Boy or girl?!

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shelbidavis

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Is my angel big enough to tell what gender it is??? I want to know really bad! Like 2-3 inches tall ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1414743655.085804.jpgImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1414743710.998089.jpg


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It's not as much size as it is age that better determines sex. These fish change a little physically as they grow. The fish needs to be at least 8-10 months old before it is sexually mature. That does not mean it WILL breed at that age but that it CAN breed at that age. ( some do and some don;t ) Sexing fish any younger than that is at best a 50/50 guess. So how old is your fish?
 
I have no idea how old they are, I just know I bought them about a month ago. And a month ago they were about the size of a quarter, and they've grown super fast. So I don't know how to tell the age of them


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Ok, so if you got it about quarter size and you've had it about a month, I would estimate the age at about 4-5 months old. This could actually explain why it looks to me like a female in one pic and a male in another. LOL Give it a few more months then take a good side profile pic and post it. Should have better luck then. (y)
 
At a certain age the abdomen of a female will swell a bit. Doesn't mean she's carrying eggs but that's just a female's feature. You can't determine gender by the fins just like with other cichlids. Both genders have similar fins. So, it's correct what Andy Sager mentions. The age is more important in this case...
 
At a certain age the abdomen of a female will swell a bit. Doesn't mean she's carrying eggs but that's just a female's feature. You can't determine gender by the fins just like with other cichlids. Both genders have similar fins. So, it's correct what Andy Sager mentions. The age is more important in this case...

And that's one of the "tricks" you can use for sexing when the fish is the right age. ;) (y)
 
Ok thank you guys!! I'll give it a few more months and try again:) I read somewhere that behavior kind of tells them apart? I have two of them. The other angel nips at this one once in a while, but nothing bad. But they are always together, I never see them apart.


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Behaviour doesn't say that much about the genders. Females can have the same behaviour as males for that matter. Even being aggressive doesn't say anything about the gender. And even though angels are considered predators, it's very individual if an angel will behave like that...
 
I don't know if you guys are still subscribed still but how about now?! The more black one looks a bit smaller than my white and black one. Black and white one has longer everything. I got them at the same time, both were same quarter size, and now they are pretty big.
ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1418860396.306185.jpg ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1418861932.459663.jpg ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1418860498.242415.jpgImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1418860525.185305.jpg ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1418860564.910080.jpg


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I got them at the same time, both were same quarter size


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To be honest, I don;t feel real comfortable with my picks. I'm leaning towards the lighter one being female and the darker male HOWEVER, in one pic she looks female and the other male so I wouldn't put cash on that bet ;)
Wish I had a more definite answer but that's Angelfish for ya. the only real guarantee is when they are spawning or have their tubes exposed.

Hope this helps (y)
 
Funny, I just read up the thread and see that this was the same issue as before. Different pics show different gender tells on the same fish. I'm thinking it's going to be a spawning that will really tell you what they are. ;)
 
EGGS!!!! ...on the heater tho ?ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1422331306.271012.jpg


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Did you see which one did the laying? Did they both participate? If not, the dark one would be the female based on your pic as if it wasn't, it should have been eating the eggs not fanning them.
If you don;t know and can pull the heater ( and replace it with another one for your tank) you can try to hatch out the eggs yourself. If any hatch, the other is definitely the male and they are both fertile. (y)
 
I didn't get to see:/ The small all black one is doing weird fanning stuff, and eating them it looks like. It's very very aggressive now, it's breeding tube is HUGE. I'll put a pic. the white/ black one doesn't have much to do with the eggs tho. It goes by it sometimes and stares at it, and chases my other fish now. But the that ones breeding tube is so so small and pointy looking. ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1422333675.987371.jpgImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1422333690.287506.jpgImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1422333703.369530.jpg


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Wow, once again, conflicting signs from the pics. :facepalm: That sure looks thick enough to be a female's tube but the point at the end is not "standard equipment" on a female but on a male. Did the other fish have any signs of a tube being out? If not, then this is the female and it looks like she is eating the dead eggs as I see a number of white eggs on the heater and these are what dead eggs look like.
As for the other fish, not all pairs will have both parents guarding the eggs. The fact that this one lets the other one close by but chases the other fish away is a sign that THAT one is the mate. The small pointy tube is generally all I see of my males when they are spawning so don't let size fool ya. It's the shape you are comparing not the size. I have a video of a pair of mine spawning. If you watch it, you can see the shapes of the tubes on the 2 fish. The lighter colored fish is the male. It's post #146 at this thread: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f82/wigglers-2-birth-of-a-hatchery-324616-15.html

Hope this helps (y)
 
The link took me to a quarantine post. My fish are so confusing! Well sadly they gobbled them up 40 mins after the lights went out. So I'm going to have to watch next time. The small one did do weird movements like she was trying to lay more but nothing coming out, kind of like fanning. But I don't know anything about this so I'm probably wrong. The white/black fish does has its sticking out too but I can never get a pic cuz it's really small, it's more pointed and points toward the back fin.


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My two angel fish are fighting to the death now it seems. Biting each there mouths. They won't even stop to eat food. Sorry I'm so worried!! ?


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My two angel fish are fighting to the death now it seems. Biting each there mouths. They won't even stop to eat food. Sorry I'm so worried!! ��


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It sounds like you have a male and female and the one with the larger tube is the female. Fanning will almost look like the fish is rocking back and forth as they fan eggs with their pectoral fins. They will try to stay put and fan a section of eggs at a time so they are actually using those fins to push water and pull themselves backwards all at the same time.
The fighting is most likely one of them blaming the other one for the loss of the spawn. I recently had this happen as well when I pulled the spawn. I decided to put a divider in the tank so that the fish could see each other but not be able to get to one another and it just turned out that the male was willing to take the beating as he continuously found a way through the divider and purposely went to the female's side. After that, I let them have the next spawn together which was a bust. Their next spawn I pulled and the 2 didn't fight about it this time. Unfortunately, Angelfish are Cichlids and as such, can get pretty aggressive with each other. Dents and dings are almost standard for breeding cichlids. Your choice is to let them be and work it out themselves or you can intervene and divide the pair. If you choose the later however, there are no guarantees that they will spawn together again.
As for the link, I don't know what happened. My thread is titled "Wigglers 2: Birth of a hatchery" in the breeding forum and the post # you are looking for is #146.

Hope this helps (y)
 
Like Andy said the fighting is probably cause by the loss of the eggs! Are there any other fish in the tank? Because I have a pair in my 75g that protect the eggs well but I have to divide the tank before turning the lights out cause other fish will eat the eggs when the Angels can't protect them. Also from looking at you're pics my guess is that the all black one is the female with the long tube and smooth head, the white one as it's probably still growing looks to have a little bump on the head which usually indicates male! Goodluck with the eggs and don't get too frustrated as they do often eat their own eggs? (a week to 10 days and you'll have plenty more!)


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