My name is janeen from washington state just north of seattle. I have had rams for 2mos and I'm now hooked and soon purchasing a pair of cockatoo's from a pet store near my home. They have double and triple reds. My question is how to tell for sure if a female is a female when they are only a 1/2 to 1 inch long. Some of the fish seem to have dorsal fins that are equal from front to back, but they also have color on the dorsal and caudal fins. I would love to hear from someone who knows. thanks janeen:redface:
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HI I'm new too.
- Thread starter lvdwfc
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Hi Janeen, and welcome to the forum.
You have asked a question that has caused problems for many apisto lovers. At. ½ - 1", These fish are still juvenliles and won't show much difference in sex. With the colorful domestic strains, even females will show color in the fins, so it can't be used to sex fish.
If you can see that the front spines of the dorsal fin are longer than the rest & that the caudal fin has a squared-off rear edge (and maybe even lyretail extensions), then it's easy to sex the males. The problem comes when determining females. Often young males will look very much like females. I think your best bet is to carefully look at the back edge of the tail. Young males usually show a straight, squared-off edge while females are more round at the size at which you are looking. If you can't seen much difference then go by temperament & size and get more than one. Choose smaller female-looking specimens, but not necessarily the smallest (these could be runts). Also look for specimens that tend to be less agressive in their behavior. These are more likely to be females - and then pray. I've been keeping apistos for over 30 years and still have problems with sexing young, colorful domestic strains of A. cacatuoides.
You have asked a question that has caused problems for many apisto lovers. At. ½ - 1", These fish are still juvenliles and won't show much difference in sex. With the colorful domestic strains, even females will show color in the fins, so it can't be used to sex fish.
If you can see that the front spines of the dorsal fin are longer than the rest & that the caudal fin has a squared-off rear edge (and maybe even lyretail extensions), then it's easy to sex the males. The problem comes when determining females. Often young males will look very much like females. I think your best bet is to carefully look at the back edge of the tail. Young males usually show a straight, squared-off edge while females are more round at the size at which you are looking. If you can't seen much difference then go by temperament & size and get more than one. Choose smaller female-looking specimens, but not necessarily the smallest (these could be runts). Also look for specimens that tend to be less agressive in their behavior. These are more likely to be females - and then pray. I've been keeping apistos for over 30 years and still have problems with sexing young, colorful domestic strains of A. cacatuoides.
