URFisher35

i just purchased a bolivian ram. i was wondering if someone could tell me whether it is a male of female. thanks!

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capekate

Hi, congrats on your new ram!
If it is new it may take awhile for its colors to show, as it is most likely still acclimating to the tank. My guess right now, by looking at the photos and seeing the pink tinge on its underside makes me think it may be a female.
After it settles down a bit and you can post some more photos, it may be helpful to ID it for you.
Best of luck with your new little one.

URFisher35

thanks! he/she is getting less and less shy every minute. it likes to chase my school of serpaes. it may be hard to see but there is a faint pink outline on the dorsal fin. with pink on the top and bottom of the caudal fin. it doesn't seem to have a raised second spine on the dorsal fin. i read somewhere that the lack of a raised second spine is indicative of a female. is this true?

capekate

Yes it is true, but not always fail safe. But for the most part you are right. I noticed that as well, along with the pink underside, so my guess is that it is a female. They do have nice coloring on the tips of their fins and as she acclimates more and more you will see the wonderful colors show up.
Best of luck with her, are you planning on adding any tank mates for her?

mathas

That's often true, but not always true... some males don't have an elongated ray, and some females do. Unfortunately, coloration (belly or fin) is not a reliable indicator of sex either with bolivian rams, as it can be with german blue rams.

Ventrical comparisons are the most sure-fire way to determine sex without actually observing them laying/fertilizing eggs, but yours appears to be a female. If you can post a more close-up picture of her underside, particularly from pectoral to anal fin, it will be easier to make a more definitive guess.

URFisher35

yes! i want to get a bolivian of the opposite sex....with intent to try my hand at breeding. the only problem was...i could not find bolivians ANYWHERE. not in the Pittsburgh area, Erie, Buffalo, and Rochester (all of the major cities i travel through on my way back to college). i finally found one at my LFS (Elmer's Aquarium...overpriced, but AMAZING). but i only found one

URFisher35

ok i will as soon as i can....i just added it today (about 5 hours ago) and it won't seem to sit still long enough for me to get a pic. it loves chasing my school of serpae tetras

capekate

thats the same problem I am having where I live as well. I cant seem to find them either, and that is why for now, its just the one female.
Best of luck with her and I hope you are able to find the mate!

URFisher35

thanks you too! i talked to a LFS here in roch, and they are going to try and place a special order for Bolivians for me :-D but they said probably not for a couple weeks

kacie

A great place to find info about bolivians is the bolivian ram club

URFisher35

i woke up this morning to find its anal fin is becoming pinkish. i think that's a sign of a female too if i am not mistaken...

Shaina

Too bad you guys aren't in Illinois, lol...my males outnumber my females here, and I was going to talk to the LFS about trading in at least one of the males.

Good luck with your new BR though, URFisher. They are some of my favorite fish, both in appearance and behavior.

Jess

I heard that there's generally more males than females, your lucky to have found a female right off the bat. I'm sure you'll find a male soon.

URFisher35

im sooo jealous! i've called every LFS within a two hour radius of Rochester, noone has them. I did find a place that will be getting them in three weeks!

thanks Shaina. she's very active already and her colors are starting to show!

jack--sos

Correct me if i am wrong but females generally have a more curved dorsal fin at the back-top, while the males is more pointy. Also the Males have a slight bump on their head (though they do need to be still for quite a whilt to notice it). Another way i tell my rams apart is that my male has an elongated point on his dorsal fin and the female has not. dont know if this is the same with all Rams Though. Good Luck with your Ram they are my favourite fish

URFisher35

i was told the elongated spine wasn't a sure fire way to determine sex. i coaxed her close to the glass with an algae wafer and noticed she had a large egg duct...similar in shape and relative size to the one on the fish depicted in the sexing bolivian rams thread. so i think shes a female

and jack--sos, she does have a more curved back dorsal fin. thanks!

mathas

Unfortunately, that's not a reliable sexing method either. If you look at both the male pictures I posted in the Sexing Bolivian Rams thread, the anal fins on all of my males (including the third male that doesn't appear in the thread) are almost entirely pink.

That's what LED me to suggest female, too. Her body also appears to taper upwards from the ovipositor to the anal fin, which indicates female, though it's a bit hard to tell from the pictures posted so far. I agree, they are hard to photograph at first!