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I have been trying to get a male salvini for a long time now, but cannot tell for sure if I have a male. Here are pictures of my 5 inch salvini that is mating with the Texas and I really need to know if its a male or a female. The Texas and Salvini are both the same size, and both get these little projections while breeding and I really cannot tell them apart.

The salvini is far more aggressive than the Texas, but the Texas isnt a shy guy either.

I am pretty observant, and the salvini even when it was not breeding with the Texas would get a projection, but I never found any eggs in the tank.

I have to make a decision about who to give away, and it will most likely be the Texas, but I went and got me 2 more salvinis hoping to figure out my large salvini's gender, but have had no luck. It just insists on mating with the Texas.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d152/clownygirl/Salvini/Salvini1.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d152/clownygirl/Salvini/salvini2.jpg

Judging by the pics, that is a female salvini. Female cichlids have a genital tube which has a crater-like tip, and is larger than that of the males. Males have a pointed tube.

"I am pretty observant, and the salvini even when it was not breeding with the Texas would get a projection, but I never found any eggs in the tank."

You mean neither of them lays eggs? That's weird, I haven't heard of a female fish mating and not laying eggs...

Nice fish, by the way.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I guess, what I meant was she must have laid eggs but I never found any

The tube is more like a little pipe than conical, still means she is a girl right? I guess it does, I just keep hoping its a male

As far as I can tell, that's a female fish. Sorry!

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I have two more salvinis though that I added to the tank that are about half the size of that fish. I will prolly post pics of both (when I can get them to pose) and then we can try figuring out who the male is