Sexing Fish?

[LeahMay]

Hello,
 
I am new to the forum so if this is in the wrong place im very sorry.
Been keeping several fish for the best part of a year now and i genuinely do not know the sex of any of my fish. Is there a clear cut way of telling whether my fish are male or female? Its never something ive needed to know but i figured it will prove useful in upcoming years.
The fish i keep are;
Angel fish
Zebra Danio
Neon Tetra
Penguin Tetra
Honey gourami
3-spot gourami
yoyo loach
Upside down catfish 
... a clam, and a betta also but i know mr betta is a male!  
 
If anyone could advise me id be grateful,
Thanks

 

[the_lock_man]

There are different methods for different fish. No one sibgle rule. Some are identical.

 

[LeahMay]

Ok, any advice for any of the fish i keep? 
I put the list there as i knew someone would say that xD

 

[LeahMay]

Anyone shed some light on this?

 

[MBOU]

Well... ok...
 
1- Angelfish - you wont be able to tell, there are signs but no sure fire way of sexing them until they breed or you know what you are looking at. Females tend to be more dainty looking, fatter in the belly between their ventral fins and their ventral fins tend to be wider and shorter, males often develop a nuchal hump on their head and are quite 'butch' looking (that said, dominant females do too). They tend to be bigger and taller fish and their ventral fins much longer and narrower.
 
2- Zebra Danio - The females will be really fat looking, the males slightly better coloured and torpedo shaped.
 
3- Neon Tetras - As above
 
4- Penguin Tetras - As above
 
5- Honey Gouramis - Females are smaller, often colourless and often with a lateral strip down their sides, they also tend to be much fatter and rounder, males will have better colouration, be slimmer and in breeding condition they can get black bellies. The males also tend to have longer pointier dorsal fins which on a female would be smaller and rounder.
 
6- 3 Spot Gourami - Same as above for dorsal fins and body shape.
 
7- Yoyo Loach- You wont be able to tell and wouldnt make much difference if you could as they wont breed.
 
8- Upside Down Catfish- As above.

 

[LeahMay]

Thank you so much for that! Straight to the point, just what i like  
 
Its unlikely that i will breed anything in my community tank but its always interested me to know how you can tell apart males from females. 
Could come in handy when deciding on numbers though as my LFS couldn't sex any of the above for me in their own tanks.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Generally speaking, if you are looking for specific genders of fish from most species, you need to know yourself and CLOSELY inspect the fish before it is bagged.  I generally feel bad watching some new worker trying to find the specific fish I am asking for - and rejecting the one they managed to catch - but it beats taking the wrong one home.    I always mention the gender I want - if I care, sometimes I don't - and if I see the look in their eyes of complete confusion, I offer to catch the fish myself.
 
 
Generally, unless you are looking to breed the specifics of gender are not that important for shoaling species - there are exceptions to that of course.  Cichlids, on the other hand, you want to be very particular as males with no females can get quite aggressive at times.  Also, its best to know when it comes to livebearers as well.  Single gender groups is advisable many times, or if you like the idea of fry - 1m:2-3f is the best ratio.

 

[LeahMay]

Yeah, i was just curious as had a relatively bad time at my LFS so decided i am to learn everything and simply go there for supplies, wish i didnt have to because its still lining there pockets, but the next closest one is 2.5h aways  
I have never took notice towards gender as i dont have live bearers and the rest have just got along, but in the future id like to do some breeding- probably starting with guppy or something but id eventually like to be breeding gourami if possible and the such likes.

How rude of me, i didnt thank you!
Here you are...
THANKS!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

You can always buy the supplies online.  Better prices most of the time, as long as you don't mind going with the lower shipping options.  Most places will even offer free shipping if you spend over a certain amount - so make a list of things that you buy regularly, and when you need something, buy a few of the "staple" items you like to have on-hand to boost the total and lower the shipping costs.