male or female?

[water12]

I got these 2bolivian rams today due to my lfs actually having them in, it was the only time I've even seen them there. I think I managed to get 2 females, but I would like others opinions! Thanks















I'll be upgrading in a week and thought is get them since they were selling fast

 

[Penumbra]

Beautiful. Examine all sides of the fish. Shape of the guns belly head eyes ect and size of the body. If they are of the same age more often than not there will be at least one distinguishing feature. The only difference between male and female gouramis is whether their dorsal fin tips are rounded or pointed! Not too hidden of a difference but I'll do some research and post back!

I read that the easiest way to tell us to look at the third ray on the dorsal fin (little spike) from the front of the fish. If it is higher than the rest, it's probably male.

Also, let them grow. If the dorsal fin on one is more pointed then it is probably male. I'll add a picture below of the difference in gouramis to tell you what I'm talking about. Blue is male red is female.

 

[water12]

Ok thanks! I know for rams you're also supposed to be able to tell by the length of of the end of the dorsal fin, I tried going by that at the lfs since the girl netting them had no idea how to tell them apart

 

[Penumbra]

I hate that!! They need to know that kind of stuff. I went to let smart because they had just gotten new gouramis and I said I wanted a powder blue male and a neon orange female. She switched them and had no idea what she was doing. So much unnessicary stress and I had to point them out with two more tries. Yeah, that was another thing said in the article. I diddnt put it because looking at fish, unless they're side by side and near the glass, it can be hard to tell!

 

[water12]

Exactly! The other day when I first saw the Bolivians they also had gbrs in the tank next to them, then today the gbrs were gone so I asked if there were only Bolivians in the tank and she said "uh I think yeah". I could of swore I saw a gbr swimming in there. Since this is the first time I've owned Bolivians I just want to make sure I got them right, both female lol

 

[Chronos313]

If you got some close ups if the anal fin region I could probably identify for you as I have Bolivian rams myself.I have a male an female but they won't pair up so I myself have to get another female to entice pairing lol

 

[Penumbra]

Awful. That could cause serious problems in aggressive fish.

 

[water12]

Alrighty I'll try to get a better picture tomorrow night, I left town for the night and will be going straight to work tomorrow. By then hopefully they won't be too camera shy for me lol

 

[Chronos313]

Nah bolivians are calm cichlids if they are tugging at the mouth all they are doing is seeing if it's a suitable mate. I plan on attempting at 2 pairs of bolivians. So I'll introduce one more if each sex and let nature do it's thing

 

[water12]

Alrighy. The pictures I posted are a lot bigger on ny phone then the way they appear posted. What are the characteristics to look for in the anal fin? I'll see if I can notice it, ill still be sure to post better pics tomorrow

 

[Stephen Rollins]

Yes both Bolivians are females

 

[absolutangel04]

The dorsal ray test is not an accurate way of sexing Bolivians. The only real way to it (and even this is still tricky) that I have found is the belly slope and breeding tube shape. I do agree that it looks like 2 females, but it is honestly hard to tell in the pics because the image quality isn't the best. Give them some time and watch their behaviors and you will be able to tell soon enough though.

 

[Chronos313]

Ya my rams were hard to identify. But I noticed one is paler in color and that was has a large tube between the belly fins. Whereas my other one is brightly colored and has a very small bump on the belly. But ya closeup pics would help

 

[water12]

Ok yeah ill get better pics tomorrow for sure for you guys to take a look at, ill more then likely look at the wrong thing

 

[Tetra1990]

I'm also interested. I have a male/female pair, they haven't paired up as of yet. If in reality you have 2 females, separate them. I've been told on here that 2 females together will fight.

 

[water12]

Really I thought it would be the 2 males fighting and having
2 females would be alright

 

[absolutangel04]

With rams, 2 females are more likely to fight than 2 males. If the tank is big enough, they should be fine though. Female rams can be pretty feisty IME. I have 4 males in my 40g, and they all were fine together.
Yeah, it will help if you can get some clearer pics. For behaviors to watch for, males tend to stake out a territory more than females. Females will wander a bit more IME.

 

[Tetra1990]

With rams, 2 females are more likely to fight than 2 males. If the tank is big enough, they should be fine though. Female rams can be pretty feisty IME. I have 4 males in my 40g, and they all were fine together.
Yeah, it will help if you can get some clearer pics. For behaviors to watch for, males tend to stake out a territory more than females. Females will wander a bit more IME.

Yes to all of this. My female rules the tank. The male has established the front left corner of the tank as his own.

 

[water12]

Alright I'll be getting a 45 gallon this upcoming weekend, do you guys think that would be fine?

 

[water12]

Here's some close ups, I tried to get them as close as possible