# Help sexing GBR



## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Hello guys,

I bought 2 GBR but their color is not yet showing up enough so I can sex them. Beside the blue on the black spot for female and the black on the pelvic fin for male, is there any other way to sex them?

These are pics from the Q tank. Do I have a male and a female or two of a kind?


----------



## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Well it is hard to tell since there spot is barely showing and it seems they are still young since the male doesn't have elongated fins yet and the female has no pink(in some cases). Let them settle in and colour up, also make sure they are eating because when they eat they will colour up too. Where did you get them? They look nice.


----------



## george (Apr 11, 2009)

From Brent. $3.50 each.

The problem is that the bigger one is somehow being pushy. He is not chasing the small one but turning towards him and making him retreat for a few inches and then it will leave him alone. One evening, I saw the bigger one having a bit of black on the anal fin. And from what I saw on the web, that is a sign for male so he could be a bit dominant. He does not do it very often, just sometimes.


----------



## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

It does sound like a male, and possibly two males. In my experience With the inbreeding in rams today many females show male traits like the elongated dorsal fin and colour markings. I think they are both males and one is just being dominant.


----------



## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Ok, they started colouring. The bigger one, has a very nice pink belly. The smaller one is not colouring up yet. I separated them in 2 tanks but I think I will move them back together. Still don't know why they would "fight".

Thanks for the help.


----------



## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Oh very nice, hope they work out for you. looking forward to some new pics.


----------



## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Here are the pics. A good one and a blurry one with both.


----------



## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Nice! Both female? Amazing what some time does. Both have some pink. I was curious why neither had any dorsal fin elongation at this age. When I was breeding a year or so ago my 4month old fry were spawning and had long dorsal fin rays. they matured fast and were about an inch.

I found an awesome picture of one of my female fry at 3 months. I wanted to share it with you. It was pretty funny having such small fish spawn, they would lay about 20 eggs instead of 200-400 lol.


----------



## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Nice picture and of course an amazing fish. 

I have a question though. I read on some websites that is best to keep 1m 2f, while on others the ratio is 1:1. From you point of view, which is the best solution?

I will get the male(s) from Jamilca anyway.


----------



## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Personally I would do a 1:1. Just keep good cover as always. Get one male and see who he pairs with. Then remove the other female since she will just get picked on(or get 2 males and hope there is enough room). Sometimes the pair well split for a few days and the male may chase the female around but they will get back together, it has happened with a few of my pairs. Over time they will bond more and become a strong pair.


----------



## george (Apr 11, 2009)

So you would suggest to get a male, see which female will be chosen, and then get another male and maybe they will form a second paid in a second tank?

Regarding feeding, what do you usually feed them? Mine is mostly interested in the shrimp veggie pellets (as you can see in one of the pics) from John than in the 1mm cichlid pellets, again from John. In regards to live food, tried with brine shrimp and bloodworm and not much success.


----------



## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

"So you would suggest to get a male, see which female will be chosen, and then get another male and maybe they will form a second paid in a second tank?" Exactly. The male should choose a better suited female. And the other pair would probably be fine too. A different tank would be best of course. I feed my rams small pieces of worm once a week(I have reptiles that eat them), Adult frozen brine shrimp and NLS Cichlid formula as a staple. They will breed every 7-10 days.

It seems odd that your fish would not accept bloodworms or brineshrimp.


----------



## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Well, tomorrow will try again as it is live food day for my fishes. Will let you know.

How much time do you think the male will need to find out which female gives him what he needs?  Just kidding.


----------



## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Haha, I would give the male a week or 2 with both the females and if they dont pair off, then he is not of the females are not mature yet. And wait a bit longer. If they do then thats a good sign.


----------



## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Pictures of my newly bought male GBR.


----------



## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

He looks great, after a week or two he will look so much better. Watch his dorsal fin elongate now that he has his own territory and female. Its quite a change.


----------



## ns2h (Oct 31, 2010)

I assumed the new one you bought is female. I have a male like this


----------



## Kerohime (Jan 10, 2011)

Tropicana said:


> I found an awesome picture of one of my female fry at 3 months. I wanted to share it with you. It was pretty funny having such small fish spawn, they would lay about 20 eggs instead of 200-400 lol.


That was an amazing colour for a fry... or even in general!
Is that due to genetics or will mine get that colourful through feeding? I bought the New life spectrum cichlid food, and I am feeding them blood worms as well!


----------



## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Nice male ns2h, it seems he has some long fin genetics. 

Thanks Kerohime, She was a beauty! I believe your fry can be that colorful at such a young age also. I did not crowed my fry at all and that allowed them to stake out territory and spawn peacefully which I think makes the fish produce more hormones that allow for nice coloration/growth. I also fed NLS/brineshrimp/bloodworms too.

Although most of the fry that paired with a female or male looked nice at a young age, the males/females that could not always seemed to be a step behind in colour and fin length(for males) as they were always subordinates and not dominant.


----------



## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Pictures with the first batch:




























The eggs did not survived the night as I left the pair in the main tank, but this was kinda first lesson and maybe on the next tryout (as you guys said in 1 week, right?) I will move them to their own 10G tank.

I will also post a 2 min video with the female laying the eggs and the male fertilizing them.


----------



## george (Apr 11, 2009)

My final GBR success:















They are already in their 6th day and are eating microworms.


----------



## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Ok guys, I'm close to 1 week old for these babies. They are already eating microworms and I am changing the water 80% every day. They are in a tank (in their separate container) where the water is 27 degrees. Is the temperature ok?

When should I change their diet and to what?

Thanks


----------



## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Grow some BBS and see if they eat it. Thats their next food source. Also, if the temp is 82f then thats good. Good luck.


----------



## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Unfortunately, I have lost all my frys. Half yesterday, half today.

I gave them the micro worms as I did not had BBS or a BBS hatchery at hand. The airstone was inside the container and they were 7 days and 8 days old. The water temp is 81F.

I changed the water daily, aprox 80% with water that sat over night to remove the chlorine.

What did I do wrong? 

BTW, the dad also passed away, even though he was in a completely different tank.


----------



## adrenaline (Jan 17, 2011)

Do you have a test kit? if so check your water parameters. Personally I find 80% water changes a bit much... it could be stressful on the fish.

I'm not sure if that's something common on breeding rams, but i never exceed 30% water changes for my cichlids. Only in times of emergency or using meds will i ever do more than 30%.


----------



## Bwhiskered (Oct 2, 2008)

george said:


> Unfortunately, I have lost all my frys. Half yesterday, half today.
> 
> I gave them the micro worms as I did not had BBS or a BBS hatchery at hand. The airstone was inside the container and they were 7 days and 8 days old. The water temp is 81F.
> 
> ...


Your temperature is too low it should be 85 F. Letting water sit no longer removes chlorine. The ammonia that they mix with it now can hold it for several weeks. It must be removed with a dechlorinater like Prime or by filtering the water through carbon. The fry should have been moved to a 5 or 10 gallon tank a day or two after free swimming.


----------



## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Charlie and Adrenaline, thank you for your answers. 

I hope next time I will be able to do better.


----------

