# How do I sex my fish?



## cory (Jan 31, 2006)

I have a RB and three SRB's and would like to see if one day they might breed but dont know if they are all the same sex? Is there a way to tell? When I dropped the largest one in the tank my second largest instantly went right up and rubbed up against it like they were mating if this is a good sign that they are male and female I do not know.The fish are both around the 8 inch plus mark. They swam around perfectly parallel to each other for about 3-5 minutes like this. Now they are not doing it at all and just follow each other around like buddies.


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## NexTech84 (Jan 19, 2006)

243me said:


> I have a RB and three SRB's and would like to see if one day they might breed but dont know if they are all the same sex? Is there a way to tell? When I dropped the largest one in the tank my second largest instantly went right up and rubbed up against it like they were mating if this is a good sign that they are male and female I do not know.The fish are both around the 8 inch plus mark. They swam around perfectly parallel to each other for about 3-5 minutes like this. Now they are not doing it at all and just follow each other around like buddies.


There is no way as far as I know, to determine the sex of RBP's, as they are not sexually dimorphic. The only time that you will be able to distinguish the difference between males and females, is when they actually start to breed.


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## Oscar5001 (Sep 22, 2005)

Like Nex said, there is no way to tell by simply looking at them. Which ever one (if either) lays eggs will obviously be your female.


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## piranha_guy_dan (Oct 4, 2004)

no piranha is sexually dimorphic meaning its impossible to tell by looks, also like blue jays and robins(birds)


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## Powder (Nov 24, 2004)

very carefully
all ya need to do is put on smoe issac hayes ( to get them in the mood ) 
light some candles and get some oysters 
now feed the oysters to your p's and yourself 
now this is the tricky part 
get your p's outta the water........... drop trou.........and very carefully insert...............

n/m thats not gonna work


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## NexTech84 (Jan 19, 2006)

Powder said:


> very carefully
> all ya need to do is put on smoe issac hayes ( to get them in the mood )
> light some candles and get some oysters
> now feed the oysters to your p's and yourself
> ...












Oh man.....


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

piranha_guy_dan said:


> no piranha is sexually dimorphic meaning its impossible to tell by looks, also like blue jays and robins(birds)


P. Denticulata are :rasp:


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## Jeffers (Dec 5, 2005)

Powder said:


> very carefully
> all ya need to do is put on smoe issac hayes ( to get them in the mood )
> light some candles and get some oysters
> now feed the oysters to your p's and yourself
> ...


hahaha


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## Oscar5001 (Sep 22, 2005)

Powder said:


> very carefully
> all ya need to do is put on smoe issac hayes ( to get them in the mood )
> light some candles and get some oysters
> now feed the oysters to your p's and yourself
> ...


Mine prefer Marvin Gaye and on occasion some John Coltrane.


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## cory (Jan 31, 2006)

They were jiggling around in the tank the other day to "Lollypop" by Fiftycent. I'll give it a try again and drop in some rose peddles!


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## NexTech84 (Jan 19, 2006)

243me said:


> They were jiggling around in the tank the other day to "Lollypop" by Fiftycent. I'll give it a try again and drop in some rose peddles!


I'm pretty sure they weren't jiggling with excitement! They were probably having seizures from the horrible sounds.


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## joey'd (Oct 26, 2005)

to sex them you have to wait and see who lays the eggs


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## cory (Jan 31, 2006)

How many years dose it take to reach maturity for them to breed? I know the one is over six years old and that is the smaller one being about 8 to 8.5" long


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## NexTech84 (Jan 19, 2006)

243me said:


> How many years dose it take to reach maturity for them to breed? I know the one is over six years old and that is the smaller one being about 8 to 8.5" long


Yours have definitely reached their sexual maturity. There are several things you can do to try to induce breeding, the most important I believe is keeping the water quality up to par. Regular water changes are a must, I would say do small ones at least 2-3 times a week. You also want to give them a lot of variety in their diet. I would stick to the foods that provide them the most protein and nutrients. Shrimp, krill, fresh fish filets (I recommend catfish and tilapia), and earthworms are good examples. A good article on breeding Pygocentrus Nattereri can be found HERE

Hope this helps


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