Help sexing German Ram Cichlids (pictures)

[Julianhossini]

These are my two german rams and i was told by the guy at my LFS that the less colored ones were females so i was wondering if you can help me make sure its a male and female pair? Thanks

 

[sudz]

I believe the females will get a Gravid? spot when they're ready to breed. If you look at here the dark spot on the colorful one is, the gravid spot will be back a bit and closer to the belly, and a brownish color

 

[phishfriend]

female

male
also look at the second barb in the dorsal fin of the male. see how is longer then the first.

 

[phishfriend]

I could be wrong but the more colorful one you have is male. The light colored one almost looks like golden ram. I believe it is a female

 

[Julianhossini]

Thanks for the advice, im still kind of confused though, but they seem to be getting along, i just want a peacfull couple that will get along with my discus

 

[Cichlid Kid]

I've bred gbr's for awhile now and can tell you that you can not effectively go by the second dorsal ray or any of the other telltale signs other than in a maturing or mature female there is a pinkish hue at the gravid spot, not brown. Nowdays with all the mixing of tank bred gbr its very hard to "guess" Your best bet is to purchase 5-7 juvenile, raise them and let them pair up on their own.

 

[Hobgob]

I've bred gbr's for awhile now and can tell you that you can not effectively go by the second dorsal ray or any of the other telltale signs other than in a maturing or mature female there is a pinkish hue at the gravid spot, not brown. Nowdays with all the mixing of tank bred gbr its very hard to "guess" Your best bet is to purchase 5-7 juvenile, raise them and let them pair up on their own.

Yup I agree. The blue spot thing does not work at all. The females are more plumper then the males due to them holding eggs. They are also a bit smaller then the males. People also say you can tell from the first couple rays. Apparently they turn backwards and are extended a bit on the males and females are more level. I say use the body shape because it works with all fish...

 

[Julianhossini]

Alright thanks i guess ill just have to wait and see because i didnt see any pink bellies on there or any at the LFS but they really seem to get along and explore the tank together haha

 

[Hobgob]

Alright thanks i guess ill just have to wait and see because i didnt see any pink bellies on there or any at the LFS but they really seem to get along and explore the tank together haha

Recently my lfs have been only getting males also. Makes it extremely annoying when your trying to get a good breeding pair... But the other day they had a bunch of females but they had ich!

 

[phishfriend]

I've bred gbr's for awhile now and can tell you that you can not effectively go by the second dorsal ray or any of the other telltale signs other than in a maturing or mature female there is a pinkish hue at the gravid spot, not brown. Nowdays with all the mixing of tank bred gbr its very hard to "guess" Your best bet is to purchase 5-7 juvenile, raise them and let them pair up on their own.

I'v always been told to follow those signs. I was planning on doing the Grp purchase an culling all but the pairs but I thought those were good guild lines to follow. Thanks for the correction.