German Rams - who's the man?

[RobbieG]

I have 3 German Rams (Microgeophagus ramirezi) - the real name is correct the common name seems to apply to several species and I am trying to seperate the boys from the girls (to prevent any bloodshed)

I THOUGHT that the girls would have blue dots in the black spot and the boys would be bigger than the girls and have a fancier dorsal fin. But it looks to me like the the one with the blue dots in the spot is ALSO the largest and has the fancier dorsal.

I am very certain about the species - does anyone know the "best" way to tell for certain which are which.

For now I have removed the odd one out - they made it pretty clear which one that was - but I would like to get a few more to try to wind up with one more pair and would rather not accidently get 3 males and have them kill each other!

[rollie]

one way of telling males from females is this.

the males top fin(one on top his back) will be more pointed.

the females will be more rounded.

but this is just one way of telling them apart.

[RobbieG]

Thanks Rollie

[Fishguy2727]

In the male the second ray on the dorsal will be black and elongated, the first and third may also be black and elongated. Females will also have a dark red coloration on the belly, reminiscent of kribensis. Females may have the fourth or fifth ray elongated but red.

My female has some blue on the edge of the black blotch, but none in the middle. I know she is the female because she has the red belly.

Size can be a variable since many things affect this, not just gender.

[RobbieG]

Thanks Fishguy - I may have been seeing the 4th or 5th ray and thinking it was part of the first 3. The fish are still pretty small (about 1")

[DemonShark]

Ooo I LOVE GERMAN BLUE RAMS INFACT I WANT TO NAME MY MY SON IN THE FUTURE Ramirezi !!! Isnt that a cool name??? Anyway i know alot about them but rollie and was it fish guy?? Beat me to it, they have the right idea!

[Nautilus29]

Most of the german blue rams that are sold in stores are boys becuase they have more color and they also can give them hormones to give them more color when they are younger. Becuase when the fish are younger they dont have much color and then once they grow up the color up alot.

[johnicd]

The only way I tell is the females have pink belly.