We all know how difficult it is to identify the sex of these fish, so please post a picture in here and we'll try to help you (or at least give an educated guess!).
I'm in the same boat goby when it comes to plecos but like I entered the cichlid world 10 or so years ago, I learned with plenty of practice, reading and asking questions, you will no doubt learn how too.
Nick.
[url=http://www.aquarank.com/in.php?id=doctorze]Vote for zebrapleco.com here[/url]
twinspots_goby wrote:Thanks for those oppions. I still can see that how you guys distinguish them. To me they look all same. Shame on myselft! any advice?
This is how I do it (and I'm not great)
I'll keep it simple (as i don't know the proper terms )
males are hairier - along the front fins and on their checks
males body shape is triangular... from the tail to the front fins.
Females are not as hairy lack the check spines (and so have a noticeable 'notch' in their head shape)
Females body shape is plumper - bowing the sides of the triangle
Does that make sence (i've not had a few beers tonight )
Click For Our Plecs
[url=http://www.smithrc.f2s.com/gallery/plecs][img]http://www.smithrc.f2s.com/assorted/PlecSig_sm.jpg[/img][/url]
twinspots_goby wrote:Thanks for those oppions. I still can see that how you guys distinguish them. To me they look all same. Shame on myselft! any advice?
This is how I do it (and I'm not great)
I'll keep it simple (as i don't know the proper terms )
Males body shape is triangular... from the tail to the front fins.
Females body shape is plumper - bowing the sides of the triangle
Is this true regardless of whether they are overfed, underfed, etc.?
twinspots_goby wrote:Thanks for those oppions. I still can see that how you guys distinguish them. To me they look all same. Shame on myselft! any advice?
This is how I do it (and I'm not great)
I'll keep it simple (as i don't know the proper terms )
males are hairier - along the front fins and on their checks
males body shape is triangular... from the tail to the front fins.
Females are not as hairy lack the check spines (and so have a noticeable 'notch' in their head shape)
Females body shape is plumper - bowing the sides of the triangle
Does that make sence (i've not had a few beers tonight )
Thanks. Now it makes better sense to me. Wow, I learned something. How confident are you about the identification on my fish?
Another good little pointer with the more mature fish is the gill plates, (cheeks). On the male they tend to stick out so that they are in line with the body, whereas the females follow the contour of the head.
Anyway....,
male
female
male male
Although the first one is a little tricky due the age. Put up another post in 6 months an you will probably notice a big difference with the head shape.
rob
The perfect white lie..."Of course I didn't pay that much for the fish honey"
Another good little pointer with the more mature fish is the gill plates, (cheeks). On the male they tend to stick out so that they are in line with the body, whereas the females follow the contour of the head.
Anyway....,
male
female
male male
Although the first one is a little tricky due the age. Put up another post in 6 months an you will probably notice a big difference with the head shape.
rob
Thanks rob. another question for you since you seem know a lot about the zebra plecos and a nice person. What is the difference of living habbit between male and female? I heard that the mature males are likely hanging around their caves whereas the mature females don't. Are they true? Thanks for your helps.
twinspots_goby wrote:
Thanks rob. another question for you since you seem know a lot about the zebra plecos and a nice person. What is the difference of living habbit between male and female? I heard that the mature males are likely hanging around their caves whereas the mature females don't. Are they true? Thanks for your helps.
I'm hopeing this is true as 3 of ours spend 80% of their time in caves and 20% of their time chasing others out of them
one dosnt live in a cave at all (there are more caves than plecs) and is either out and about in the tank or chilling at the side of the tank.
the last one is a bit of a oddity.. 50/50 - it cant make up its mind if it wants a cave or not
Click For Our Plecs
[url=http://www.smithrc.f2s.com/gallery/plecs][img]http://www.smithrc.f2s.com/assorted/PlecSig_sm.jpg[/img][/url]