Male sick? Red cheeks/throat

Hello! So I’ve posted on emergency templates here and received a ton of help. This post is not about sick fish, yet the questions are rooted from their sicknesses. My 7 Kribensis had dropsy and I lost a 4 month old male and an 11 month old female.
The male who passed had bright red cheeks when he became ill and died. The female did not.
My 11 month old male Krib (only other male) was extremely sick and is (hopefully) getting better. He also has red cheeks that appeared 3 wks. ago when he first became ill.
However I read that the males can have red throats and that’s a color display. So the question(s): 1.) is this a red throat or are these red cheeks (is this natural coloring or no) & 2.) would this coloring (if natural) only show now at 11 months? The pics are of the male alone and then the male is the one poking his head out of the cave with bright red cheeks. The other is an aggressive female

 

Its breeding behavior with the colors, if there were more than a pair in the same tank its likely the male killed the others. Generally there is 1 dominant male and he will basically hunt the others, chase, nip,peck, etc. At least that was the behavior with my male.
But the colors are normal.

 

Its breeding behavior with the colors, if there were more than a pair in the same tank its likely the male killed the others. Generally there is 1 dominant male and he will basically hunt the others, chase, nip,peck, etc. At least that was the behavior with my male.
But the colors are normal.

Okay great! He’s spawned before and never showed these colors and they are JUST getting over dropsy and HIH. I was thrown off Bc the one male who died also had red cheeks and he was only a baby but this is clearly diff Bc this fish is mating age and is being VERY aggressively pursued lol. By a few females. Thank you so much! And I did have one of the original 7 pass a few months ago, and nobody else in the tank was sick. I’m now sure (thank you) that it was the only other male and he was killed.

 

They are pretty fish, I didnt know they were so mean until I put them in a community tank. They have since been removed. Good luck. You should end up with Fry at some point as they are easy to breed.

 

They are pretty fish, I didnt know they were so mean until I put them in a community tank. They have since been removed. Good luck. You should end up with Fry at some point as they are easy to breed.

Yes! They are often listed as peaceful community fish except when breeding. Personally I think that’s even pushing it Bc my first single male was NASTY. Loved him though.