Sexing livingstoni?

[Plum7]

Hi,

I have 2 livingstoni and was wondering how to sex them? The first 3 are of the larger one and it has some blue across its body and head already and the last 3 pictures are of both the smaller one behind the bigger one. Hard to get a closer up of the smaller one as it mostly hides up top corner of the tank. Any tips and information would be much appreciated thanks!

 

[duanes]

Soon the males will start to turn blue

Once they start it doesn't take long.
In small tanks, only one (the alpha) may show blue, Ihave found in 6ft tanks, more than one male can coexist.

 

[james99]

Also the one hiding up in the corner is probably being picked one by the other, even if you're not seeing it happen. Best to remove the less dominant one. Once they get stressed disease can easily set in and cause alot more issues.

 

[RD.]

Note the longer more pointy anal and dorsal fin in the first fish (male), dead give away at that size. IMO the pic of the "pair", the larger is male, smaller is female. The smaller one could be an immature male, but looks female to me.

 

[Plum7]

Note the longer more pointy anal and dorsal fin in the first fish (male), dead give away at that size. IMO the pic of the "pair", the larger is male, smaller is female. The smaller one could be an immature male, but looks female to me.

Yeah looks like you are right on that, he got a little bigger and he does have the full on male traits blue face and body and pointy dorsal and anal fins. The smaller one has not developed any of the blue or has the pointy fins and dorsal fins. So I'm thinking that it is likely a female and he sometimes chases her away. They don't seem to be a pair though they hangout in different areas.

 

[Plum7]

He can be a bit aggressive at times though he likes to challange some of the other fish in the tank which are of similar size but the biggest fish in the tank keeps his behavior contained for now. Also the smaller one of the 2 has started to come out much more from the corner and hangs out with the other fish now unless he chases her away but she seems to be less afraid now than before.