New German Rams, behaviour question

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sillyputty

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Dec 10, 2004
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I bought these this week and have some questions. I got 2 on Tues. They seem great together, very curious one going where the other did, got along fine. Then yesterday one was dead so I went and got another. Now he has been chasing the other one relentlessly, doing head to tail spinning, mouth to mouth pushing, rushing...ect... It does seem to have let up a bit. Do these look like a male, female pair? I am sure the one is a male (that is the pushy one that is brightly colored) but I'm not sure if the other is a female or if it is a male with his colors subdued from being chased so much!

Anyone? Emg?

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The one on the left in the top picture, and the right in the second picture appears to be a female to me. It's dorsal spines are the same length, and it has blue speckles invading the large black dot on its side. It also appears to have a slight rosy tinge to its belly - all signs of a female. The other one is very hard to tell because of the darkness/blurriness. My guess is that it is also a female - its dorsal spines also appear to be a uniform length in the second picture.
 
I'm pretty sure the one on the left in the first pic is a male...but they look really young and it's hard to tell at that age...but his fins look "male" to me. Also the shape of it's body...more long, less rounded. The other one could be female, but it's harder to tell with that one.

When they are that young they all have speckles in the black spot when the light hits them just right. Also, I have never seen anything about the spikes of thier dorsals that gives any indication of sex...especially in ones so young. The male's fins do become larger than the females as they get older and they'll have a longer point to the ventral fins as well.

If you notice a rosey color to the belly, it's definitely a female...but I don't think the coloring in that pic is "rosey"...looks more like just the usual purplish color that they all have in certain lighting.

Here's a thread where I posted some pics of some of the rams that I've had....maybe they will help....

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63193&highlight=sexing+rams


Also, a pic of a pair I have in my 29.....it's a bit dark and hard to see the differences...but these two look very similar....the male is the one in the foreground (right)...the female is behind him...notice the speckles around his black spot...you can also see the points on the tips of his ventral fins....anyway, you can see how hard it can be to tell them apart....

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Thanks. I should have mentioned that they are only about an inch or so, yes, very young. I am still concerned about the aggression of the one. I have a gold and he does that to everyone but is in a much bigger tank and it is spread out among everyone and also not constantly. Hopefully it will taper off a bit when they get settled. I would get more to spread the aggression but the tank is only 5 gallons and that is all I have for them right now, plus there are 3 neons in there. They are not staying though.
 
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