How to get females?

[viennatech]

I have been running a 55 gallon Mbuna tank since 2004 as a showpiece in my living room.  Over the years the population has moved up and down somewhat but the balance of the tank is now out of whack.  It currently holds 6 fish.  5 of them are definately males. 

When go to the LFS in the area and ask for a specifically female fish, I get head scratchers.  I assume that the sexing of fish is some kind of dark art but in my case I was using the ventral fin "eggs" as a sign that they are male.   Even the "good" aquarium outlet places can't guarantee any fish I buy to be female. 

How do you all balance your tanks?

[robt18]

Firstly, make sure you get someone who knows what they're doing. If they aren't sure, get them to grab someone who knows their way around cichlids better.

I've found the same thing with mbuna tanks, and the only way I've had real success with keeping females is to go with at least 2:1 females to males when starting up. If you go 1:1 I've found you always end up with a male eventually...

[Demasonian]

I hear you, it can be tough to tell them apart, virtually impossible if they're juvies, but there are a couple of ways to do it. Eggspots are sometimes used, but to be honest, I've seen lots of females and males with tons of eggspots or none...The easiest is to pick species that have different colour morphs for males and females (e.g. saulosi's, red zebras etc.). Most conclusively for adult mbuna is a technique known as venting where you compare the sizes of the vents...more info available here: http://www.fishhead.com/articles/ventsex.htm

[robt18]

^Sorry, I forgot to mention the venting part... haha.

Yeah, this is always your best bet on sexing young africans.