# Help sexing my new German Blue Rams w/photos



## Ferdy

Hi group,

In an earlier post about cichlid food, I expressed my opinion about the sexes of my new pair---I thought that the fully colored mature one of the pair was a male, and the juvi a female---but now I'm not so sure (as if I were sure to begin with, lol!) I estimate the juvi to be 2-3 months old, and the other maybe 6-8 months old, but opinions appreciated, thanks.

Anyway, here photos of each---if better photos are needed, just let me know. The mature one of the pair is MUCH less camera shy and very bold compared to the juvi, the juvi appears to be the more reclusive of the pair, easily spooked and spends most of its time hiding out---but I do realize that they are sometimes shy by nature. They do not, by the way, interact together very much atoll--at least not yet. I'm still a little concerned about the juvis lack of appetite, too--hopefully he/she will start eating soon (and like the New Life Spectrum cichlid pellets.

The colored up mature one:

























































and the juvi:
























































Any input, feedback and your opinions are welcomed and appreciated!


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## Mikaila31

Its a pair male/female. I suggest feeding them heavily on bloodworms and other high protein/fat foods. Need to get some weight on them, they look starving!


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## Ferdy

Mikaila31 said:


> Its a pair male/female. I suggest feeding them heavily on bloodworms and other high protein/fat foods. Need to get some weight on them, they look starving!


Thanks for the quick reply! I'll run down and get some bloodworms this afternoon.

Which is the male and which is the female?


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## emc7

I'd go with one male, one unknown. could be female, could just be a bit young to tell. Agree they need fattening up.


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## Ferdy

emc7 said:


> I'd go with one male, one unknown. could be female, could just be a bit young to tell. Agree they need fattening up.


Thanks---just got back from the LFS with some frozen bloodworms and they ate them right up---so glad to know they have good appetites! Hopefully in a couple of days they'll fill out---

But, which one do you feel is the male? The older colored up one?

Thanks again!


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## humdedum

The coloured one looks quite male; the younger one could be just too young, or a female. 

Here's a mature female:









And a male: 









Hope that helps! And those are some absolutely stunning photos. Good luck with the pair!


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## Ferdy

humdedum said:


> Hope that helps! And those are some absolutely stunning photos. Good luck with the pair!


Thanks for the compliments on the photos, and the good information (I'm an advanced amatuer photographer, too---I just took those very quickly to get them posted, LOL!)

Just got back from getting the bloodworms, they were ravenous and loved them---thanks for the advice, I'll try to get them to fill out over the next few days. 

By the way, the smaller juvi has turned out to be more aggressive and territorial than the older larger one. It chases the older one away from its little area in the aquarium that it has obviously staked out. This happened when feeding them the bloodworms with a turkey baster (to keep the guppies and tetras from stealing them--the younger one would chase the older one away, but he still got his share). Kind of disappointing, I was hoping they would warm up to each other, and form a bond. Will this behavior change as time goes on, do you think? I certainly hope so, I hate to see bullying going on. I had a male guppy that bullied the other males a while back, and eventually had to remove him from the tank. I even tried isolating him in another aquarium of mine for a while, but when I put him back he still bullied and I had to trade him in at the LFS----


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## emc7

The males also usually have higher first and second dorsal spines.


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## lohachata

not best to feed just one food..and especially a live or frozen food..you don't want them to get too spoiled..but when looking for foods for fattening up your fish or rising young try to keep the protein levels at 50-60% and fat levels at 10% +...just make sure they readily accept dry foods....


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