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..so I have my Bolivian Rams in a 30 gallon tank, and they are only about 1.5 inches long...so very young. Cannot tell the sexes, but I figure, what are the odds of having at least one pair? I'm no statitician, but pretty good odds, right? But, so far it seems they have all sort of staked out their territories and defend it from the other. Nothing serious...just little confrontations occasionally. Can this mean I have FOUR MALES?? Do females act territorial as well?

ive had females become territorial before but there not as confrontational as males

It could mean that you have FOUR males! Oftentimes Asian breeders will ship single sex lots. Most often these single sex lots are MALE. Male rams will stake out territories and do a little head butt with the owner of an adjacent territory.

Males will develop an elongated dorsal fin and the front spines of the fin will extend and darken. Females will has a rounded end to their dorsal fin and oftentimes have a pink glow to the sides of their stomach. Males will be larger than females.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

How do you recognise males from females in high fin Rams?.




http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/s8xi5heh/album?.dir=b5f2

http://www.deathbydyeing.org/




http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

Jason,

Ram 1 in your pics appears to be male and ram 2 may be female. It would be great if you had pics that showed the fish in side view.

Ram 1 has a dorsal fin whose trailing edge is much longer than the dorsal fin of ram 2. Ram 1 has the first two or threee spines darkening in the dorsal fin. These spines should gradually elongate into a "crest".

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Thanks alot for your reply Bob Wesolowski. I will try to take side photos, but as you know, it's not an easy task.
Thanks once again.



http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/s8xi5heh/album?.dir=b5f2

http://www.deathbydyeing.org/



http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com