male or female

Sorry to keep saying this, but it depends on which cichlid you mean.

Some cichlids have red, some you can't tell until they grow larger than a few inches, some you just can't tell at all unless it's by venting.
 
As far as the convicts go, the females will have some red on their bellies or chest and the males won't. You can see this at a relatively young age.

The Mbunas are a different story. Some, like Kenyi's you have to wait until they are bigger. The males turn yellow and the females stay blue.

Try THIS link. It's one of the best for learning about fish.
 
venting is the only tried and true way to tell males and females. with africans the less dominant males can hold onto female or juvenile coloring to not get beat on or killed by a dominant male.

with some of the sa/ca's you can tell by the finnage. the males will have longer flowing finnage than the females. also males normally grow the nuchal hump which the females do not but there have been females that have developed nuchal humps when raised in captivity.

again the only way to effectively tell is to vent.

semper fi
 

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