Nannacara Anomala

[kuncan]

Hi,

I bought 3 of this nice fish about a week ago and was told they should be 1 male and 2 female. 1 is about twice the size of the other 2, thought this was a male. Can't post any pics as I don't have a camera so I'll try and discribe them and hope someone can help me sex them.

All 3 have the same colours, yellow - smallest the darkest yellow, largest lightest yellow.

All 3 have a slightly darker line from eye to tail, the smallest has lots of dark patches on the top half of the body.

All 3 flare the dorsal fins and have an orange strip at the bottom.

The largest of 3 normally only chases the smallest one. And the smallest chases the middle one although the size difference between these is only small(they're a bit over 1", the biggest 1 is about 2" long).

Hope someone understands this ramble.

Duncan

 

[Dwarfs]

Nannacara are very easy to sex, i remember my father telling me that when he bought a pair once, the pet shop worker told him they were two different species

Male ^^^

Female^^^

(Pictures from google)

Your Nannacaras may just be young, but the differences between males and females is very evident in mature fish. The female is mainly grayish yellow and the male is covered in blue-green iridescence across his body.
HTH

 

[chrismr]

Doesn't the female only look like that when spawning?

 

[a.d.wood]

Hi there,

As said above, in young fish telling the sexes apart can be difficult, but once they get above about 3cm then the should appear as the fish pictured above. Colouration in the female will become more vibrant as she becomes ready for breeding.

If in doubt look at the fins > only the males have extensions to the ends of the dorsal and anal fins.

Andrew

 

[lucky62]

Doesn't the female only look like that when spawning?

no mine looks like that most of the time ,when breeding/spawning she becomes even darker , with a yellowish color between the dark bands .
These can , and will breed at small sizes .

 

[kuncan]

Thanks for the replies, beginning to think they're females as they look nothing like the male picture .

Would 3 females and 1 male be too many in a 96l tank ? If I can find a male that is.

 

[Amerce]

The female pictured of is one that is in breeding mood or one with a brood of fry, they don't look like that all the time, they only get checkerboard during breeding or protecting a nest of fry or eggs, plus females are slightly smaller than males.

As for sexing the pic is of a male Anomala but if yours don't look like that and they are fully grown then have you considered that they are Taenia and not Anomala ?

Send us pics as I keep both species and can help you ID them .