Tropical Fish Forums

[Suzie Q]

Put a mirror up to him/her and see how he/she acts...Females do flare but not as "dramatic" as the males!

Here are 2 pictures of "females" (actually male Plakats) that I have.

This one was sent to me from Thailand as a female:


This one was bought at Walmart as a female...he has fathered 4 broods for me:


See the gill beard? Females don't have gill beards that stick down like that...

I have also had females build nests and drop eggs and place them in the nest and guard them.

If you could get a picture of him/her flaring...and a better side view. Also if you put him/her next to a female...the display will be different if it is a male when you put them next to a female (more flirty)...and a male (more aggressive).
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[araluen]

Those are some handsome fish. I can't remember if I've ever seen him/her flare. I'll have to look in the morning. I think they're asleep now...

[araluen]

I took a couple more photos. I couldn't get good lighting and she/he was less than cooperative (she/he gets spooked when I loom in front of his/her tank with a camera). I think I need to read that article about photographing your fish! These are pretty blurry... I couldn't get him/her to flare up but it was probably because I showed him/her a mirror after attempting to take photos.

http://picasaweb.google.com/shaolinelvaan/UntitledAlbum/photo#5220036234549005378

[Luna]

Try backing up some. The camera doesn't have to be right next to the tank to get a good shot. Also, the flash may be spooking the fish so try without and see what you get. Bright ambient light can help.
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--Kathy--

[yoh4n]

seems to be a female cause in the blurry picture it seems to have the vertical stripes which is breeding stripes and it means she ready to breed

[LaheyandRandi]

I actually have a Veil-tail female who sits alongside my Veil-tail male in a dual tank. Today I came home from work and was about to pinch in a little afternoon snack for her when she started this little snake dance and spewed eggs out of her ovipositor.

Now, I had seen a Betta do this before but never one of mine (considering I just started buying females). Both of us had that classic "O.o" look on our faces with my hand poised over her side of the tank before I shouted, "YOU JUST SQUIRTED EGGS! YOU DID THAT, AND YOU DID THAT RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!"

This isn't what perplexes me, though. What does is that I know males make bubble nests when they're happy and healthy, ready to snap on some Barry White and start with that "Awww-awww-awwgnh!" you know, putting the lights down low and trying to seduce his lil' shawty, but I didn't think the females made bubble nests as well! Here I am thinking that its a male thing only, like a peacock with bright green feathers showing off to his fowl little lady what kind of shaky wings he has to protect her offspring with.

Here's the kicker--the nest is sizable, and almost immediately after dropping the eggs out, she went about gathering them and putting them in her nest. Is this really that uncommon? All signs point to female, she's even striping, and her belly swelled up so much that I cut back on feeding her so much thinking I'd damage her swim bladder or something. The "swelling" has actually gone down since she had her little deposit today, so I wonder!
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[Brenda24]

Do really make bubble nest I want see.

[Suzie Q]