New GBRs. Sexing help .. New/Better pics 4/4/07

[neilanh]

So I picked up a couple GBRs yesterday from Scales. They seem to be doing well, eating, etc after 24 hours in the tank. Here's some pics. Crappy quality, I know. Sorry bout that.

If you can sex them I'd appreciate it, but the pics may not be good enough. I'm just taking guesses here. THe larger one is 1.5-2", the smaller about .25" smaller.


Thanks for looking!

[Spaul302]

The first one is a male, but I cannot see the second one well enough to tell. If the second has a red belly, and the black part of the dorsal fin is the same height, then I would say its a female.

[rich311k]

Very pretty fish. I hope they do well for you.

[Jchillin]

As far as I can tell, you have them pegged correctly. They both look great.

[LandGhoti]

Those pics are not crappy!
And the fish and tank are beautiful.
(I know nothing about sexing GBRs, though )

[neilanh]

Thanks for the help. Hope you're right. I'll try to get some better pics soon. I think I'm gonna have to get another pair of these too.

[Lonewolfblue]

The second one is hard to tell, but I think you are correct. You are definitely correct on the first one...

[neilanh]

Alright guys, thanks again. Hopefully these are some better pics that we can be more sure about.

These first two pics are the one marked "Male" in the first post






And then these are better pics of what I believe is the female, although I am questioning it.







That any better? any conclusive proof? Sorry for the large pics, wanted to give every bit of info possible. hehe

TIA!

[Lonewolfblue]

In these pics, #2 appears to be male as well. The pelvic fins goes past the start of the anal fin. Looks male to me. As for the large pics, great pics. Really helps in ID'ing them.

Here's some pics of the female I had, this will help you in the ID. Also, notice the bright pink belly..... In the first pic, you see how short the pelvic fins are? The pelvic fins comes down under the chest area just under the belly, and the anal fin is the single fin on the bottom just in front of the tail.

[roka64]

WOW! Those are great pics....I didn't realize the "freshies" were that colorful.

[Lonewolfblue]

This is called The GBR Mating Ritual. Instead of the males duking it out, they have color competitions. And whoever has the best color to the female, is the winner and is her mate.

Originally Posted by roka64

WOW! Those are great pics....I didn't realize the "freshies" were that colorful.

Yes, there are some nice colored freshies. Look at some of the Apistos.....

[neilanh]

Wow, awesome pics LWB. And thank you, now I know what I'm looking for. Guess I need to get a couple females then, huh?

Do you have a trio? I thought keeping these in pairs was best

[Lonewolfblue]

Pairs are good, but if you have more females than males, you are ok as well.

[bs6749]

The very first two pics both look male to me. The additional ones support what I thought becasue of the pelvic fins and no pink...

Originally Posted by Lonewolfblue

Pairs are good, but if you have more females than males, you are ok as well.

Not true. Once a pair forms they may harass the lone female to the point of her death. A member on here (Shayfish I believe) had to relocate a GBR pair because the females were going after one another and they would not get along in the same tank. I have heard of other accounts of this as well. Females can be just as aggressive as the males but usually do so only to other females.

[Lonewolfblue]

Originally Posted by bs6749

The very first two pics both look male to me. The additional ones support what I thought becasue of the pelvic fins and no pink...

Not true. Once a pair forms they may harass the lone female to the point of her death. A member on here (Shayfish I believe) had to relocate a GBR pair because the females were going after one another and they would not get along in the same tank. I have heard of other accounts of this as well. Females can be just as aggressive as the males but usually do so only to other females.

Actually, if you have a single female, yes, it can happen. But if you have several, like 2 males and 4 or 5 females, you won't have any problems. I never had problems when they were in numbers, but when I added a single female to a tank with a pair, I had to remove her to another tank.

[neilanh]

Thanks again for all the help. I think I'm going to get 2 females to put in with these and see how they do.