Two Blue Rams, Male & Female?

[minxfishy]

Hi all,

Went this morning to get my rams, they are beautiful, just wondering, cause I range from thinking they are both male to maybe one is female, the guy in the LFS was fairly sure, but hey, thought Id check on here for some expert advice.

They are happily swimming together, both have coloured up great, so got some pics, not an expert photographer though (cant seem to get the focus right ), not as shy as I was expecting them to be, when I walk in they come to the front, seem to like the camera too

So can anyone tell me if they are male and female or have I got two males, in which case, one will have to go back and try to get a female!

Ram One

Ram Two

Both together

So what do you think??

 

[Davo86]

Hey
sorry i can't really be 100% sure due to the pics
Do any have pink bellies?
if so does the other have slightly longer finage?

from the pics i'd agree that at least 1 is a male

 

[minxfishy]

Neither has a pink belly!! Which is what I was looking for too LOL.

One has a rounded anal fin area, whilst the other's is more rectangular in shape, if that helps.

Shall try for some better pics and post them up.

 

[minxfishy]

OK couple more pics, bit better, but batteries just died on camera, so I hope these will be better for sexing

 

[Mystil]

I have two rams...hopefully a male and female but apparently they can be really difficult to sex due to the fact that both sexes are bred to look colourful and look similar...i am still pondering if I have the right sexes.....

It is usually the fins that help ID them as well as the shape of the body and also the coliourings in the black blob on their side (apparently)

Maybe someone here can help.

Goodluck

 

[Davo86]

from those pics the black spot on the side of both rams seems to be free of blue speckles which suggests they are both male
the speckles on a female continue over the black spot, shown below

 

[kj23502]

I'm not sure on the sexes ...But you have nice looking fish

 

[minxfishy]

from those pics the black spot on the side of both rams seems to be free of blue speckles which suggests they are both male
the speckles on a female continue over the black spot, shown below

image taken from badmans tropical fish

OK, cant see a pic, but thanks for the info.

Yep kj23502, they are gorgeous.

 

[Davo86]

ok, image is the first one on this site
blue ram

look at black spot on both fish

 

[minxfishy]

Ummmm yeah can definately see the difference on those pics Davo, thanks.

Will see how they go, if there is any aggression, I will return one and see if I can get another, hopefully female. Trouble is in the LFS its hard to tell

Right now, they are side by side wherever they go and not the slightest hint of any funny business, hasnt been long I know, but I will keep a close eye on them.

 

[Gordon_46]

To me the one on the left in your signature is the female. The anal fin seems to be more like a females to me, but don't quote me on that as it is very hard to tell!!!

 

[codeajohnson]

Hey minxfishy,

You have some beautiful fish! As for the sexing, I am a little confused. The anal fin on one fish definitely says male. As for the other fish I am confused because I see mixed signs. With the lack of a pink spot, and no blue specales in the black spot I would guess male. But then looking at the anal fin, it is rounded and shorter. Another sign that I have read is by looking for black on the pectoral fins, which the second fish shows (signifying female). If I had to guess, I would say you have a pair. I would guess that your female is young and isn't mature enough to show the pink belly. Hopefully someone with more knowledge will reply as well! Good luck, and great fish!

Edit: Pelvic not pectoral, sorry!

 

[minxfishy]

I know its driving me crazy

Watched them for hours yesterday, when I put the tank lights on, the colours changed - they lost the blue colourings and changed to almost yellow!

Yes the anal fins are different, which is making the sexing more difficult, plus Ive been reading up the the 3/4 spikes in the dorsal fin are higher on the male, they stick up more than the rest of the spikes, well one has higher spikes, whilst the others raise slowly upwards!

Im holding on for a while, see what they do, before I make a decision, they are both such lovely colourings and marking I dont want to take one back

 

[Gilli]

There don't seem to be any hard and fast rules to be able to sex them! Different sites give you different info! For instance some sites say the male has a shaped tail and long fins - and other people who have known pairs that have bred have put pics up and its not so!

Ive got 2 which are supposedly female as they both have pink bellies, but when I first got them one of them laid eggs and they both guarded them!! Both have a much longer 3rd fin too! AARRGGHH!!

All I can tell you is IF mine are both female and they should be as they say males never have pink bellies, both of mine have a black stripe on their pelvic fins and males supposedly dont have this. apparently this black stripe will be present in juveniles and ones that have not coloured up fully so maybe that will be of help. I'd say if they get on just leave them and time will tell!!