need help sexing my new fish!

[cubsfan]

I purchased 3 a. cacatuiodes over the weekend, and am wondering what their gender is... I am almost positive that the first one is a male. Fish number 2 I believe to be a female. Fish number 3 is the one that I really am unsure about. If anyone has any thoughts, they would be greatly appreciated!

Fish 1:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4ce07b3127ccea9d687be22060000001610

Fish 2:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4ce07b3127ccea9d68444e3550000001610

Fish 3:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4ce07b3127ccea9d68478e3690000001610
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4ce07b3127ccea9d687a3a32b0000001610

Thanks again for any help.

 

[Richgrenfell]

A little hard to tell from the pics, but the look like all males to me.

Rich

 

[Z Man]

Yep, all males.

 

[mervin]

looks like a trio of males.

 

[Zapisto]

All male
at least du to the pics the 1st and the third one

but look like all males

 

[cubsfan]

OK... Thanks for the insight everyone!

Now given this fact, what chances do you think I have of keeping these three in the 29 gallon tank. So far there has been very minimal amounts of aggression. There are plenty of hiding places among the driftwood and plants for them to hide from each other. Given the fact that there will be no females in the tank, do I have a decent chance of these guys coexisting, or should I plan on moving one or two out of the tank.

Again, thanks for the help.

 

[cubsfan]

I am also curious what things that you look at to determine the gender of these fish. I thought that the yellow color on fish 2 would mean that it was a female. If there are certain features of the fish that I should try to include to help in their identification, let me know so that I can include them in any future pics.

 

[cdawson]

The more colourful the fish, and the pointed fins as well. Females although still colourful are plain looking and don't have much flare to them until they're breeding. Males also seem to have larger lips.

 

[ptite_ange]

Another thing you can look at are the pectoral fins. Females tend to have a dark black stripe on those fins while the males tend to have clear fins.

However that is not always true. Someone told me that weaker males tend to take on female-like colors to avoid trouble with dominant males...

I had 19 of them in a 20 gal tank and it looked as though i had only 4 males. 2 weeks ago i transfered 12 of them in a 77 gal. Nowfish i had mistaken for females have taken on some very nice shades of yellow and are parading aroud their new territory. It's very interresting to watch.