Sexing Angelfish

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

Well I know that they are Angel fish but this seem to be the best category that this subject fit into.

I have two angel fish, I got a new one today. One is constantly chasing the new one. (although it's only been about 3 hours) I was just wondering if it is possibly that I have a male and female? I'm not sure of how to sex them and "advice" from the internet doesn't seem too defined on how to determine. Maybe an angelfish enthusiast can look and tell me what they think. I tried to get the best pictures I could. Two of each (yes the yellow one does have two different side lol that's why we got it!)

Side 1 of Izee


Side 2 of Izee


Side 1 of Dr. Jeckyl Mr./Mrs. Hyde


Side 2 of Dr. Jeckyl Mr./Mrs. Hyde

 

[sandnuka]

i think you should do angels in your 30gal! cause angels in a 10gal wont last too long.. they look great though.

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

I had thought about that. But I have had the first angel for about 3 months now and he seems pretty happy.

 

[Spyral]

The only way to sex them 100% reliably is to add some wine to the tank water and turn on the Barry White.

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

lol I'm thinking that the Barry White they might like but wine is out of their taste

 

[Salzabar]

Sexing Angelfish, not easy. Best way is to throw 10 juvies in a 30 gallon and power feed them and see what happens in 3 months. Or you can buy a confirmed breeding pair. I bought mine from Markster last month and they have already laid a batch of eggs for me.

See if you can tell the difference between them. Very sorry for the phone pictures.
This is Copper:

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and this is Cobalt:

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Copper:

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Cobalt:

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You can see how Cobalt has a bigger head with a pronounced knuckle and Copper has a much slender build and almost no hump on her head. Not easy even when they are sexually mature. I'm affraid you will have to wait for your angels to grow alot bigger before you can start "guessing" their sex.

I must say you have some very nice looking angels that will be very good looking when they mature. Its nice to find a dimorphic angel in the hobby. Most are culled out before they make it to the LFS since breeders look at it as a defect. I don't subscribe to the idea that if its different its defective. I see it as evolution and we should all embrace it. I will get off my soapbox now.

 

[protocl]

^
we have the same Angels.

 

[Fern]

You really need to look for the breeding tubes to come down, males are pointy and females are thick and blunt. I'm sure if you did a search you could find pictures of male and female tubes so you will know what to look for when they do come down.
They look a little small yet to breed to me.

If they are in a 10g please move them to a larger tank or you will stunt them.......

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

Thanks Fern this is good to know!

 

[Jackietupr]

Shorty,
You seem to have a Silver & a Koi. Sex is really hard to tell until they mature and pair up. Behavior is no signal either. My male acted aggressive, but so did my Alpha female until I found out I had three females & 1 male. He bred with all three girls and I have babies from all of them now.

One day I was watching the pair & noticed the anal fin looked different for my male. He also had a smaller belly than the females. Definitely while spawning, the tubes look different, but you are wanting to know now. Until they pair up they are hard to sex though.

I love the pics of Copper and Cobalt. Cobalt is a standard Pearlscale, you can tell by the wavy sides. Beautiful specimen. I want one eventually, but for now I'm happy with my babies.

Oh yeah, they will chase each other, it is the hierarchy games all fish play. One has to be the top of the totem pole, while the others have to be lower down. The most aggressive will be the top of the totem pole.

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

I do know that one is a female! She laid eggs about a week ago! It was exciting but the other one did not fertilize them. I'm moving them to a bigger tank this week and we'll see how they do.

 

[Jackietupr]

You may want to set up a 20 gallon breeding tank with nothing but slate hanging off the side by a rubber band and a suction cup on the outside. Have the filter in there, of course, because they love the currant. But no rocks and plants. Make sure you clean the tank really well if it is used, because you will have fungus otherwise, and you may anyway due to the water. You will also need a heater in there for them to keep warm with. Set your temp for the low 80's.

Also, when you do water changes, that seems to throw them into the mood. The water temp change seems to hit their magic button and sends them into spawning mood.

Good luck!!!

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

Thanks Jackietupr! This is good to know. I am putting them in a 30 gallon bowfront that I've got. Just gotta get it from my boyfriends to my house and get it running. It's going to be cleaned with distilled vinegar to clean it all up to try and get it "like new." I've got both a canister filter and a HOB filter for the tank. An adjustable heater and just got some slate this weekend. I was going to put some stuff in the tank though as breeding isn't my priority. Happy fish is. I just thought it would be fun to have the babies. I have heard once the babies are born that I need to raise the temperature though. And use a chemical to keep the fungus down if I remove the eggs or separate the parents from the eggs. I have another post on here as well about the angel laying the eggs.

 

[Jackietupr]

I had one male and three females in my 37 gallon tank, and he was paired up with one female and she was laying eggs at the same time as my Alpha female was and she (Alpha) was fighting with the male. I didn't realize what was going on until they both started laying eggs in opposite ends of the tank. My girls normally would lay every 10 days or so, or when I did water changes due to the temperature difference of the water. Especially after a good cleaning, it would set them off.

One reason the other fish wouldn't have fertilized them would be because it was a female. That can happen too, and she would just try to eat the eggs. Until I set up the breeding tank, that's what would happen in my 37 gallon tank. He'd fertilize them, but the other females would just eat the eggs, so the parents would eat the eggs to prevent the others from getting them.

I got about 60 fry out of my male and Alpha female the first time, and took all but one to Aquarium Paradise to sell. Mrs. Kravitz is nearly the same size as the adults now, but she's still too big for my younger Angels to pair up with yet. I'm hoping my Black Lace is a male.... He's not growing up too quickly though, because I've had to cut back the feedings. I'm afraid of high Nitrites killing off my fish.

Typically you wouldn't want to clean the tanks with anything but Aquarium Salt or weak Bleach & water mix and very hot water, then treat with Stress Coat before putting fish in there. That's the best way to clean a tank if there was a disease in it before. I don't know what vinegar would do to it. You'd have to ask your fish store guys. I've never heard of using vinegar.