New to TFF

HankB

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Joined
Aug 10, 2023
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Chicago 'burbs
Good morning,
I've had tropical fish off and on for over 60 years. At present I have a 55 gallon tank, fairly heavily planted, with the following:
  • 1 old bristlenose plecos and two younger ones
  • 4 Siamese algae eaters
  • 3 little bronze corys (C. aeneus)
  • 5 diamond tetras
  • 4 yoyo loaches
  • and a partridge in a pear tree - just kidding... ;)
I've gone off Reddit so I'm looking for another community of like minded fish keepers and am exploring here.

At present the biggest issue I face is the corys. I'd like a couple more but seem to be facing "the great bronze cory shortage of 2023." My LFS hasn't had any for months. I checked a couple online sites and they had none also. I'm starting to think that my little ones (about 1" long at time of purchase) will reach maturity and I can convert my otherwise unused quarantine tank to a breeding tank and have them make more for me. :p

The main reason I'm joining is so I can ask about sexing pearl gouramis and diamond tetras. I'll ask here and can repeat in the appropriate fora if necessary.

At first I was convinced the pearls were male and female. One developed long rays on the anal fin and they're about 1/2" long now. I'm not good with estimating fish length, but I'd say they're about 3 1/2" long now. I've had them about 5 months and they were on the small size when purchased. They both show good color and now the one I thought to be a female is starting to develop extended rays on the anal fin. My question is if this is normal for a female or is this a slow developing male. When they were younger they seem to hang out together but they don't do that any more.

I have a similar question WRT the Diamond tetras. Of the five, one is clearly a male with a very extended dorsal fin. Another is clearly a female with paler colors and very short dorsal fin. The other three seem to fall into a continuum between these extremes. I wonder if I got 4 males and one female.

And in regards to both of these, I wonder if the presence of other makes will slow the sexual maturity of others in the same tank.

best,
 
Hi Hank, welcome to TFF... :hi:
It does depend on how dominant the other males are to let the younger ones mature slowly.
 
Welcome to TFF. :hi:

I have a similar question WRT the Diamond tetras. Of the five, one is clearly a male with a very extended dorsal fin. Another is clearly a female with paler colors and very short dorsal fin. The other three seem to fall into a continuum between these extremes. I wonder if I got 4 males and one female.

Males have the longer fins, females do not, and so far as I know this species does not under=develop or anything similar to some cichlids. So male and female will be easily discerned except perhaps in very young fish. Increasing the size of the group may help though, the males of this species spend a lot of time "showing off" and the more there are the better. Aside from the fact that a group of five or six will make the fish feel more at ease. Shoaling fish need decent sized groups, and ten is usually about the minimum.

I suspect the gourami are just developing naturally.
 

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