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Yes, I think that’s something I have learned now, too ……….. I will never again buy fish from a store, at least if I am not convinced to get both sexes. And I have learned how “easy” the determination of sexes is 😉
But something I would really appreciate – that this should be told in the many advices you get about how to determine the sexes of paros: that the possibility of having dominant females which appear to be males is always given, at least in some forms/ species. If you read about sexual determination of paros, it always seems relatively easy to do: males have coloured unpaired fins, female never have. If you can’t see it clearly (for example because the fish are ancious in the tank of a fish store) – then take a torch with you, and you will see the colouration of the males.
And really – this is not right, not as a general rule. There should be hints that something like what I experienced can always happen – that females seem to be males, at least in non-expert’s eyes……Ok, Helene – that’s an answer I understand!! Thank you.
You see – if you say “on this photo there’s clearly a male” and then “on this photo it’s clearly a female” – and for my non-expert’s eyes it’s the same fish with only slighty different colour marks …….. then I don’t understand how such mutually exclusive opinions can arise. Then I ask for concrete reasons that make you say “male” oder “female” – because I don’t see the difference.
But what you said now – you see female and male attributes, none of them really convincing – then I understand, because that’s what I see daily – and what I’m daily wondering about ……….
Thank you, Helene, for your opinion.
And please don’t get me wrong – I do not want to argue – I want to understand!
I must confess – I am a bit surprised about the conviction in your words ….. For me the colouration of the fish in my last pictures is as strong as in the pictures from post 1820 ……….. were you all where convinced that it is a male………
I can not see such a difference that would make me understand the change in your conviction from male to female – and I would be thankful if you could explain it to me …..
I thank you all for your expertise …….. I think I don’t need to admit that it’s what I hoped for ……
He (I dare to say “he”) shows something additional now:
Ah – Helene, I forgot: Yes, looking only at the body shape, with it’s really rounded belly and so on, let me fear indeed that Martin might be right … especially with the pale colouration of the last two days …. 🙁
Thank you, Helene – I think I feel the same about this possible male, I am still not totally convinced that it’s a female. But still it’s Martin Hallmann who says so ……
I can not really contradict Martin at this time ……… the fish are still vey pale in the new tank, but this may still be due to the new surroundings and the leaves on the ground, which are a light golden brown and not as dark and reddish as in the other tank.
I can only say that it’s total harmony between these two – although it’s the “wrong” small one I caught, not the one that possibly showed courtship colouration.
There’s no chasing at all, they swim almost always together, explore the smallest space beneath leaves together and seem to be “delighted” when they meet each other. And the big one is visiting the caves and always staying in there for a while.The two other ones left in the old tank which rather surely are females, are as bitchy as before, prodding each other in the sides and chasing one another over short distances. Most of the time they stay separated from each other.
Martin Hallmann just told me at the IGL-Forum that he still is convinced of all my fish being females ……….. the “male looking” one is a dominant female in his opinion.
He only sees a small chance that one of the small ones comes out to be a male ….I did it!
I did it like before with other fish ……….. first of all patience, second a net deposited quietly in a free space of the tank, wide open and easy to lift.
The first small one I caught by putting some blood worms into a medium net. It was very easy……
The bigger one was not so easy, but that was my own fault. I let im visit the net to get him acquainted to it – but obviously once to often. He lost interest and didn’t visit it again …….. for hours.
So I took the net out, put a real big and wide one in, with the opening facing upward. I had to wait three minutes, than the big one and the other small one swam over the gap and into it ……. I only had to lift the net and put the small one back into the tank.I do not know which of the small ones is with the bigger (male?) one now – is it the one which already showed kind of courtship colouration? I am able to distinguish them by the form of their pelvic filaments, but not in a small vessel, looking from above……. The other small one I put back into it’s original tank is hiding at the moment …. :blush:
But I think it is a trial, anyway …….. I only presume that all other three are females ……… I am still not sure with the second largest. But now I hope we will see ……….
[quote=”Peter Finke” post=1811]That’s one of the reasons why the best Paro-breeders have nearly empty tanks. If you want to have these fish decorate a nicely planted tank filled with wooden items and so on, you can nearly forget to catch them. [/quote]
Hello, Peter,
I know this, and I have no “decorated” tank. I set it up as it is recommended for paros ……… nearly no ground cover, just leaves, nothing planted, roots losely lying on the ground or clamped to the panes with adhesive vacuum hooks. Free swimming plants. But nevertheless it would be a massive intervention to take it all out – and I would rather save the fish from doing so.
Thank you very much, Helene.
Your tipps confirm what I had in mind myself. There is a small free room just behind the front pane, big enough to go down with a medium sized net, and I thought that maybe it might be possible to slowly try to catch them there. I will give it a go at first, and if I don’t succeed, I can still strip the tank as far as necessary.
In the Betta News-download here on the Paro-website, I read about a glass fishing bell which is very highly recommended.
I have read about this before, many people are very satisfied with it. I formerly already found a source of supply for such a fishing bell – not made of glass but of plastic. I often thought of buying it, and then again didn’t.But first I will try it with a net – I have never experienced any uneasiness in the fish after catching them with a net up to now. And I made the experience that it is much easier to catch even small fish with a big, wide net than with a small one. But it is – as you said – a question of available room in the tank…..
