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Help me sex my Ram's :) PICS ADDDED!

Vito

Member
Joined
2 Feb 2008
Messages
527
Location
Watford, Hertfordshire
Hey guys, I have always wanted a pair of dwarf cichlids and I've always been a fan of the ram's but never felt I was experienced enough to keep them but being in the hobby just over a year I thought I was ready. So I went to my LFS today and bought a pair. I asked the guy for a male and female and left him to it. I've read many site on how to distinguish the differences but alot of sites contradict each other, I even went to the bother of digging up my old August 2007 issue with the ram on the front, Anyway colour wise they are identical its hard to tell a difference and they are similar in size, the only thing is the pelvic, anal and caudal fin are much larger than the other ones and the dorsal fin is extended much more on the back. I haven't got a camera today so I can take pics but could anyone shed some light on this for me?

Thanks

Vito
 
Re: Help me sex my Ram's :)

i belive the males have a larger dorsal fin and the females sometimes show a redish colour on there underside but apart from that i cant be sure but sounds as if they are male and female.

if your aiming to breed then they still might not as they like to choose there partners
 
Re: Help me sex my Ram's :)

There are a good few ways to sex rams depending on their age and condition.

Of fish of the same age and in good condition;
Males will have longer dorsal and anal fins with longer extensions.
Females will have a rounder belly with a more rosy hue.

Also if you look at the black spot on the side of the fish one of the sexes (I don't remember which one off the top of my head!) has the blue spangles over the black spot, the other sex doesn't and has a clear black spot.

For many cichlids Sam is also right about them choosing their partners. With every species of cichlid I have bred I have always had much greater success buying a small group and letting them choose their own partners as they mature. You tend to get a really strong pair bond then and much greater chance of them raising their own young. That's not to say it won't work just buying a male and a female but it's better the other way IMHO.
 
Re: Help me sex my Ram's :)

With males the black spot is pure solid black, whereas the females have the blue spangles, as Ed said. That can range from just one small blue dot to the whole of the black spot being covered in blue dots.
Pick up another female, and try choosing yourself :D
Providing they're a decent size they really are easy to sex.

Here's a very good picture for it:
Mikrogeophagus_ramirezi_8.jpg


Extended dorsal and pelvic fins on the male, and a speckled black dot and bright pink belly on the female. Job done!
 
Re: Help me sex my Ram's :)

gratts said:
With males the black spot is pure solid black, whereas the females have the blue spangles, as Ed said. That can range from just one small blue dot to the whole of the black spot being covered in blue dots.
Pick up another female, and try choosing yourself :D
Providing they're a decent size they really are easy to sex.

Here's a very good picture for it:
Mikrogeophagus_ramirezi_8.jpg


Extended dorsal and pelvic fins on the male, and a speckled black dot and bright pink belly on the female. Job done!

I did try and look out for the dots on the black spot but I must admit they are a bit under coloured, it might be due to how they were looked after at my LFS and the journey to mine or even down to breeding. I'm going to take some snaps tonight, just to try and clear it up because mine are diffrent in markings for example the stripes go all the way down the body, anyway Ill post some up later.

Tanks for the help.
 
Hi Vito,
As per Ed's guidelines, which are pretty sound principles, I'd say that the first photo is male due to finnage. Photo 2 shows probable female at top, male at bottom ( you can see the black spot in the upper region of that first vertical stripe), and the same for photo 3 although this is less distinct.

Cheers,
 
They've both got some serious fin damage to their tails by the looks of it!!! Plenty of food for them and care :)

AC
 
The picture is muddied slightly here by the fact that you've got rams with some of the longfin ram genetics mixed in there! I wouldn't say they're true longfins but that may just be because they're young and the fin may continue to develop. Either way they look like a male and female, the male with the longer fins. I hope they settle down and breed and I certainly wouldn't add more rams now that they have started to settle as they will consider the tank as their territory and will attack the newcomers. Leave them be for a few months and see what happens and only change things if you have any problems.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, yeah I noticed the fin damage when I got home... too late, I've read that the heal themselves is that true? Would it be worth dosing melafix?

SuperColey1 said:
They've both got some serious fin damage to their tails by the looks of it!!! Plenty of food for them and care :)
I have been feeding 1 cube of blood worm once a day since I added them, I have seen them eat but they don't go "piranha" like my rummies :D I will contine to feed them on blood worm as I read its their prefferd food.
 
Water changes and good water quality will be fine. Use Melafix if you wish.

Not a problem at all. Fish shops tend to have mixed males and females in the same tank and a large quantity. always going to be a fair few nips at each other in that kind of proximity :)

AC
 
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