Pet Forum / Aquaria / Cichlids / February 2005

   My L. sp "mbamba" fry had color after the first month. I've had them
spawn as early as eight months. The eight months will probably apply to your
M. estherae as well. Size isn't a good indicator of when they'll be ready to
spawn or take on adult coloration. Breeders who power feed their fish can
get them to a larger size fairly quickly, this doesn't mean their bodies are
advanced enough to spawn. Many times in an LFS you'll see some adult size
fish with little coloration. These could be fish that were power fed. (Most
of the time it's just stress from the shop.... )
   Your M. estherae, if from a blue male and orange female as opposed to
breeding the strain of orange males to an orange female should be sexable as
soon as they're large enough to distinguish color. The females will be
orange, but the males will be more beige in color. If the fry came from the
orange strain, (I'm guessing by your question they didn't) the fry will stay
orange.
Tim
www.fishaholics.org

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/m_estherae.php
(Maylandia [Metriaclima deprecated] estherae)

snipped directly from the article:
At about 2.25 inches males will start to put on a light blue shade all
over their body and fins, and thus become somewhat unworthy of their
name. The females just put on a brighter orange color as they mature.

hth

/Tommi