Sexing Borellis

[Nimue]

Hi,
I was wondering if you could help me with sexing my Borellis. I recently bought three very small and under-nurtured fish in a shop (you don`t get Borellis here very often and mostly they are ill). Of the biggest and most dominant fish, I am quite sure it has to be a male. But I don´t know what to make of the two smaller ones: Both have a black stripe on their side, but only one of the has the same small red spots in the face - and not very dominant ones. Also the biggest of the trio is chasing the two smaller ones away when he sees them. The middle sized fish is only chasing the smallest.

And would you advise to take the smallest fish (called "Würmchen" = little worm) into another tank untill he/she has grown up a bit and put on some more weight or would you leave them all together in the same tank (240 liters)??? I could only put it into a rather small tank (60 liters) with a male ram ...

Greetings,
Birgit

 

[KenL]

Hi,

It is very surprising to hear you get poor quality borellii in Germany. Many people consider Germany to be Apisto heaven.

As to sexing the fish, even if young and in poor health, males will have a higher dorsal fin with an trailing extension at the end. Females will not show any blue colouration at all or red spots on the face.

If you can, post pictures.

If one of the fish is being chased relentlessly then it is probably worth moving it, especially if it is not getting enough food.

 

[Nimue]

Hi,

Germany Apisto heaven??? That´s sweet of you to think, but certainly not true for my area/region. :redface: Funny enough, I always thought the best fish shops are to be seen in England... In the end it will turn out that each country has some superb ones and some that are really crab.

I really would love to show you some pics of my Borellis, but I don´t have an URL, meaning free web space..

Inserting pictures into the post itself is not possible, is it???

Greeting,
Birgit

 

[IndianaSam]

I really would love to show you some pics of my Borellis, but I don´t have an URL, meaning free web space..

Birgit,

Try using http://photobucket.com/

A lot of people use it to host pictures of their tanks/fish/plants/etc.

Later,
IndianaSam