# Sexing fry



## lookimawave (Feb 27, 2012)

I've been spending a lot of time staring up betta skirts and I haven't seen a single egg spot. Some of my fry are just over half an inch (without tail) hich I read is when you can start sexing them. Is it possible I have all males? Or that I'm blind?


----------



## lookimawave (Feb 27, 2012)

I checked again and maybe I'm a month or so early


----------



## Zhylis (Nov 4, 2014)

>.< Best of luck; I've played this game before. I usually can't see the difference until they reach 1 inch in length, and the long fins are MUCH easier to sex than the plakats. I have better luck looking at the unpaired fins rather than checking for an eggspot. I've seen less dominant males display an eggspot for months after their fins develop...


----------



## lookimawave (Feb 27, 2012)

huh. mom is a plakat so the fins won't be that useful... what do you mean by unpaired fins? Just the fins they don't have 2 of (anal, caudal, and dorsal)? I guess "cup aggressive males" will be "cup any aggressive fish". At just over 1 month I have some pretty scrappy little buggers.


----------



## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yeah, you want to cup any aggressive fish even if they are females. Not all females are peaceful! So it's good to just cup all aggressive. You may end up with males that aren't that aggressive and can hang out with everyone until it's time for selling or just regular jarring too


----------



## Zhylis (Nov 4, 2014)

lookimawave said:


> what do you mean by unpaired fins? Just the fins they don't have 2 of (anal, caudal, and dorsal)? I guess "cup aggressive males" will be "cup any aggressive fish".


I think everyone develops their own tip and tricks; so far, I've been going off of the anal fin in young fish, then dorsal, then caudal, then checking for ovaries as they mature. The tip of the anal usually develops into a distinct point in males while the females show more of a curve or take longer to form a small point. The dorsal will usually show more length on the rays and look fuller on the males. The caudal is less useful for me; by the time I can tell a difference, I can usually spot ovaries. And double yep, if I can't tell, the default is "cup any aggressive fish"!

Female: based on fins (10 Oct 2015)









Same female: ovaries visible (today)









Male: based on fins (13 Sept 2015)









Same male: definitely male finnage (today)


----------



## lookimawave (Feb 27, 2012)

Zhylis said:


> I think everyone develops their own tip and tricks; so far, I've been going off of the anal fin in young fish, then dorsal, then caudal, then checking for ovaries as they mature. The tip of the anal usually develops into a distinct point in males while the females show more of a curve or take longer to form a small point. The dorsal will usually show more length on the rays and look fuller on the males. The caudal is less useful for me; by the time I can tell a difference, I can usually spot ovaries. And double yep, if I can't tell, the default is "cup any aggressive fish"!


Oh that's anal fin trick sounds really interesting and useful! I'll be sure to check them out when I get home, thanks


----------



## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

Crossed fin lengths are harder to sex because you will end up with various fin lengths. Jarring aggressive fry is a must as they will spread aggression through out the tank.

These are a few things to compare:

1. Fin size - male has bigger fins in general
2. Breeding bars - females usually show breeding bars when they color up (problem if the are light colored)
3. color - male usually have brighter color (problem if they are light colored)
4. Male has bigger heads with big mouth (looks blunt from above)
Females have smaller heads with smaller mouth (looks pointy from above)
5. Female has bigger midsection compared to males (from above). Female's body looks shorter but wider while 
males looks slimmer (from above - before first meal of the day)


----------

