Sexing & Pairing Ram Questions

[snoopy65]

I bought 4 Bolivian Rams 2 days ago. They are 1 1/2" - 1 3/4" long. They are jolly little fish!! Always swimming & dancing up and over and under each other. If they had a piece of string in each of their mouths they would be braiding.lol At any rate, I am trying to sex them. I know one is a male for sure: He has the classic dorsal fin of a male, the red parts (not sure what you call them)of his tail fin are elongated and his tail is pointy (if that makes sense). I am almost sure one is female: rounded dorsal and tail fin. The other 2 I am not sure, they won't completely fan their dorsal. Ones tail is more pointy and elongated and the other appears to be rounded. I tried to get pics of them but they will not hold still.

Can you tell from just their tail?

Also how do Bolivians decide on mates? Is this swim dance they are doing part of it? Do they males compete for a female or the females compete for a male?

Thanks for your help.

 

[bluehairman]

I bought 4 Bolivian Rams 2 days ago. They are 1 1/2" - 1 3/4" long. They are jolly little fish!! Always swimming & dancing up and over and under each other. If they had a piece of string in each of their mouths they would be braiding.lol At any rate, I am trying to sex them. I know one is a male for sure: He has the classic dorsal fin of a male, the red parts (not sure what you call them)of his tail fin are elongated and his tail is pointy (if that makes sense). I am almost sure one is female: rounded dorsal and tail fin. The other 2 I am not sure, they won't completely fan their dorsal. Ones tail is more pointy and elongated and the other appears to be rounded. I tried to get pics of them but they will not hold still.

Can you tell from just their tail?

Also how do Bolivians decide on mates? Is this swim dance they are doing part of it? Do they males compete for a female or the females compete for a male?

Thanks for your help.

I have kept blue rams, and the female often showed intense color before breeding, then the male gave slight aggression to get her to lay eggs... The male fights for the female.