L260 can you sex them?

bigbird

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Sep 9, 2010
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ok I have attempted to sex each photo, as I am unsure if you wanted 2 photos of each etc as some are same and photo one and photo 2 are I presume a different fish due to photo 2 having a nipped fin and photo one not. So this is for each photo now and not 100%
f,f nipped fin, f snub or crushed nose, f snub or crushed nose, f,f,f,f,m dominant,m same, m,m
hope that helps and wait for more replies. cheers jk :thumbup:
 

shooter50014

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Dec 7, 2011
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Des Moines, IA
Yes there are 6 total fish. I tried to take a couple pics of each and also tried to take them in big fish litte fish big fish so I was able to keep them strait for posting. Photo 1 and 2 are same fish and I am not sure what caused it to looked nipped.

Thanks for you imput as I am not very good at sexing yet. In the past I have just bought proven pairs and that takes the guess work out. I havent found anyone selling proven pairs of L260 so this is the way I needed to go.

My thoughts were 1 and 5 were male and the rest could be female. I had thought 3 was a male also but I can see it both ways.

Maybe I am totally off. I staired at these pics last night for about 8 hours and all I could get was confused. lol

your help is greatly appreciated!
 

Bigjohnnofish

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Apr 15, 2010
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i think people are sexing on head shape alone...

nothing looks gravid to me... and none of the fish possess multiple female traits

if these fish are grown up from a single spawn i'd say you have both sexes
if these fish have been sourced from different breeders hence different bloodlines then you could have a lot of males

cant see their cheek odontodes clearly enough to guage their sex....

sorry i cant really give you much better than that....
 

rickyjjuk

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Jun 3, 2009
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Suffolk
My best guess is

m
f
m
f
m
m

But like was said they do need conditioning as none are gravid plus some look a bit young still??

cheers

ricky
 

Brengun

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Apr 22, 2009
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My best guess is

m
f
m
f
m
m

But like was said they do need conditioning as none are gravid plus some look a bit young still??

cheers

ricky
My guess is exactly the same as ricky. Fish number 4 gave me a bit of trouble but in the end I couldn't really find anything definitly male about it so put it as female.

Btw I enlarged the pics to full size, copied and pasted into my pc pictures. Then used my zoombrowzerFX to auto adjust the photos so the fish was darker and more easy to spot the whiskers and odontodes. I also cropped as much of the white out as possible around the fish.
 

shooter50014

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Dec 7, 2011
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I will fatten them up over the next few weeks. A friend and I split 12 mix size and sex. I chose some of the bigger ones that seemed to have slightly shorter cheek bristles. The biggest male was very awsome but I let the other guy take first shot of the pick. These shots were taken the day they landed. I looked and looked but didnt see anything I would say is def a female. I have had them in tank for 3 days. Only one male has chosen a cave. The rest are either still settling in or they could be female. I am very positive I have a min of 2 males. After they Qtine I will split off the 3 bigs and see if I might have a female among them. The 3 smalls will be a while before they are ready to go IMO. I will put them in a tank with my other 2 that I have been growing for a whlie. I guess all the small ones to be 1 1/2- 2 1/2 years old give or take.


You said head shape may be female? Does anyone have a above shot to show dif in male/female.
Your opinions are of great help. I just trying to get some better ideas of what to look for.
 

Brengun

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Apr 22, 2009
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Burrum Heads, Queensland, Australia
Head shape usually is like a triangle. Draw a triangle, then cut the top peak off and draw a line across from side to side like a spade. Thats usually male.
Females cut the top off and draw an arced bit from side to side like a semi circle top side.
Females can also have quite a rounded head altogether with no real straight sides.
 

Bigjohnnofish

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Apr 15, 2010
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Head shape usually is like a triangle. Draw a triangle, then cut the top peak off and draw a line across from side to side like a spade. Thats usually male.
Females cut the top off and draw an arced bit from side to side like a semi circle top side.
Females can also have quite a rounded head altogether with no real straight sides.
in different bloodlines head shape goes out the window... seen males with pointy noses and females with blunt noses... females so hairy you'd think they were italian males...

but cheek odontodes are the best guide with 260's as well as zebs.....
 

shooter50014

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Dec 7, 2011
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Des Moines, IA
Ok I caught them tonight and it was good to see they have the color back. These are much less stressed out. I guess I have been loosing a lot of sleep lately since I cant seem to find a female in the group. This was our first time ordering from this importer and bought as a mix of size and sex. If I got no females its going to make it really hard for me to want to use them agian. Most all the pics I took of vents came out really fuzzy. I will try to get better ones. I think I need a maginifying glass to check vents tho.

Thanks for your opinions so far its really appreciated!!











I am trying to talk myself into thinking the middle one might be a female












the one on right is the one I am trying to talk myself into thinking its female
 
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Bigjohnnofish

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nice pics there... woulda loved a side on shot to see their cheek odontode

if they are all from one spawn you have both sexes....

i think theres a girl in the group if that makes you feel better and you can get some sleep then!!!
 

shooter50014

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Dec 7, 2011
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They are not all from same spawn. I would guess they were all collected from the same place in the river but I am not sure the proccess of collecting them. I have been tip toeing around that question I guess. I got them as a mix of size and sex.