Help Sexing Ebrs Please :)

[chris18181818]

Hi,

Ok so this is alot harder than i thought. Got 2 new ebrs the other day at first i thought i had a pair. 1 is half the size of the other and at first was less colourful. Now they have got their colour back the smaller one is more colourful and is by far the more dominant and chases the bigger one around. Are these both males?? They are always fighting and i am thinking of taking 1 back and trying to find a female. Ive heard there rare and hard to come by.

This brings me on to my second question, if you do confirm for me they are both males which one do i take back? The smaller one is more colourful. Is it just smaller because its younger? They came from the same batch. The smaller of the 2 is far more shy although very territorial.

Any help appreciated.

http/s1046.photobucket.com/albums/b462/chris18181818/ebrs/

 

[hamfist]

I'd say they are both probably female. The reason for this being the very blunt and rounded ends to the dorsal fins. It's just possible that in your pic of fish 1 the end of it's dorsal was curving away from the camera at that point, but I suspect not. I'm no great expert on rams, and the fact that they are constantly fighting does seem unusual for females but cichlids are cichlids, and many do like a scrap.
Rams can be difficult to sex. The best way is to study a whole batch, and then the differences between the males and females will become more apparent.
If getting rid of one, definately let the smaller one go. As they are from the same batch and (I think) the same sex, then the larger one would almost certainly have got a better gene mix than the smaller one.

Oh, BTW, when I usually comment on the sexing of fish online, I'm usually wrong, so they're probably both male !

 

[TheHolding]

I have a pair of these and having exact same problem!!!

I will post pics of mine later!

 

[TheHolding]

It's the other way round for me the bigger EBR chases the smaller!

Pics of the bigger ram -

And the smaller one -

I think they are both same sex but what do people think?

 

[Fats]

Hi,did you buy these from a lfs or breeder? do you know if they are uk tank bred? the reasin im asking is because like GBR if there imported 9 times out of 10 they usually send out all the same sex. Im just about capable of sexing GBR but these EBR dont give you much to go on. I have one EBR did have 4 wich i got from a breeder but lost 3 and the one that was left was the more dominant one,and hes still quite agressive with some of his tank mates. I think mine is male basically from the shape of his head males tend to have a slight hump where as the female has a smoother forehead. Here is a picture of mine so you can see what i mean.

Ian

 

[TheHolding]

Hi,did you buy these from a lfs or breeder? do you know if they are uk tank bred? the reasin im asking is because like GBR if there imported 9 times out of 10 they usually send out all the same sex. Im just about capable of sexing GBR but these EBR dont give you much to go on. I have one EBR did have 4 wich i got from a breeder but lost 3 and the one that was left was the more dominant one,and hes still quite agressive with some of his tank mates. I think mine is male basically from the shape of his head males tend to have a slight hump where as the female has a smoother forehead. Here is a picture of mine so you can see what i mean.

Ian

Not sure if mine are tank bred or from imported got mine from lfs.

 

[chris18181818]

Hey guys, thanks for the replys. Great pics its a real help. Fats, i cant believe how long the dorsal fins are on your fish and i definately see what you mean by the forehead. How long have you had your ebr? Do these fins get longer with age.

I just cant belive how dificult it is to tell the difference between these fish, im definately swaying towards 2 females for mine due to the smooth forehead. The Holding did your LFS tell you what sex they thought they were? My LFS said i had a male and female but doesnt look like i do. I think what im going to do is take them both back and study the tank there all in a little bit better and see if i can tell the differance.

 

[Fats]

Hi Chris,ive had mine about 5 months and was 3 months old when i got them,but his dorsal extensions were visible from about 4-5 months old. Did your lfs tell you how they could tell they were male and female? give them a ring and see how they told the sexes apart,the guy i got mine from could tell the sex just from the body shape. My old pair of gbr's both had elongated dorsal fins and no red bellies and looked identical to me but they spawned twice. Ive also got 5 young pairs of gbr at the moment and all the males have a slight hump. If your a member of Facebook try this link click next for the male pic,this is the guy i got my EBR from it shows you the differences in male and female gbr's i know there not ebr's but some of the differences can be used for ebr's. Like i say im no expert im just going off advice ive been given and its worked well so far Hope this helps and you get it sorted,if you know of anywhere in the Manchester area selling these let us know as im after some more.

regards
Ian

 

[chris18181818]

Thanks for the link very interesting. Got mine from Maidenhead aquatics in Hampshire but heard that all of this chain are selling them. He didnt tell me how he could tell the difference think he was just going on size but this leaves you open to getting a weaker male of course. Think im going to take them back on sunday and swap them for a different pair, i do find it a bit embarrassing because i am so fussy when choosing my fish, think im also going to pick up a pair of GBRs im really keen on Rams at the mo.