# Sexing Electric Blue Balloon Rams



## Drowki (May 8, 2012)

I think the male is the left one and the female is the right one. Will need more pictures. the one on the right looks like a def female.


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## biggerbang (Sep 16, 2012)

Here's 3 more images of the ram on the left. They seem to be staying near each other, but that could just be because of they are new to the aquarium and are just shy. But I have no idea how rams should be acting.


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## Elppan (Aug 21, 2012)

Omg Soooo cute! I have nothing helpful to add, lol i have a Bolivian ram and still no idea what sex it is. I'm really bad at sexing fish lol.


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## Drowki (May 8, 2012)

both look female. I really need side photos. 

The male is less rounded than the female... the ovalish shape is a good indicator of a female. Do they hang out and seem like a pair? 

If you want to check, they usually spawn within a week or two if proper requirements are met. (ex. temp 82-83 degrees, PH around 6.3ish - I have had them spawn at 6.8-7.0 before, but usually the eggs dont do to well in higher PH.


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## Drowki (May 8, 2012)

looking back at this thread, I am a little jealous of your blue rams. Looks nicer than my little runt! 

She is smaller than my German Blues


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## james1542 (Sep 8, 2011)

I'd guess you'll have to let their fins grow out a bit before you can figure this out. The electric blue covers up any color dimorphism, and the ballooning covers up any morphological dimorphism!


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## chevyguy8893 (Nov 5, 2012)

james1542 said:


> I'd guess you'll have to let their fins grow out a bit before you can figure this out. The electric blue covers up any color dimorphism, and the ballooning covers up any morphological dimorphism!


Well said roud:.

Anyway, It seems that the only way to possibly identify these two is by their dorsal rays or see if they breed. Did you notice any pairing behavior, chasing, nipping, etc. from when they were put in till now?


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## biggerbang (Sep 16, 2012)

That's what i ended up realizing. But I noticed that they don't hang out together. They aren't aggressive to each other, but they tend to explore on their own. I might go to my LFS and find an alpha male acting ram. My rams are currently in a 20 gallon long aquarium. Once they reach maturity, I will have to remove one of them right? 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2


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## chevyguy8893 (Nov 5, 2012)

If you add a male and the two you have are females, then once two pair off the third should be removed. They get aggressive when breeding and a 20L wouldn't be big enough for an odd ram out. It isn't always the easiest to get a pair, but sometimes it happens quickly. Either way, good luck with the fish, and nice pictures BTW.


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## biggerbang (Sep 16, 2012)

chevyguy8893 said:


> If you add a male and the two you have are females, then once two pair off the third should be removed. They get aggressive when breeding and a 20L wouldn't be big enough for an odd ram out. It isn't always the easiest to get a pair, but sometimes it happens quickly. Either way, good luck with the fish, and nice pictures BTW.


What exactly do I look for in their dorsal fins once they do grow out? I'm contemplating on whether I should add another ram or not. My LFS sells them at 20 each and if I did get two to pair, I would just have to give it to my LFS for free... but I'll see how things are next week and if I'm sure they aren't going to pair up, I'll go ahead and purchase another one.


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## chevyguy8893 (Nov 5, 2012)

biggerbang said:


> What exactly do I look for in their dorsal fins once they do grow out? I'm contemplating on whether I should add another ram or not. My LFS sells them at 20 each and if I did get two to pair, I would just have to give it to my LFS for free... but I'll see how things are next week and if I'm sure they aren't going to pair up, I'll go ahead and purchase another one.


These features should be identifiable on even younger rams IIRC. On males the second dorsal ray is generally elongated, and on some the dorsal fin is also more prominent and pointed towards the back resulting in more of a swooped (the only word I can think of) look to it. Whereas the female may or may not have elongated dorsal rays, and the dorsal fin looks flatter across the top. This may not work as well with the ballon rams, but the pelvic fins in the male are generally longer (extending past the anal opening) and more pointed than a female.

Are you looking to try breeding these leading you to want a pair? I am surprised they won't at least give you half your money back. I must just be use to my fish stores' return policies. Even if you just have two females, then you should still be fine.

Here's a picture of my old pair of GBR's that had very distinct differences in the dorsal rays and pelvic fins. That way you can kinda get an idea of the differences. There are pictures for this online, but I don't know this site's policy for linking pictures and I don't want to infringe on someones property. I hope all this helps you out some. 

The male is on the left


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