Posted by David
As for the 20 or 30 day window on sexual assignment I think it's time to stop smokin' the cheap stuff. Why on earth would sexuall assignment begin it's time frame the day the fish gets to your house ???? If that 20-30 day theory was the way it is pretty much every fish we buy would have long since established it's sexual role, and we all know that just isn't the case. I'm sticking with my thoughts expressed in the above post- sex in many species is determined by social and environmental factors and a single fish in isolation has no reason to mature
David, what I said was it is very possible that the fish could be male because they can make the change in as little as 20-30 days.
The reason it would happen as you said at "
your house " is because the fish was likely kept in large groups until the trip to the LFS. With plenty of males around a female would be unlikely to start changing.
If you are looking for a female angel it is indeed wise to try and find one within days of its arrival at the store as most stores keep them in separate tanks. You have a better chance that a female hasn't begun any change. One of the first things that changes is the female starts acting like a male, so even if her change could be reversed it's unlikely she would get along with any male. Also since the initial changes happen before they are shown physically (coloring), that's another reason to pay attn. to how long the fish has been at the store.
I'll repeat that the main factor initiating the sex change is the absence of a male. Is it likely to happen immediately (in the first 30 days)? I dunno ---- there are likely other factors such as stress, is there a male in the tank next door, etc.
As for the search for sexual dimorphism in the flame angels I think you'd need to look at 1000 or so to confirm it, just because the male of given pair has "more of this" or "less of that" hardly convinces me that you can use this to select for sex. For me behavior is the best indicator.
You do not need to look at 1000 flames but it does help to have seen what each looks like. The difference is distinct, but hard to describe. I was 99% sure mine were male & female so I just tossed her in the big tank with the male. But if you aren't certain, why not put them in quarantine together for the behavior test.
a single fish in isolation has no reason to mature
Maybe not, but in my tanks they always do it anyway.
Sam,
Sweet anyone have any luck pairing up some coral Beauty's?? I have one 3 inch dunno if its male or female?? Should I get a tiny one?? will tehy be aggressive against me Ocelaris pair in my 75??-
If you've had your 3" for a long time, chances are it's a male. But I'm not aware of any info on sexual dimorphism in cb's. What I would do if I were you would be to wait patiently
for my LFS to get a teeny specimen & try them together in a temporary tank to see if they get along. My guess is that the odds are very good that a tiny one would be female. Tiny = 1 inch from nose to tip of tail fin. Let me know if you get a cb pair!
