[stuckinthemiddle]

In mating pairs, does the male have to be bigger? What about in cases where hybids are produced, are the males normally the bigger fish?

 

[SinisterKisses]

They don't have to be bigger, no. Males typically ARE bigger than females once full grown, but they can breed with bigger females as long as they're sexually mature.

 

[Nathan43]

My female Red Devil is 2 inches bigger then the male. I do have to keep them seperated for the most part but thats common with really aggressive cichlids.

 

[Toby_H]

^ :thumb:

My more aggressive females tend to fight very very hard with a new mate to test them. It would generally take a larger male to withstand this. I would suspect this is, to a degree, “natural behaviorâ€

 

[DirtyBlackSocks]

At full adult size males in general are larger - there are a few exceptions in South American species, I'm not sure about Africans.