Sorry to hear you haven't seen the female for a while--it's possible she could be brooding eggs/fry in the shell--at least I hope that's the case!
My Baensch Atlas (volume 2) lists brevis as Neolamprologus brevis, giving sizes of males as approximately 2.25" SL and females to 1.25" SL. I don't have a reference handy for multifasciatus (they're probably listed in the Baensch volume I have out on loan), but if they're similarly dimorphic you may have a female. Also, references I have mention that fry/juvies can be slow growing for the whole genus, but don't mention if that's due to water quality sensitivity or due to feeding issues.
Sorry I don't have better answers for you--I don't do a lot with cichlids (although they're neat fish). My area of emphasis is killifish (mostly Fundulopanchax and Aplocheilus)and unusual livebearers (limias and goodeids mostly), although I also dabble in natives (darters and madtoms) and bettas (B. splendens genetics for color and finnage is more complex than I thought).
Catherine
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Hybrid Mode
