huig
New member
hi
i was thinking about the same thing. so i searched a lot to see if there are any external signs to tell the sexes apart. well it appears you can tell (difficult) by the way the beak and forehead are relative to the body of the fish. the males forehead is a bit steeper (more vertical) and the beak is more horizontally, the females tend to have the forehead a bit more inclined and the beak pointing down just a little. you can already see these differences at a young age. it is easier to tell when you can compare (eg in a group)
the picture of Paul B shows a female specimen.
it seems it's not a good idea to introduce them while they are young (they don't mate at young age) as they will usually start to quarrel.
the best way to do this in a very large (200 plus) tank and introduce the female (smaller) first so it can get established. introduce the male to a screened (eggcrate or something similar) part 1/3 of the tank. after a few weeks the divider can be removed. best do this in the biginning of the weekend to keep a close eye on the fish. have an extra set-up in case they don' t get along. see if you can return the fish to the lfs and try with another one (quarantine!!!!)
good luck.
i was thinking about the same thing. so i searched a lot to see if there are any external signs to tell the sexes apart. well it appears you can tell (difficult) by the way the beak and forehead are relative to the body of the fish. the males forehead is a bit steeper (more vertical) and the beak is more horizontally, the females tend to have the forehead a bit more inclined and the beak pointing down just a little. you can already see these differences at a young age. it is easier to tell when you can compare (eg in a group)
the picture of Paul B shows a female specimen.
it seems it's not a good idea to introduce them while they are young (they don't mate at young age) as they will usually start to quarrel.
the best way to do this in a very large (200 plus) tank and introduce the female (smaller) first so it can get established. introduce the male to a screened (eggcrate or something similar) part 1/3 of the tank. after a few weeks the divider can be removed. best do this in the biginning of the weekend to keep a close eye on the fish. have an extra set-up in case they don' t get along. see if you can return the fish to the lfs and try with another one (quarantine!!!!)
good luck.
