Help me sex my bolivian rams!

[Mrs.h2012]

I've been looking my rams over like a hawk, and I just can't decide if I have a male and female. I've read you can tell by a sexual part (dont remember the name) that's in front of the anal fin. On one I can clearly see the sexual part, while on the other I can barely see anything. I've also read you can tell by the belly, a more rounder belly is female and a flatter belly is male, and the one that has the more rounder belly is the one with the more visible sexual part in front of the anal fun. The one I think is female I have a half way decent picture of the sexual part, but I couldn't get one of the one I believe is male. The one I think is male has been doing what I think is body curving a lot. Also I've read that makes are the ones to initiate the courting, but the one I believe is female is always chasing the male.



This is the one I think is female.


This is the one I think is male.

 

[biss444]

the part by the anil fin is called the gonopodium, don't know if i spelt it right, the females is wider with a blunt end the male is thinner, and pointy, when they are close to breeding they will be very noticable, as far as chasing, ive had males chase females and females chasing , males,

 

[Mrs.h2012]

the part by the anil fin is called the gonopodium, don't know if i spelt it right, the females is wider with a blunt end the male is thinner, and pointy, when they are close to breeding they will be very noticable, as far as chasing, ive had males chase females and females chasing , males,

I know the one I think is male isn't the greatest picture, it was the best I could get, but the one I think is female.. Can you tell why sex it is by the picture?

 

[biss444]

can't say for sure but you could be right especially about the female. the picture of the other one hard to tell , does the back fin on top look a little pointy,

 

[Mrs.h2012]

can't say for sure but you could be right especially about the female. the picture of the other one hard to tell , does the back fin on top look a little pointy,

I just read an article I found on google that said of its a male the anal fin will be (most of the time) shorter and have more of a square shape and more angles when a females anal fin is (usually but not always) longer but more rounded. How accurate is this? The anal fin of the one I've thought is female has the longer more rounded anal fin like the article said, and the one I think is male has the smaller and what looks like more angles on the anal fin.

 

[biss444]

thats new to me, i usually go by the gonopodium, (sex tube)which is behind the anal fin, which is the most acurate way, but when not ready to breed it is hard to see, i would feed my fish frozen blood worms to fill there stomachs which will force the tube out a little, then the posterior dorsal fin when fish is developed, the male is poinier then the female.

 

[phishfriend]

I'v vented bigger cichlids but not sure if you can do it to rams. Has anyone done that to a ram?

 

[Mrs.h2012]

thats new to me, i usually go by the gonopodium, (sex tube)which is behind the anal fin, which is the most acurate way, but when not ready to breed it is hard to see, i would feed my fish frozen blood worms to fill there stomachs which will force the tube out a little, then the posterior dorsal fin when fish is developed, the male is poinier then the female.

I read that too, but on my rams its really hard I see at the moment.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I read that too, but on my rams its really hard I see at the moment. I do have some bloodworms I can feed but my rams are in a community tank and usually the other fish get to them before the rams do :/ /QUOTE]

 

[biss444]

it is definetely harder with smaller fish. on a mature ram your best bet is with the posterior dorsal fin rounded female/ pointy , male, i just noticed in one of my community tanks a pair of rainbow cichlids on one side of my tank and all the others on the other side, oohh oohh, i know whats happening, but didn;t know they already hatched a clan , i could see a bunch of babies in the corner

 

[bud29]

Sexing Bolivain Rams is quite hard. However, there are a few methods that some people have found to have a bit of success. Here is a page about sexing them. Sexing Bolivian Rams | 34600

And by the way, your Bolivians are very nice! Mine isn't very colorful, since I have high nitrates in my tap water...... I am hoping to get an RO/DI unit in the next month or two, though, to lower the nitrates......Hopefully she will color up after that!

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Sexing Bolivain Rams is quite hard. However, there are a few methods that some people have found to have a bit of success. Here is a page about sexing them. Sexing Bolivian Rams | 34600

And by the way, your Bolivians are very nice! Mine isn't very colorful, since I have high nitrates in my tap water...... I am hoping to get an RO/DI unit in the next month or two, though, to lower the nitrates......Hopefully she will color up after that!

Thank you so much for the article, I will read it over!

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Even after reading the article I'm still confused. I've read that the male is always the one to initiate the courting, I know a few of the behaviors of courting. The one I've though was female all along is now the one seems to be displaying the courting behavior, I've noticed more fill glaring, some definite body curving and
What I think is flashing their fins and lashing the tail. And just so I'm correct, the dorsal fin is the one on top of the body correct?

 

[biss444]

yes the one on top, look at the end of it round female, pointy males. male or female can initiate breeding, in breeding nothing is 100 percent,

 

[Mrs.h2012]

yes the one on top, look at the end of it round female, pointy males. male or female can initiate breeding, in breeding nothing is 100 percent,

Have you heard of sexing them by the slope of their belly from the gonopodium to the anal fin? Is that accurate? What I read was if there is a downward slope it's make and an upward slope is female.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I swear these fish enjoy making it hard for me to get a good picture of them! These are the best I've gotten. Who thinking my guesses are right? What are you guesses?



This is the one I think is female.



And this is the one I think is male.

 

[biss444]

well from those pics to me they both look like males, because of the dorsal fin and neither one seem to have any kind of rounded belly. i sure could be wrong, though, the other thing is even if you have male or female there is a chance they still won.t pair up. i use to get like five or six , and that way your chances increase of getting a pair, but what do you do with the others after you get a pair, espesially if you don,t have a tank to put them in,

 

[Mrs.h2012]

well from those pics to me they both look like males, because of the dorsal fin and neither one seem to have any kind of rounded belly. i sure could be wrong, though, the other thing is even if you have male or female there is a chance they still won.t pair up. i use to get like five or six , and that way your chances increase of getting a pair, but what do you do with the others after you get a pair, espesially if you don,t have a tank to put them in,

I do have another tank I could put the pair in or the other rams in if I had too. I'll try getting multiple ones, I won't be able to do it all at once, LFS has them for $5.99 a piece, I cant spend that much on fish at one time, but I can over the next couple weeks... I'll probably do it that way and work my way up to 6 or so. Thanks for all the help and advice!

 

[biss444]

anytime, love to help others, i went through the same thing, never be afraid to ask questions, because the end result is watching your fish raising hundreds of little fry, quite a site to see

 

[Mrs.h2012]

anytime, love to help others, i went through the same thing, never be afraid to ask questions, because the end result is watching your fish raising hundreds of little fry, quite a site to see

That's what I'm so excited to eventually see. I've read rams are great parents. Also my LFS has said they will buy the fry from me, it's definitely a plus to make extra money off of doing something I love!