L270 Sexing please

[danielryan]

ok, I'm going to pull the 270's out of the community tank later on, as i think they are getting to a good size.

I will need some help sexing them, what pictures, and from what angles will you guys need to be able to sex them please??

 

[RobHarrison]

Best bet would be if you catch them and put them in a white bowl and have just enough tank water in the bowl to cover the backs of the fish, also helps if you have lots to sex take a photo of 3 at a time so they are clearly visable

 

[danielryan]

ok, bad pics, but see what you can do please guys;

middle fish of the 3

bottom left fish from pic 1;

 

[Brengun]

The two 8cm ones look to be a pair, the 5cm one is too small to sex as yet but could be male.

 

[danielryan]

good news. I have 5 but could only catch 3 before i gave up.

Are they of breeding size at 8cm?

 

[Irene0100]

I suspect they may need to grow a little more, but sometimes they can surprise you and breed young. when the male is ready to breed he will spend a lot of time in caves and fanning his tail to show off. you should be able to see noticable hairs on his body just above the tail. sometimes the hairs are easier to see with a flash photo as they reflect the light. see pics in breeding log...
http://plecoplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3521

the female has fine hair but a male ready to mate has longer hair.

 

[danielryan]

irene, what is the normal breeding size please? c10cm?
soon as i clear my BN i plan to put these in their own tank and have a go at breeding them.