is there a way to mark a fish to tell them apart?

[gmneil]

i have 3 banggi's that are about the same size , one is a pair that keep producing eggs, hopefully this time the male holds on to them.

the third i am starting to think is a male as well i have the seperated with a see thru divider in the same tank. however the female seems to be showing interest thru the divider to the other banggi (the one that isn't holding eggs)

this is leading me to believe that my odd banggi is a male,

so my question is what could i do to mark the female so i can distinguish the difference, i would like to get her to produce eggs with both males. but you can not tell the difference if the male is not holding eggs.

i was thinking possibly cutting the tip of a fin,but i decided against this because i dont want to hurt the fish. is there any other way to mark the banggi?

any ideas would be great.

 

[tcmfish]

No, and you will soon end up with two bangaiis. You should just find a new home for the other one.

 

[gmneil]

i have them seperated, i just want to be able to tell the femal apart so i can transfer her back to the first male, if she dosent mate with the second male in a reasonable amount of time. i know which one is the female as she is still with the male holding the eggs.
and from my understanding from what i have read, 2 females will pretty much ignore each other, 2 males will fight and kill each other, so the male on the other side of the divider is trying to get to the known female. this way i can have to males holding at the same or near the same time.
well that is the hope. but if for some reason it dosent work out i want to be able to tell whic was the female so i can put her back with the origional male

 

[Wolverine]

i have them seperated, i just want to be able to tell the femal apart so i can transfer her back to the first male, if she dosent mate with the second male in a reasonable amount of time. i know which one is the female as she is still with the male holding the eggs.
and from my understanding from what i have read, 2 females will pretty much ignore each other, 2 males will fight and kill each other, so the male on the other side of the divider is trying to get to the known female. this way i can have to males holding at the same or near the same time.
well that is the hope. but if for some reason it dosent work out i want to be able to tell whic was the female so i can put her back with the origional male

2 females will often kill each other. That's more likely than two males killing each other.
There's not really a good way for you to tell them apart, if you're not seeing a way to do it already.
I would advise against cutting the fin, or some other method of creating a difference.

 

[sanchoy]

cutting the fin.. interesting.

 

[snorvich]

cutting the fin.. interesting.

Not so awfully very.

 

[Big E]

I've had multiples of several fish & was always able to distinguish them apart. There will something a bit different in each no matter how subtle. If you spend enough time looking at them you'll be able to distinguish differences.............especially in only 3 fish.

 

[tcmfish]

i've had multiples of several fish & was always able to distinguish them apart. There will something a bit different in each no matter how subtle. If you spend enough time looking at them you'll be able to distinguish differences.............especially in only 3 fish.

+1

 

[small alien]

try photographing the same side of each one. I would imagine there are distinguishing markings you could note.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Scientists inject acrylic paint to mark fish. I am not sure of the exact process, but when done correctly it should not adversely effect the fish in any way.

 

[Cantonesefish]

Why transfer the female between two males? Way more trouble than it's worth.