Jack Dempsey sexing help please

[ShinyMoose]

Hello, I am wondering if anyone is able to assist in determining the sexes of two Jack Dempsey fish.

They were both bought from the same group (a surrender to Petco), but one is much larger now and more colorful than the other. The bigger one was bought first and then the other was bought about a week or two later since a few from that group were still available.

I’m not sure at what age their gender can be determined? They were bought in March and I’m not sure how old they were at the time they were brought in from the previous owner, but were about 2 inches long. Now they are about 4 inches (the larger one) and 2 1/2 to 3 inches (the smaller one). Sorry if the photos aren’t good, they kept moving around a lot, especially the smaller one!

Thanks for any help!

 

[Lucy]

"Jack Dempsey sexting help please"

Take away their cell phones?
Sorry, could not resist!!!

Welcome to the forum. We've edited your title.

Good luck!

 

[A201]

The first JD looks to be male. The pointed dorsal & analfin as well as the spangle ring around the eye & lack of spangles on the lower jaw area, are male traits.
I can't be quite as sure about JD #2. My first thought was a subordinate male, but it might well be female. Maybe with another inch or two of growth determining JD #2's gender will be more conclusive.
Hope this helps.

 

[ShinyMoose]

"Jack Dempsey sexting help please"

Take away their cell phones?
Sorry, could not resist!!!

Welcome to the forum. We've edited your title.

Good luck!

So sorry!

The first JD looks to be male. The pointed dorsal & analfin as well as the spangle ring around the eye & lack of spangles on the lower jaw area, are male traits.
I can't be quite as sure about JD #2. My first thought was a subordinate male, but it might well be female. Maybe with another inch or two of growth determining JD #2's gender will be more conclusive.
Hope this helps.

Thank you! I tried to look it up online but I still wasn’t sure. The weird thing is that they were both much closer to the same size when they were first at the store, but my daughter picked the biggest one to take home first. And I guess it was more than a couple weeks before she picked up the second one, which was still part of the group the first one came with that was surrendered to the store. So in that 3-4 weeks before she got the second one it grew quite a lot in their 75 gallon tank.

The smaller one has grown some but definitely not as well as the first one. It also hides a lot more, where the second one doesn’t usually hideout. But the bigger JD does sometimes chase the smaller one. The Oscar (2) don’t really bother them much.
I was able to maybe get a little better pic of the smaller one, and also the two next to each other as a comparison. The bigger one might be closer to 5 inches, I’m not great with sizing..

 

[A201]

chromedome52 is really knowledgeable about these things. Maybe he will chime in.

 

[chromedome52]

I would say it is likely that the second one is a female, but not in very good shape. She needs some TLC, which she is not going to get as long as that male is in there. They need to be separated for a while.

 

[ShinyMoose]

I would say it is likely that the second one is a female, but not in very good shape. She needs some TLC, which she is not going to get as long as that male is in there. They need to be separated for a while.

Thank you, that makes sense. How long should they be separated?

And would she do ok in a 10 gallon tank for a while? I have a quarantine tank that just has some ramshorn snails in it, otherwise I have a 45 gallon with two Bolivian Rams, some Cory’s and Neon Tetras (it’s a peaceful tank so not sure it’s suitable to move the Dempsey into the mix?). The tank it’s currently in is 75 gallons and contains two Oscar’s and the two Dempsey’s (it’s my daughter and son in laws tank, the other tanks are at my house). They plan on getting a bigger tank when they build a new home in the near future, right now they are all only a few months old but getting bigger.