Help sexing my Zonatus

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LIGNARI

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jan 12, 2006
36
5
38
64
Sydney, Australia
Here are pics of my Zonatus.
He/She is about 6".

Male or female...what do you guys think???


zon_2.jpg

zon_1.jpg
 
Cant tell from those pics. I could not tell with my male till he started breeding
with my female Bifa. I figured he was male when he started developing his nuchal and dropped his tube.

Here is my male if it helps. Male will have slim tube angled back, female will
have fat tube slightly curved down. See pic 3 not very good but can clearly
see the vent tube.

9inchZo.JPG

Zonatus with Bifa Eggs.JPG

IMG_0086.jpg
 
Casper2000;2377996; said:
Woh never seen a yellow zonatus before. Looks kinda bifasciatus there. Nice fish

The yellow one is a bifa.

Don Conkel told me that female zonatus have a metallic dorsal fin while males don't. Here's my old female for comparison.

dscn2496.jpg
 
Hi,
I've just sold my breeding pair of these.To be honest you cant sex them until they breed. what I had considered the the male by virtue of being bigger and better coloured turned out to be the female;)

you can see her laying feeder eggs in this vid.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jVJzYuuDQV4
 
Modest_ were you the one with the really mean zonatus? I remember someone talking about their zonatus terrorizing their tank.
 
Yeah, she was the single most relentless fish I've ever owned. Pick one out of the crowd and harass it to death, then start the process over.
 
ShadowStryder;2377796; said:
Cant tell from those pics. I could not tell with my male till he started breeding
with my female Bifa. I figured he was male when he started developing his nuchal and dropped his tube.

Here is my male if it helps. Male will have slim tube angled back, female will
have fat tube slightly curved down. See pic 3 not very good but can clearly
see the vent tube.
Your's looks long like a hartwegi.
 
Freakdaddy;2378140; said:
Hi,
I've just sold my breeding pair of these.To be honest you cant sex them until they breed. what I had considered the the male by virtue of being bigger and better coloured turned out to be the female;)

you can see her laying feeder eggs in this vid.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jVJzYuuDQV4

The male seems to have more red on the dorsal and caudal fin.
 
Thanks for your replies.

I'll be loaning it to a friend who has has several of these.

Hopefully, it will pair off with another and I'll definitely find out male/female when it starts breeding.
 
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