Question About Gender

[Beth_Laubenthal]

This is my first time having fish. I absolutely love them. I have two questions.

How can you tell the gender of the fish? I know Spot, my dalmatian molly is female only because she gave birth 16 hours after I got her.

But I cannot tell if Dusk and Sunrise ( http/i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd368/Betheny_Laubenthal/HPIM3357-1.jpg ), what they are. I know they are the same gender because their underfins look the same.

And, for the life of me, I am still debating about Charlie ( http/i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd368/Betheny_Laubenthal/HPIM3358.jpg and http/i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd368/Betheny_Laubenthal/HPIM3342.jpg )

Also, at what point can you determine fry gender? My husband is considering allowing me to keep one of the fry and I would like to keep a female.

Thanks!
--Beth

 

[Fishy friend2]

Here is a link to a good thread that should answer your questions
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/330763-livebearer-gender-determination/

 

[the_lock_man]

This is my first time having fish. I absolutely love them. I have two questions.

How can you tell the gender of the fish? I know Spot, my dalmatian molly is female only because she gave birth 16 hours after I got her.

But I cannot tell if Dusk and Sunrise ( http/i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd368/Betheny_Laubenthal/HPIM3357-1.jpg ), what they are. I know they are the same gender because their underfins look the same.

And, for the life of me, I am still debating about Charlie ( http/i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd368/Betheny_Laubenthal/HPIM3358.jpg and http/i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd368/Betheny_Laubenthal/HPIM3342.jpg )

Also, at what point can you determine fry gender? My husband is considering allowing me to keep one of the fry and I would like to keep a female.

Thanks!
--Beth

I really can't see the anal fins clearly enough to be 100% certain, but they all look male to me, but I coulf be wrong. The link which FF2 posted will help you.

It takes quite a few months for the male gonopodium to develop, and many many people over the years have assumed that their fish have miraculously changed gender. The daughter of my avatar fish was a daughter for 9 months until he "became" male.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

As a male livebearer gets older the anal fins kinda crunches together, forming a very obvious penile type appendage, and the females will have a normal looking fin.

http/www.google.com/imgres?q=female+platy&um=1&hl=en&safe=off&sa=N&tbm=isch&tbnid=A3rjuwx4xwkqsM:&imgrefurl=http/www.thesmileyfish.com/%3Fp%3D50&docid=tT0D8gZA8odDCM&imgurl=http/thesmileyfish.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/tropicalfish010.jpg&w=490&h=275&ei=gqQmT5ixOsjisQKwm6yMAg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=97&vpy=79&dur=7710&hovh=168&hovw=300&tx=96&ty=193&sig=117858303932795011401&page=1&tbnh=125&tbnw=214&start=0&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&biw=1138&bih=500

 

[lilfishie]

This is my first time having fish. I absolutely love them. I have two questions.

How can you tell the gender of the fish? I know Spot, my dalmatian molly is female only because she gave birth 16 hours after I got her.

But I cannot tell if Dusk and Sunrise ( http/i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd368/Betheny_Laubenthal/HPIM3357-1.jpg ), what they are. I know they are the same gender because their underfins look the same.

And, for the life of me, I am still debating about Charlie ( http/i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd368/Betheny_Laubenthal/HPIM3358.jpg and http/i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd368/Betheny_Laubenthal/HPIM3342.jpg )

Also, at what point can you determine fry gender? My husband is considering allowing me to keep one of the fry and I would like to keep a female.

Thanks!
--Beth

I really can't see the anal fins clearly enough to be 100% certain, but they all look male to me, but I coulf be wrong. The link which FF2 posted will help you.

It takes quite a few months for the male gonopodium to develop, and many many people over the years have assumed that their fish have miraculously changed gender. The daughter of my avatar fish was a daughter for 9 months until he "became" male.

Agreed from the pictures shown they all look male

 

[Beth_Laubenthal]

This is my first time having fish. I absolutely love them. I have two questions.

How can you tell the gender of the fish? I know Spot, my dalmatian molly is female only because she gave birth 16 hours after I got her.

But I cannot tell if Dusk and Sunrise ( http/i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd368/Betheny_Laubenthal/HPIM3357-1.jpg ), what they are. I know they are the same gender because their underfins look the same.

And, for the life of me, I am still debating about Charlie ( http/i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd368/Betheny_Laubenthal/HPIM3358.jpg and http/i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd368/Betheny_Laubenthal/HPIM3342.jpg )

Also, at what point can you determine fry gender? My husband is considering allowing me to keep one of the fry and I would like to keep a female.

Thanks!
--Beth

I really can't see the anal fins clearly enough to be 100% certain, but they all look male to me, but I coulf be wrong. The link which FF2 posted will help you.

It takes quite a few months for the male gonopodium to develop, and many many people over the years have assumed that their fish have miraculously changed gender. The daughter of my avatar fish was a daughter for 9 months until he "became" male.

Agreed from the pictures shown they all look male

Thank you. I kind of feel bad that Spot is the only female then. LOL! She was an easy one to determine. The fact that she gave birth gave it away! lol. Thanks!

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to our forum Beth.
Charlie is definitely a male, based on your second picture. As Fishie friend2 said, we have a gender determination thread that should make you positive about your own fish's gender. The "underfins" are called anal fins. The shape of those fins is definitive for any common livebearer or any goodeid. Do not overly stress yourself about male/female ratios. The nominal 2 or 3 females to each male is only important in small numbers. If you had 10 fish, the ratio would be far less important than if you only had 3 of a species. I maintain colony breeding arrangements that are typically about equal numbers of males and females and have no trouble at all. If I had only one male, I would definitely have at least 2 females for him to mate with. In small breeding colonies, the ratio of females to males is best kept at over 2 females per male, but it only really matters in small colonies.