My male rusty is very, very colorful. It took a month or two for him to color up though, and he's bigger than he was then. When I first bought the ones I have, there was no way to tell if they were male or female. Now I'm sure I have one female, because her and the male spawned(saw her holding and release a few fry which were promptly eaten).
I'm noticing that, in general, my females have a darker coloration to them. They look more of an old rusty color than a new, bright rusty color if that makes sense. The males tend to have more accent coloring on their fins(the females have essentially none). The male definitely has a brilliant purple sheen to him though.
As far as rustys go, I was pretty sure that males generally ended up with many egg spots, and females would have only one. That's what I'm seeing so far.
The only rusty I see significant banding on is the baby I have. He came in as a fry when I bought the first of them, and is a little under an inch long now. He always has well-defined vertical stripes. Sometimes the male shows stripes as well but they aren't nearly as well-defined, and they go away.
I'm noticing that, in general, my females have a darker coloration to them. They look more of an old rusty color than a new, bright rusty color if that makes sense. The males tend to have more accent coloring on their fins(the females have essentially none). The male definitely has a brilliant purple sheen to him though.
As far as rustys go, I was pretty sure that males generally ended up with many egg spots, and females would have only one. That's what I'm seeing so far.
The only rusty I see significant banding on is the baby I have. He came in as a fry when I bought the first of them, and is a little under an inch long now. He always has well-defined vertical stripes. Sometimes the male shows stripes as well but they aren't nearly as well-defined, and they go away.
