So I recently bought what I was told at the store was a breeding pair of Buffalo Head Cichlids. There were three in the tank and the guys said they had eggs in there earlier in the week when they were cleaning. I'm worried they gave me the two males and not the female. At first when I dropped them into my tank, they both disappeared into my rock pile and I didn't see one for at least 24 hours (I was happy about that as it gave me the impression they like their new home). Now, though, they haven't spent any time together. I still haven't seen the larger one that I'm sure is the male out, but I can see him deep in a cave peeking out. The smaller one, the one I was told is the female has been hanging out in a completely different cave.
A note about the "female" - "she" is definitely much smaller, doesn't have the long rays, and is showing the blueish color (I read elsewhere online that the dominant male of a tank is blue while the other males are dark brownish) - all of that makes me believe it's a female.
What makes me concerned it's a male is - the fins are a bit beaten (not awful, just not pristine) like maybe the breeding pair in the tank had to put it in its place (might be why the ray on the anal fin could be missing), and it too has a hump on its forehead (being pretty new to the species, I can't tell if it's bigger than normal for a female). I've read elsewhere online that the male has the hump and female doesn't. Also, the big fact that they were supposedly a breeding pair and now don't hang out at all!
Any tips/thoughts that could help me figure out for certain if I have a pair or just two males?
A note about the "female" - "she" is definitely much smaller, doesn't have the long rays, and is showing the blueish color (I read elsewhere online that the dominant male of a tank is blue while the other males are dark brownish) - all of that makes me believe it's a female.
What makes me concerned it's a male is - the fins are a bit beaten (not awful, just not pristine) like maybe the breeding pair in the tank had to put it in its place (might be why the ray on the anal fin could be missing), and it too has a hump on its forehead (being pretty new to the species, I can't tell if it's bigger than normal for a female). I've read elsewhere online that the male has the hump and female doesn't. Also, the big fact that they were supposedly a breeding pair and now don't hang out at all!
Any tips/thoughts that could help me figure out for certain if I have a pair or just two males?
