Can anybody sex these?

[bmarine]

I have 4 lemon jakes and i'm hoping to breed them, except i have no idea what sexes they are. I'm pretty sure i have at least 2 females because they both seem to be holding (no idea who the father is, maybe a red empress. I originally thought the 2 females were a breeding pair until i caught the other one holding today!) can anyone possibly sex these four?

By the way, they will be in a species only 55 gallon if/when i breed them, i just have them in my 125 so thry can grow a bit quicker.

[danielratti]

3rd might be male.

[lilscoots]

1st is female, may even be holding

[lilscoots]

2nd one looks female, third is hard to say, 4th may be male, still hard to say, they look pretty small, best bet would be to move them to their own tank and see if one of them colors up.

[bmarine]

If it helps, the 1st and 2nd are the largest of the 4 at about 2.5-3 inches, and the 3rd and 4th are about 2 inches. And the 1st and 2nd are actually the most aggressive.

[African cichlid Keeper]

It's very difficult to sex juvenile peacocks without venting. Females do have more rounded fins but so do all juvis.

http://www.bigskycichlids.com/Juvenile_peacock_article.htm

[bmarine]

Thanks! And yeah they do all seem to have rounded fins to me. So is the 2nd pic a male because it has the yellow on the top of its dorsal fin?

[lilscoots]

So is the 2nd pic a male because it has the yellow on the top of its dorsal fin?

2nd one looks like a holding female.  they should all have the yellow dorsal stripe though it will vary in intensity.  The fourth one appears to have some yellow flushing in the sides which is why i thought male.  are they in a tank with other fish or is it just he 4 jakes?

[bmarine]

They are in a 125 with 3 other red empress. The red empress male is showing quite a bit of blue coloring so i'm guessing he's the dominant male in the tank.

[lilscoots]

You'll just have to give it time then...I've found that moving peacocks to a species only tank, they'll start to color up as early as 1.5"