Ways to tell fish apart???

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MonkeyMonk86

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
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Location
Chicago, Il.
When u have fish of the same genus and species and they are the same size and coloration, how do you tell them apart? Is there anything that could be used to differentiate them? Is there anything like our fingerprints, that is visible that could assist in differentiating them?
 
Not really. Personality is about the only way I can think of sans any physical deformities or abnormal appearances. Look at a school of say, Zebra Danios, do you really need to tell them apart tho if you are not breeding them? Sometimes, you may need to wait for the fish to mature to tell them apart by gender. Color changes can happen at that point to help you out.

Hope this helps
 
Thanks, Andy! I'll be schooling the ones I have and wanted to know if there was any way to know my originals from the new ones when I get them. Yes, it helps a lot!
 
(Funny vision of you rolling ink on a fishes fin, er I'll just take your prints before you go in, thank you!)

To begin with size should be different, some fish have slightly different markings, maybe 6 of my clown loach I can tell by a marking difference of some kind, one is masked one has a saddle etc etc. and as I mentioned the biggest and smallest fish are always plain enough to see. The glowlight and neon tetra are a bit more tricky so I don't try to tell them apart although there are a couple that I think I know the look of, but it's mostly a physical shape difference than a pattern difference. Some have a different look, just ever so slightly.

I find with shoals of fish the only important quick check is number of fish. Count them in, normally anything obvious shows up on the count.
All fish present, happy days.

(Alternatively, DNA, perhaps for the most fishy of fishes only! Swab 'em!:D)
 
(Funny vision of you rolling ink on a fishes fin, er I'll just take your prints before you go in, thank you!)

To begin with size should be different, some fish have slightly different markings, maybe 6 of my clown loach I can tell by a marking difference of some kind, one is masked one has a saddle etc etc. and as I mentioned the biggest and smallest fish are always plain enough to see. The glowlight and neon tetra are a bit more tricky so I don't try to tell them apart although there are a couple that I think I know the look of, but it's mostly a physical shape difference than a pattern difference. Some have a different look, just ever so slightly.

I find with shoals of fish the only important quick check is number of fish. Count them in, normally anything obvious shows up on the count.
All fish present, happy days.

(Alternatively, DNA, perhaps for the most fishy of fishes only! Swab 'em!:D)


Too funny (y)
I saw this (Funny vision of you rolling ink on a fishes fin, er I'll just take your prints before you go in, thank you!) and my first thought was front and side profile pics as well. :ROFLMAO:
I think you are right with the head count point. If they are all there, it's a good day (y)
 
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