Sexing Honduran Red Points?

[user_name]

Hey guys, I was wondering if there is a way to sex these guys. I've heard that the males have some red on their fins, and blue around the mouth, and that females don't. Is this true?

Also, would a trio (I think it might be 2m, 1f) work in a 37? They're going to be by themselves, unless I decide to add in a plec or maybe a small school of red eyes or x-ray tetras.

 

[silentcircuit]

I'd assume 3 in a 37 will work fine (as long as it's just one male) since I was told the pair I'll be getting soon would be fine in a 20 long. As for sexing them, sorry, what you stated above is all I know too. They are supposedly not as aggressive as convict cichlids, but I'd still be worried that red eyes or x-ray tetras would get torn up.

Mine are in the mail right now from shewolfgeo -- maybe you can PM her for help? Or I'm sure someone else here with more experience will chime in. I'm very excited, this will be the first time I've ever tried to breed fish.

 

[Lab_Rat]

I've not kept HRPs but I have their close cousins (cutteri). A reverse trio would not be a good idea imo. Better to have a pair so the odd man out doesn't get beaten to death. HRP aren't as vicious as convicts, but more than cutteri, and my cutteri are giving my big fish a hard time in the 75g since they've got babies. They especially target the 3rd cutteri I have in there.

I would get some sort of dither fish. Probably danios as they're fast and can take a bit of a hit.

 

[SubRosa]

Males have points on their dorsal and anal fins, females fins are more rounded.

 

[MonteSS]

My females get a slight gold on the lower belly. I have heard of some getting orange like Cons.

Here is a very young pair forming. Male is less than 2" and just coloring up

[YT]3dGm7bNLPiI[/YT]

....Bill

 

[Pittbull]

What Monte said and i agree in a 37gal only do a pair the third will get the crap beat out of it when the pair spawn and IMO HRP are just a tad bit less aggressive than Convicts but nonetheless are still aggressive my female was a terror as for anything else in this setup i would leave them all out only the pair, that's what maintenance is for via water changes and filter cleanings and algae scrapers.. Cool deal they are nice fish i miss mine..

 

[user_name]

man these guys colored up nice. I have 1m/1f and I *think* a second female. What should I do with the third HRP, will he/she mess with community fish in a 55?

 

[Pittbull]

She might but if she is the only CA in there she may be fine i had a female HRP breed with a male Cutteri and were successful in raising a nice size brood that i still have today in my pond they look like cutteri but with Convict stripes so be careful she can breed with other same size CA fish..

 

[user_name]

Yeah I'm thinking that my odd one out is a male as I saw my male chasing him, and he's starting to look more like the male.

Only other cichlids in the 55 are two similar size Luecostica juvies, both are about 1"-1.5". Aside from that I have a 4" Leucostica in there, although the Leucos are gonna go into my 125 this summer.

 

[user_name]

I'm thinking about skipping the dithers, as these guys are already wicked active, and aren't very shy of me. Would you think a syno would get beat-up in there? If not then my final stock will be the HRP pair, and then my 2-3" syno.