Breeding angelfish, Do I have a female to female breeding pair?!

[cgronko]

So i aquired this pair of angelfish from someone that was just getting rid of all their tanks. The person said they layed eggs all the time but there was other fish in the tank and the eggs would all be eaten. So i have them in their own seperate tank now. The problem is that the lady told me the marble one was the female laying all the eggs. I just looked in the tank and the silver one was cleaning off the pot in the tank and had its tube out. It looks pretty thick and big. You can see it very clear in the picture. Can anyone verify that this is a female? Also the marble has just a tiny little bump hardly noticable. Would this be a male and maybe the lady just got them confused? Or could it be that she is just not showing her tube? Would the males tube be pretty noticable? You cant even see the tube in the picture of the marble. If it is a female to female pair and they lay eggs can i introduce a male right away? If i split this pair apart or just simply introduce a male do you think they will still lay eggs? Any help would be appreciated as i have no experience with this. Thanks so much!

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[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Well, first of all, the only sexual difference at all between Angels is the breeding tube so the bump won't tell you anything. It's hard to see very well but that could possibly be a male. Both members of a pair will clean the spot for the eggs. When they actually start the spawning process, try to get a pic then. You will then have an easy comparison as both breeding tubes will be exposed.

[cgronko]

So once the eggs are layed the marble will show his/her tubes?

[Algenco]

So once the eggs are layed the marble will show his/her tubes?

it will show just prior to spawning

[cgronko]

I just walked into the room and their is eggs all over the claypot. The picture of the marble was taken only about 2 hours before the eggs were layed. It still does not have any tubes showing. Does this mean it definitely not a male?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

It doesn't meant anything. The fact that you could see the tube on one means that the spawn occurred sometime shortly after that picture was taken The tube of the other may have come out after that. You would have to watch them lay the eggs to be 100% sure. Also, now that there are eggs, watch them closely. Eggs that turn white are not viable eggs, if the whole batch turns white then they were likely not fertilized. In that case you have 2 possibilities, first, you may have 2 females, second, you may have a female and an immature male.

[cgronko]

Well both of these fish are definitely mature adults... i guess ill find out in a day or two if i have two females. Thanks for the help.

[Fishalicious]

The pic of the striped is a male... the females is a lot shorter and stumpier - the males is longer and more pointy .. I cannot tell with the pics from the marble. But now they have eggs it should be pretty easy to tell... if the eggs all turn white over the next few days they have not been fertilized. It is normal to have a few go white where the male has missed some but if they all turn white....