sexing a flowerhorn? if there is no kok how do you tell?

PON1500

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 14, 2007
33
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0
San Diego, CA
I'm very confused on sexing a fh. . . . i have a zz rd thats about 8 inches from tale to lip, there is a little kok but not huge like most male fh's, but there isn't any flowers on the fins, but there is a small tube looking thing that shows under the belly befor the anal fin. . . .. . can somebody please explain different ways of sexing a fh please. . . . . . thank you!
 

haloman02

Candiru
MFK Member
Jan 2, 2008
856
1
46
Yonkers, NY
Dasmopar;1606619; said:
Male or female kok size has nothing to do with it.
Most of the time it does my friend. When have you seen a female with a tennis kok? or a big azz KOk i have seen some females with koks but not over grown Cyst like koks. Just tiny ones.
 

KABB44423

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jun 14, 2007
2,018
4
68
Hollywood,FL
haloman02;1606648; said:
Most of the time it does my friend. When have you seen a female with a tennis kok? or a big azz KOk i have seen some females with koks but not over grown Cyst like koks. Just tiny ones.
well put brother
 

silvergrayhair

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 25, 2008
189
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0
Philippines
what is the best way of knowing if your flowerhorn is a male or female?

through the course of time, a lot of techniques have been developed to determining the fish's sex. some do it via the dorsal spot. the black spot on the dorsal fin may indicate that the fish is a female but this is just about 60% accurate. others go for the kok (nuchal hump). if the kok is small, it might be a female. this too is very subjective and inaccurate. others go for body size. females are usually smaller than males but we have to wait til they grow large enough to use this technique. others look at the appearance. if it does not look good, it must be a female - sounds discriminating, right? others do the venting procedure - they look at and examine the vent located between the ventral fin and the tail. the appearance of the vent at the belly of the fish could point to its sex. females have larger vents than males. this too is hard to do in small fish and would need practice and experience to do. also, you need special equiptments to magnify the vents specially if the fishes are still small.

of course, the gold standard is: if it lays eggs, it must be female. the problem with this approach however is we have to wait til the fish is mature enough to spawn and lay eggs which would take a few months from the time it leaves its egg shell and swims out as a fry.

lately, a friend shared this fast and easy way of determining sex. this can be done on small juveniles and even on a large fry.

hold the fish with your fingers so the belly part is facing away from your palm (meaning, the dorsal fin of the fish faces your palm). position your thumb on the belly of the fish near the vent and at the level of the plums. gently press the belly going to the direction of the vent. pressure should start from the area of the plums going to the ventral portion of the fish. if its a male, you will notice a squirt of clear liquid coming out of the vent. i would seem like a watergun squirt coming from the belly of the fish. females dont exhibit this phenomenon. there would be some fluid discharge but the flow would not be strong.

i tried this is several fishes and so far, it works accurately. i still lack experience yet but i encourage those who own confirmed males and females to try this and share your experiences.
.
i hope you learned something. have a great day!
 

haloman02

Candiru
MFK Member
Jan 2, 2008
856
1
46
Yonkers, NY
silvergrayhair;1607134; said:
what is the best way of knowing if your flowerhorn is a male or female?

through the course of time, a lot of techniques have been developed to determining the fish's sex. some do it via the dorsal spot. the black spot on the dorsal fin may indicate that the fish is a female but this is just about 60% accurate. others go for the kok (nuchal hump). if the kok is small, it might be a female. this too is very subjective and inaccurate. others go for body size. females are usually smaller than males but we have to wait til they grow large enough to use this technique. others look at the appearance. if it does not look good, it must be a female - sounds discriminating, right? others do the venting procedure - they look at and examine the vent located between the ventral fin and the tail. the appearance of the vent at the belly of the fish could point to its sex. females have larger vents than males. this too is hard to do in small fish and would need practice and experience to do. also, you need special equiptments to magnify the vents specially if the fishes are still small.

of course, the gold standard is: if it lays eggs, it must be female. the problem with this approach however is we have to wait til the fish is mature enough to spawn and lay eggs which would take a few months from the time it leaves its egg shell and swims out as a fry.

lately, a friend shared this fast and easy way of determining sex. this can be done on small juveniles and even on a large fry.

hold the fish with your fingers so the belly part is facing away from your palm (meaning, the dorsal fin of the fish faces your palm). position your thumb on the belly of the fish near the vent and at the level of the plums. gently press the belly going to the direction of the vent. pressure should start from the area of the plums going to the ventral portion of the fish. if its a male, you will notice a squirt of clear liquid coming out of the vent. i would seem like a watergun squirt coming from the belly of the fish. females dont exhibit this phenomenon. there would be some fluid discharge but the flow would not be strong.

i tried this is several fishes and so far, it works accurately. i still lack experience yet but i encourage those who own confirmed males and females to try this and share your experiences.
.
i hope you learned something. have a great day!
I agree +5
 

Dasmopar

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 6, 2005
76
1
0
50

Female ^^^^^ her kok would get larger just before breeding but I never got a good pic of her at the right time. Notice her vent tube angled towrd the rear of the fish?

male with vent tube pointing down.
Now this is easy to sex them cause these pics where right after eggs where laid. The vent tube is much smaller normaly.
I hope this helps.

I have never heard of this fluid squirting. I will have to check that out. Thanks for the idea. We hold the fish the same way but press on the sides of the fish alittle till the vent pops out and then you can get a good look at it. Feamles seem to angle toward the rear of the fish where the males point straight out.
 
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