Help sexing my rams

[buttercup]

Here they are.. sorry some of the pics are kind of blurry. I think Ram1 might be female and Ram2 might be male. so hard to determine becuase they are very young (about 1/2")



Ram1

Ram1






Ram2

Ram2

Ram2

Ram2

[Jchillin]

Ram 2 is kinda easy, for some reason it appears that his breeding tube is distended. Under those circumstances, Ram 1 may well be a female.

Outside of the breeding tube, the other way you can know is the anal fin extends to the tail fin.

[buttercup]

are there any good sites that show a male and female ram with the distinguishing features? i tried yahoo and google but couldn't find anything with some good pictures of males and females.

i think it would be awesome if they did breed although i have a male betta in there so it might make it a bit more difficult for the fry to survive...lol.

[Jchillin]

Yep, there is one right here at AA German Blue Ram Profile

[bs6749]

HIS breeding tube??? Males don't have breeding tubes lol, at least I know that mature ones don't. Ram 2 is a female if that is indeed a "breeding tube"/ovipositor. The fins not extending past the start of the anal fin also hints that it is a female. Hard to tell what Ram 1 is. I think you may have 2 females though.

[buttercup]

so in a male would the anal fin extend PAST the tail fin?

and if they are anything like angel fish... angels both male and female have breeding tubes only they are different shapes/sizes... so wouldn't they both have breeding tubes .. the male to deposit sperm and the female to deposit eggs?

[bs6749]

Yes, males do have pelvic fins extending past the start of the anal fin. You may not be able to see this until they mature though.

That may be true about angelfish and rams may have them as well. I guess I was saying that what was pictured looked to me like a female. I don't know what the male reproductive organ in egg laying fish is called. I think it is the gonopodiom in livebearers but not sure if it is the same in egg layers. During the MANY times that I have watched my GBR's spawn I have never seen anything that size on a male. If you think about it...why should it be? Sperm are small and a little is released at a time. Eggs are much larger and require a large organ to deliver them. Though males may have a tube of some sort, it is not that big when mature. If anything it is a lot thinner and shorter in rams. I am used to hearing the term "breeding tube" to refer to the ovipositor and have never heard it used in males. I suppose it can be though.

[Gillie]

Is it a tube or is it a turd? The ovipositor on a female that size would definately not be that large.

[bs6749]

At first glance I thought it was excrement but I think it looks like the ovipositor. I was kinda thinking that the female was too young to be laying and was wondering why it would be sticking out so far. I don't have much experience with young rams (under 5 months) so I don't really know if it is an ovipositor. I hear they can reach sexual maturity at a little over 3 months though so I guess it could be the tube.