Does anyone know if these are males or females, or a pair?
I've had them for 6 months,and they "dance" all the time, lock lips, and dart at each other. They are inseparable. But I have no idea if they are a pair or just buddies. There are 6 more in the tank, but much smaller than these two, and they don't act the way these two do.
Thanks, if anyone knows how to tell these two apart.
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Breeding pairs of Angelfish go through a series of jestures when they first prepare to spawn. Lip locking is one of those jestures. This is usually followed with mutual cleaning of a spawning site. You should also be seeing the larger of the 2 (usually the male) chasing away any of the other Angelfish in the tank. You'll need to sit and observe your fish for a while to see this. Unfortunately, lip locking is also a fighting move between fish so that next step is the key to knowing which is which.
Based on your picture, you appear to have 2 males as they seem to have the forehead hump present in some males. The problem is that from your picture, one also looks like a female (to me) from below so more profile pics would be needed to accurately assess. (As accuratly as possible.
) The way to know more clearly is by the following: The anal fin of a female usually starts a bit further away from the anus and when fully extended, stays at about a 45 -60 degree angle to the body. The Male's anal fin usually starts right behind the anus and again, fully extended, usually holds at about 70-80 degrees from the body. This method is not fool proof as many fish today are disfigured compared to their wild counterparts but it's a good start.
Next possible test: Looking at the fish from above. Prior to feeding, look at the fish from directly above. A male will have a slender body from top to bottom. A female will have a rounded bottom due to the eggs she is carrying. This test must be done on an empty stomach as a male with food in his belly will look rounded at the bottom as well.
As mentioned before, with all the inbreeding that has been done over the years, Angelfish today have characteristics not usually found on wild Angels. This makes the fin location method and above view method a bit more reliable to sexing the fish. These were the 2 methods I routinely used to create breeding pairs of Angelfish.
Without knowing the actual age of the fish, they may not be old enough to be breeding yet( based on how long you had them and the youngest age you could have gotten them) so the sex wouldn't matter or they are just coming into breeding age (normally 8-12 months). If these were a medium or larger size fish when you got them, then they should be old enough to breed at this point.
If you would like more help in breeding these fish, feel free to Pm me.
