Anyone good at sexing firemouths?

[Frameshift]

I have two and have no idea what sex they are. If anyone wants to tell me why they think it is a male or female I'd be grateful. If there are any good websites on sexing firemouths let me know as well.

http://pic6.picturetrail.com/VOL171/1448165/2760664/33627496.jpg
This one is almost a year old and is 4.5" long.

http://pic6.picturetrail.com/VOL171/1448165/2760664/33627490.jpg
This one is almost 3 years old and is 5.5" long.

If you need more pics let me know!

[blitzen25bm]

sorry i wouldn't know about the sexing them do they do the gill flares? what kind of camera are you using it looks pretty good. john

[Mystroe_TheMyst]

I think its a female...from my recollection the females have the red colouration. I think that is how you tell....I stand to be corrected, I've only ever had 1.

[Oscar_Wild]

Quote from species profile here at aquariacentral

"It is pretty easy to sex this fish. The male is more brightly colored than the female, and has pointier anal and dorsal fins than the female."


From my experience and the angle of the pics, I believe the top one to be female, and the bottom one to be male.

[Frameshift]

The bottom fish is definately the dominant fish, but I have seen absoutely no sign of courtship between the two. I was thinking they were both males, but that was pretty much a guess. I'll try to get some better pics here in a bit.