Sexing my Bolivian Rams Please :(

[RobGoldsmith]

Hi guys, I need some hope from somewhere haha!

I am in search of someone to give me a positive Sex ID for my two fish!
So far I have been to 4 forums and there hasnt been 1 positive ID, just "could be" and "I think"

So...

Big Ram - 14 say male 1 says Female

Small Ram - 10 say Female 4 say Male


1 Large one:
Bright colours
Shows fins
Little aggressive to small ram
Obvious private parts
Bright yellow front end

1 Small one
some colours appeared after a few days
Very shy
Fins always tight to the body
Hides a lot, more aggressive to everything

Please, please, please can someone tell me one way or another. I am a little worried that the negative behaviour from the larger one will continue to grow if they are both male!

Help!!

Big - Small

Small - Big

Big - Small

Small

Small

Big - Small

Thanks so much for reading and thanks in anticipation for an ID!

Rob

 

[Mike Wise]

Can you tell us how old/large these fish are? I find Bolivian Rams difficult to sex until they are 18 months to 2 years old. Even then it can be difficult. Shape of the tips of the dorsal and anal fins sometimes are not different enough to sex them accurately. I've found the best way to sex them is by their spawning tube: small/pointed - male; broad/blunt - female.

 

[RobGoldsmith]

I am not too sure as i got them from a shop, they are around 4-5cm long i would imagine.

The smaller one doesnt seem to have anything "down there" that i can see without it hiding (hides a lot and chaces everything away from its corner). The larger has a definite something there which is easy to see, cant tell if it is pointed or not though

Rob

 

[Mike Wise]

My guess is that they are still too young to sex. I have had breeders tell me that it takes 18+ months before they can confidently determine sex. If you are really interested in breeding this wonderful fish, I would suggest buying several more specimens from different suppliers. There is a better chance of getting at least one of each sex that way. If you're not really interested in breeding then, then enjoy those that you now have.