Minimum size to accurately sex Green Terrors? (Without venting them)

[neutrino]

Do you think that is typical of them? The 3.5" length visual sexing I mean.

IMO at that size it's going to depend partly on the individual fish, partly on your expertise, and partly on how much they've been picked over by the time you see them. In other words, similar to some other species, in a group of juvies growing out you can get a few individual males that show hints of gender earlier than other individuals. If those bigger, showier fish have already been taken out there can still be males there, but probably harder to pick out.

Picking out the bigger ones from a group isn't 100% foolproof. It assumes what you're seeing in the tank are all fish of the same age, not a group thrown together from more than one tank at the original breeder. Also, picking males from a random group at a lfs is different from having them in your own tank and being able to study them day after day. In your own tank you stand a better chance of having your guess or suspicion at an early age turn out right later on.

 

[ragin_cajun]

Order one from Rapps?

 

[verbal]

Honestly your best bet is probably to start over with a group of juvies. With pair forming fish, it usually works best letting them pick compatible mates. A lot of the new world cichlids will spawn at a relatively small size, so you shouldn't need to grow the group to full size.

 

[BassetsForBrown]

Actually just got a call from on of the LFS's near me saying they purchased 7 GT's at 3.5-4 inches, and that two are definitely males. I'm in luck.


Just hope whichever one I get has the genes for a good noctal hump!

 

[notho2000]

Look at the coloration on the anterior portion of the opercle.

At that size they should be showing sufficient sexual differences to tell them apart. Even though my fish are full adults, I'll show the main difference as I see it ... the one mentioned by Modest_Man. Notice the male has only 'worm like lines on the gill plate and throat. The female has more of an extensive blue patching on the throat and "anterior portion of the operculum".


male


female

 

[BassetsForBrown]

At that size they should be showing sufficient sexual differences to tell them apart. Even though my fish are full adults, I'll show the main difference as I see it ... the one mentioned by Modest_Man. Notice the male has only 'worm like lines on the gill plate and throat. The female has more of an extensive blue patching on the throat and "anterior portion of the operculum".

View attachment 965585
male

View attachment 965584
female

If the male in that pic head-butted my tanks glass, im afraid he'd empty the aquarium.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[Modest_Man]

Exactly. Pretty easy after 2-2.5".

I finally remembered what my Flickr password was, so I can show of photos as well.

Both of these fish were about 3".

Female more solid coloration-

Male more wormy coloration-

 

[tiger15]

If the fish shows dark color with two white vertical stripes, it is almost certainly a female. In breeding dress, female is almost solid black. However, bright wormy color at small size is no guarantee it is a female as many dominant females can be as colorful as male. It gets easier to sex GT after passing 4 inch as sexual dimorphism becomes more obvious each day.

IME, GT males do not outgrow females at juvenile age. In my last two batches of GT, I picked out the largest juveniles in the hope that they would grow up to be majority males. Wrong, they grew up to be 50/50 male and female. After passing 4 inch, males begin to outgrow females as if the females hit the ceiling and stop or slow down growing.

 

[BassetsForBrown]

Based on these, and other pictures, it seems like the males are not substantially more colorful and vibrant than the females? Would this still be the case as they grow older?

 

[notho2000]

Actually when closer to full maturity, the males are quite a bit more colorful in the body and fins. The orange banding is usually quite a bit wider and more vivid in color. The 'pearl' scales on the male run in solid rows and the fins are larger and more colorful. You can't mistake a male for a female (and vice-versa) once they reach maturity. And the males are much larger than females of the same age. The females have considerably less spangling on the body. Here are some pics for comparison. Notice the absence of spangling on the body, her darker coloration. and the faint vertical white bars on either side of the central spot.


male


female


female


pair