I know males have more colour, but what colour are they when they are young? I seen some that are yellow with a red fin at the top. They have the black dot near their tail too. How can you tell if they are male or female when they are young? They are about 1.5 cm long and the fish shop lady guessed they were 4 months old. Thanks.
Rosy Barbs
- Thread starter Alex1110
- Start date
A lot depends on the quality of the fish. These are really easy to breed, as a result, there are a lot of basically silver fish around, with the faintest tinge of colour on them.
Good quality males should have substantial red colouration in all but the pectoral fins. The dorsal should have a diamond shaped black spot at the top. Females tend to have more yellowish fins, and lack the obvious spot on the dorsal although they might have a poorly defined spot of some sort there.
Both sexes have a dark spot forward of the caudal peduncle, with a more or less visible highlight immediately forward of that.
A good male should be greenish above the lateral line, and pink/red below. Females very much less body colouration, more silvery, although the pinkish abdomen is more obvious at spawning times.
This colouration should be present at 4 months, at least in essence.
Of course, as they mature, the deeper, rounder abdomen of the females is obvious. Males often show their best colouration when sparring with other males.
About 15 years ago, a friend bought some wild caught fish back from a collecting trip, I was lucky enough to get some. It is difficult to believe they were the same species. The males fins were solid red, above the LL they were dark green, and beneath, solid pink. The females were as colourful as todays mass produced males are! In addition, they were close to 100mm/4" which you do not see in farmed stock these days. Magnificent.
Good quality males should have substantial red colouration in all but the pectoral fins. The dorsal should have a diamond shaped black spot at the top. Females tend to have more yellowish fins, and lack the obvious spot on the dorsal although they might have a poorly defined spot of some sort there.
Both sexes have a dark spot forward of the caudal peduncle, with a more or less visible highlight immediately forward of that.
A good male should be greenish above the lateral line, and pink/red below. Females very much less body colouration, more silvery, although the pinkish abdomen is more obvious at spawning times.
This colouration should be present at 4 months, at least in essence.
Of course, as they mature, the deeper, rounder abdomen of the females is obvious. Males often show their best colouration when sparring with other males.
About 15 years ago, a friend bought some wild caught fish back from a collecting trip, I was lucky enough to get some. It is difficult to believe they were the same species. The males fins were solid red, above the LL they were dark green, and beneath, solid pink. The females were as colourful as todays mass produced males are! In addition, they were close to 100mm/4" which you do not see in farmed stock these days. Magnificent.
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