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2 problems..

2K views 5 replies 2 participants last post by  kamazza 
#1 ·
hey everyone!
ive had my african cichlid tank set up for awhile. in a 55 gallon tank ive got:
4 red zebras
3 albino red zebras
2 yellow labs
2 blue haps

#1 anyways i think i have one dominant male (albino) red zebra because he pretty much runs everything in the tank but i dont know how to tell if the other 2 albinos are male or female. i also cant tell if any of the normal ones are male or female.. is there any way i can tell just by looking at them? i find it hard to beleive i got 6 females and 1 male but maybe!

#2 and on another note, every fish in the tank has been pooping white poop.. its not the stringy white poop i know i should be worried about, it actually looks like normal poop with like a white chunk every once in awhile.. their eating normally and have lived with it for months now but im wondering what the deal is

anyways ive asked around and most forums i tried basically jsut ignore the albino zebra part of the question like i didnt ask it and then say red zebras are the easiest fish out there to sex cuz they turn blue or something.. so yeah sorry for the long post! thanks for the help!
 
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#2 ·
You may have other males. It is very common for one male to dominate a tank. Usually males have a very distinguished "egg spot" on their bottom fin. It is yellow. Not sure if this is visible/true with all species, I'm not sure with the labs, but you will see the spots with the zebras and I think the haps.

About the white stuff, im not sure but you could try treating the tank for parasites because it could be an intestinal parasite.

As for red zebras turning blue... wtf? never heard of that, just know they have egg spots. You could probably find the answers to these questions online via google or yahoo so do a little research as well.
 
#3 ·
ive tried googling sooo much
ok all of my fish have the egg spots your talking about.. one has like 4 and a half the dominant male has 1 and a half? does that make sense? the rest all have 1 and a half to 3.. so the males spots are more yellow then the females?
 
#4 ·
The egg spots arent always reliable. Some females can have one or two and some males can have up to 3 or 4. Plus not all cichlids are as sexually dimorphic as others. Try looking up pictures of each sex to compare your fish to. You could also provide breeding conditions and look for breeding behavior. They spawn on flat surfaces so a piece of slate may work. Making them more comfortable by adding hiding places (rocks and clay pots) may get them to breed.

Heres a decent link: Determing Your Cichlids' Gender
 
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