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Cherry barbs are peaceful, do well in pairs...the males are definitely a brighter red than the females.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

what kind of krib?

Gotta agree with bettachris on the kribs. My pair are almost always together, playfully swimming aroung the tank.

that sounds cute thanx 4 the tip

As for the rams, the extension on the tail can be the easiest if they have it, but some males just don't have the extension anymore. If none of the fish wherever you're going to get the fish have extension in their caudal fin then just stand in front of the tank for a few minutes and ovserve the fish (the more fish, the better). Try to look for a couple. A couple will usually show interest in each other. Some couples will be be cleaning the gravel -- that's a sure sign. Couples may also fight, but I think that if you spend long enough observing them, you will get an idea. In couples the female will usually be smaller than the male. A good shop will be able to sell you two that are a couple

They will be fine in 30 gallons. They just need one territory and as long as there's one couple, this will be the whole tank (with a spot where they will spawn). They won't bother other fish being in their territory, unless there's more than one male Ram (Bolivia or German blue) and then they will divide the tank into two territories, the size of those depends upon who's stronger.

I would get a male and a female. They have fights but it's rarely that anyone gets hurt in those fights. It sometimes looks nasty but I've never had more than the slightly torn fin, and they usually make up soon afterwards. It also depends on the individual personality of the fish. I have a couple of Rams where the female might sulk for a whole day and won't "speak" to the male. The next day she forgets all about it. Again, a different couple means different behaviour, that's why it's always interesting to watch them.

hmm, I might just go with rams or livebearers thanx 4 all your input

my male and female kribensis, are easy to sex,breed. they will swim side by side.

I currently have 2 pair in my Asian biotope with harlequin & exclamation point rasboras, belted barbs, honey and sparkling gouramis, and kuhli loaches. I've had one of the pairs for ~ a year and a half now. Tank temp is 79°

The males are a gorgeous red; I've never seen any photos that do them justice.

This is a shot of my older pair:



Theresa_M attached this image:


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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

thanx Theresa but arnt they cool water fish, Id like tropical?

Last edited by dude_dude at 26-Mar-2005 19:50

Are there any fish that if I got a male & female they would be all cute & swim around the tank with each other, & if there is is it easy to tell the difference between genders? (not livebearers ) preferably sized 3-4 inches, 7-10 cm i think, gormais?

thanx

(probably in a 30 gal with a school of tetras 2-4 platies & 8 cories, tell me if I should dich the platies)

eww...Well 30 gal should be big enough for them to estabblish territories, wouldnt it? so is looking at their tail the easiest way to sex them? would it be easier 4 a begginner to get 2 females or 1 male 1 female?

Not necessarily, dude_dude. It seems that most bolivians have been so inbred that there's hardly any difference between the sexes, but it is still possible to find good stock where the males and female will differ from each other. Have a look at the pictures of my bolivians here. The first three pictures show a male which has ray extension on his dorsal fin. The last picture shows a male and a female together, the female is at the back and has no such extensions. She has also a white spot where her anus is (although she is not carrying eggs) although I'm not sure if all females will show that spot. Note that these fish are still young and have not yet developed the yellow colouration on their bodies.

If you think about breeding the bolivians you will not only need a male and a female, but two who have paired. The best thing is to go to a shop which has a tank with several bolivians in it and stand back for a several minutes. Try to find two fish who swim together or show interest in each other. These will be two who have coupled. If you have a good shop around you, ask the person at the shop to help you. Or, you can try and look for a breeder of those fish. They will usually have better fish and will most time be able to tell the sex of their fish (or to give you two that have coupled).

Mind you, you said that you want fish that will be all cute. I'm afraid that rams are not cute all of the time. Yes, they have their moment of cuteness, but their interaction includes a lot of chasing, some fighting and the occasional torn fin or bruise. They are cichlids after all...

Last edited by untitled at 26-Mar-2005 16:15

well I like the look of Bolivian rams but the profile said that its hard to sex them
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Ive got a m/f pair of blur gouramis- they dont swimm around together, each sticks pretty much to there own side of the tank.

What about a pair of small peacful cichlids? or cherry barbs?

I know when we had gouramies the male's dorsal fin was longer and ended in a point. The female's dorsal fin was more of a rounded end. Our female was rather meek but I don't know if all females would be that way.

Edited to say I just noticed the question was about DWARF gouramies...sorry, the ones I referred to were opaline, not dwarf.

Last edited by angiewny at 26-Mar-2005 07:53

Female dwarf gouramis are a little smaller and fatter/rounder than males. They are a dull gray background with nice diagonal blue/green stripes. acutally a cute little fish, i used to breed them

They don't exactly swim around all cozy like together however...


edit: Check out this Aquariumfish.netpic

Last edited by Fallout at 26-Mar-2005 06:46

I've never seen a female dwarf gourami

Same? wierd well rams are nice but wich are hardier rams or gourmais?

Rams but a little smaller than you wanted.. maybe dwarf gouramis but I've never seen a female dwarf gourami. It's easy to tell dwarfs because the female has alot less color. Hmm.. can't think of anything else. My congos pair off and swim females with the males that won them but I don't think you mean schooling fish and they won't fit in your tank. Well to tell a male blue/german ram from a female the female sometimes has a pinkish spot on her belly and shorter spikes on the front of the dorsal fin. The male often has wider, taller spikes in the beginning of the dorsal fin.