Is My "female" Fish A Male

[MermaidMel]

lol wheres the fun in that lol, sexy time with urself

hows ur back btw mel x

Sorry I missed that, same as ever mate, got my next appt with surgeon on 17th April so should be the final decision on the op procedure before he pushes for a date x

 

[Phoenixbaby]

and i agree, ive seen males with the vertical bars b4, in my lfs there are some pk males, with the bars, but when placed near another male they flare up and the bars fade down

i still think its a girlie tho

lol wheres the fun in that lol, sexy time with urself

hows ur back btw mel x

Sorry I missed that, same as ever mate, got my next appt with surgeon on 17th April so should be the final decision on the op procedure before he pushes for a date x

fingers crossed for ya hun x

 

[liz2]

just is a purty fish

 

[Phoenixbaby]

lol liz

indeedy its purdy

 

[Monty2451]

I'm having a similar dilemma currently. I recently purchased 3 "females" at Petsmart and I though a 3 were male. But yesterday I noticed while doing a water change that 2 got stress stripes, so now I'm reconsidering. I'l have to put them next to another male and see what unfolds...

 

[Phoenixbaby]

dave got stress strips just b4 he died, so its not just applicable to females

 

[Monty2451]

Sorry to hear that. But that was b4 he died, not just a simple water change. Anyway, I've done some switching around so the possible males can get up close to some real males, and I've got mixed results. The red one got breeding bars almost instantly when s/he saw my red combtail male. But when s/he gets fiesty, it appears as though s/he has a beard, a smaller then usual beard but a beard none the less. The blue/red one also got breeding bars right away when I put him/her next to Ryujin, but the same problem with the beard. And I'm almost certain the third is a male as no breeding bars show yet and has a larger, but still slightly smaller than average beard. I'm just gonna have to let things be for now and continue to observe them tomorrow, sigh...

 

[gibson159]

well i have added the "female" to the tank with the male in, the male doesn't seem to be bothering "her" that much, she stil has the vertical breeding bars too

is that a good sign that it is a female??

if there is any other way i can see, please tell me lol!!

 

[Monty2451]

The breeding bars are a good sign. It could still be just a juvi male though, disguising himself as a female and avoiding the male so as not to give himself away. Believe me, I'm having a very similar dilema right now, although I think I've concluded that they are all roundtail males. I'm still keeping an eye out though. I may just put them all together in a 10 gal. and watch what plays out between them. I'll be at the ready with a net though at the first sign of trouble, just in case.

 

[MermaidMel]

Is this the fish that spawned with the male today? There are so many threads about this I'm getting confused - did it turn out to be female?

 

[Monty2451]

One of mine did, either that or he's a total wuss, lol. I put her in Sadie's section of the tank and Sadie would have none of it, lol. Sadie is about 2/3 the size of the new girl, but that didn't stop her from flaring and smacking her with her tail. Sadie even got a nick out of the new ones anal fin before I could net her. So that's one down, two to go.