Discus

[Ryan.170]

hi all
I am 16 years old and i have been loveing and caring for tropical fish for 6 years now. this week i have bort some discus fish that have settled in ok now but i was wanting to no how to tell the male and female. i have read up in the past that you can tell male and female by there eyes and there size. am i right or is there more ways???



thanks

 

[AmberC]

No, I dont know where you read that, but its wrong info. Discus are not sexually dimorphic. You can only sex a discus when they are spawning and you see which one is laying and which one is fertilizing. Otherwise your sol.

What size tank do you have? What tank mates do you have with them?

 

[Kenliz]

There are lots of so called ways to tell but the only sure way is to see them laying the eggs mate.

 

[simonbrown403]

There are lots of so called ways to tell but the only sure way is to see them laying the eggs mate.

As kenliz say the sure fire way to tell is when they are breeding, as you can see the female has a elongated tube to lay the eggs where the male is male and pointed.

There is a subtle difference which is hard to pick up on in young fish, and is more evident in adults.
Look at the pic below there i a subtle difference in the shape between the ventral fins and the anal fin, basically a male has a larger hump where the females slightly flatter to allow it to deposit its eggs on flat surfaces easier.

It is not always easy to tell even this way and alot is down to judgment, but the advice was given to me by a well know discus breeder and has proven relable so far.

 

[Gourami Lover88]

Another methond that has served me well is when the dorsal and anal fins are completly unfolded it is possible to detrmine the sex. Males will look like a triangle with a tail and females will look like an oval with a tail.

The Blue Turq is a male and the Golden dragon is a female.