As mentioned in my other thread along with my group of Synodontis multipunctata I'm also growing on a group of Synodontis lucipinnis as a future breeding project:
1
2
3
4
(1 and 2 from March, 3 and 4 from end of May)
I'd estimate these are about 15 months old now (told they were 12 months when I picked them up in March) and now sitting around 40 to 50mm SL. Is sexual maturity determined by age or size and depending on which when would they start to show signs of breeding?
I can't see any signs of males in your pics but those photos aren't ideal for that. 15 months sounds a little 'young' but that said I have seen breeding groups where fish were only just 50mm SL.
Are you certain you have both sexes? I'd suggest your fish are approaching the required minimum size so if there are both sexes you should be well on your way to getting a viable breeding group. My only reservation is their source: ie are they all related fish from the same breeder? You would do well to mix bloodlines if you can to ensure strong, healthy offspring without deformity
Lou: Every young man's fantasy is to have a three-way. Jacob: Yeah not with another fu**!ng guy! Lou: It's still a three-way!
Can't remember how many I picked up, either 8 or 10 (same source, an additional blood line is being looked for) of them so hopefully a mix of sexes in the group.
Sounds like a project for tomorrow, catch and photograph them and with some help from this kind forum sex them (I've always struggled sexing cats but for most of my cichlids it's easy, just look for the colour difference!).
Most species of synos when mature are easy to sex. Look at pic 9 of pleurops to see clear male genitalia. You can use the sexing method described on the species page to examine them
Lou: Every young man's fantasy is to have a three-way. Jacob: Yeah not with another fu**!ng guy! Lou: It's still a three-way!
Birger wrote:.........................
Is it your flash making more of the fins white than should be??
Birger
Yes, flash is overexposing the whites on these images. The settings used in these images work OK with cichlids but then again they don't have splashes of white on them!
Ok, some assistance in sexing these fish would be appreciated. I had to catch them to move them from their holding tank into their new home so took the opportunity to photograph all of them individually as well. There are 9 fish in total just now but I think (based on these) pictures they're not quite ready to be sexed??
I'll upload images of the individual fish as I work my way through the files, the first 2 for starters though: Fish 1
some of your pictures are hard to work with and venting may have to wait until they are a bit older and settled in. The best thing is to get them settled in a tank, if they are sexually mature it should be easy with these after some observation to tell the sexes. There really is no need to handle and disturb the fish. The females will be short and fatter, the males long with the detail we showed you earlier.
