LA
Black male angelfish -- note the head bump.
Sexing
Angels.
Lots of luck sexing young angels. Except
for color (which has nothing to do with sex), they all look alike.
Males tend to grow a little faster and larger, so you could get lucky
with this theory. Just make sure
that you don’t pick out the largest ones.
You’ll get all males -- no great tragedy unless you planned to breed
them down the road. Start with a
group of six and let them pick their own partners.
LA
Pic
Female angelfish with breeding tube. Note the better colors when breeding.
Breeders.
Angels pair off at about one year of age -- usually silver dollar body size in
a 20-gallon tank. If you put four to
six angels this size in a 20H, you will get one or more pairs out of the lot.
LA
Pic
Male angelfish usually have redder eyes than females.
Males.
If they are the same age, male angelfish are larger, skinnier in the bellies, and
have redder eyes. As they get older,
they develop the typical cichlid bump on their foreheads.
At spawning time their breeding tube looks like the writing end of a ball
point pen. Anyone can sex them at
this time (at least 50% of the time).
LA
Pic
So-called green angelfish are a reflected color (really a leopard).
Females.
From the same litter, female angelfish will be a little smaller, definitely
plumper in the belly, and have a smooth-sloping forehead.
When spawning, her breeding tube looks like the other end of the writing
part of the ball-point pen (the refill part).
Most cichlids are readily sexable (when breeding) by the shape of their
breeding tubes.
LA
Pic
Dark marble X Light Marble angelfish.
No
Guarantees.
No sexing technique works 100%. Angels
usually know how to pick their own pairs best.
However, sometimes two female angelfish will pair off.
As we said, no guarantees.
Go to Angelfish
IV
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