange color on their chest area.
Heres a pic of my Female...
HPIM0543-1.jpg
 
I had about a dozen convicts in a tank (5 smaller females 1 1/2" - 2 1/2" and 8 larger males 2 - 4") they were most definetly those sexes as they were mostly paired up (except for the 2 smaller males who spent most of there time haning out together behind the filter in the top corner of the tank due to the mating habits of the other pairs). I then put a Jag in the tank :duh: ... anyhow as you can imagine the females started disappearing in order of size untill they were all gone...even 3 of the males got devoured as the Jag got big enough for them to fit in his mouth.
I saved the last 5 and got them there own tank...within a month one of the smaller males (about 2 1/2") had turned female and paired off with the largest male and laid eggs !!!
:huh:
 
As posted by akapaul, in the link he supplied for you ill qoute a certain phrase "The summary results for all cichlids studied, indicate that in a group of fry, the largest fish in a given tank "decides" to become male, while the smallest "decide" to become females. All experiments show that sex determination in cichlids occurred somewhere between six months and one year and between 50 and 100 mm SL (standard length). The cichlids become one sex or the other not simply based on their absolute size, but rather based on their size with respect to the fish around them."

50mm is 2 inches and 100mm is 4 inches, so yes a 2 1/2" Convict can change its sex.
 
MySpace Mike said:
As posted by akapaul, in the link he supplied for you ill qoute a certain phrase "The summary results for all cichlids studied, indicate that in a group of fry, the largest fish in a given tank "decides" to become male, while the smallest "decide" to become females. All experiments show that sex determination in cichlids occurred somewhere between six months and one year and between 50 and 100 mm SL (standard length). The cichlids become one sex or the other not simply based on their absolute size, but rather based on their size with respect to the fish around them."

50mm is 2 inches and 100mm is 4 inches, so yes a 2 1/2" Convict can change its sex.
Click to expand...

It is pretty interesting how fish do that. Come to think of it I had a female Kenyi turn in to a male! She was about 7 to 8 mo old.
 
instead of convicts, i decided to get yellow labs. they are super fun to watch. they chase each other and they look really neat! ^_^
 
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