Male Plakat Sold As Female? Or Just An Aggressive Female?

[mistergreen]

Originally Posted by speedie408

Luke - your fish pictured is def a male. The head and stocky body is a dead giveaway. Look at his mouth how it curves up more then a female.

The mouth is not necessarily a male/female thing. It's a lineage thing. I've had females with that mouth.
Luke- I think it's a male too.


And the stripes are normal. When a the fish is not stressed, and the lines are there, it means it's a female.

[speedie408]

Originally Posted by mistergreen

The mouth is not necessarily a male/female thing. It's a lineage thing. I've had females with that mouth.

Not saying I don't believe you but I'd love to see a female with that mouth type.

[lauraleellbp]

Stressed or subdominant fish will display those stripes whether they're male or female. So those stripes are not a sure "tell."

You might try candling your fish (put it in a clear cup with a bright light behind it) to see if you can see yellow ovaries.

[mistergreen]

Originally Posted by speedie408

Not saying I don't believe you but I'd love to see a female with that mouth type.

you're killing me. All you have to do is google. A little blurry but you get the point. It is a confirmed female; article here:
http://www.bettysplendens.com/articl...articleid=4193
Notice the girls have a light band on the body but the blonds are much harder to see if it exists at all.



My girl and her daughters sadly were given away or died off a long time ago. She had a great personality with her weird mouth.

And LUKE, I changed my mind... You have a girl there... The caudal and tail fins are too short.

[speedie408]

haha I was just pulling your chain. But I don't see the mouth in any of those females.

Just looking at those fish in the link you posted, any experienced betta breeder can tell those are all females.

[luke20037]

I thought that another reason for the lines to change was when they become sexually active?

And if mine is a female, swans too, isnt it really rare for two females to show signs of male aggression and other quality's, even to the point of them both building bubble nests?

Also found this picture, as you said how easy it is to google, this male plakat which has almost the exact same finnage as mine?



http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums...le-114068.html

[keithy]

Originally Posted by wendyjo

The first one looks like a female to me, the second a male, altho I am no expert. Do either of these "females" have an oviposter - a little white raised looking dot on their underside where the eggs come out? It's not always visible so even if you don't see one it's not a definite thing that it must be a male, but it is helpful in determining sex.

I've never heard that only females get stress stripes - but now that I think about it I've only ever seen stress stripes on females.

+1 on wendyjo's point. If you can see an oviposter it is definately a female.

[keithy]

luke, when they are sexually active, the female will show vertical bands.
The horizontal stripes cannot be used as a yardstick as both stressed male/female will have the horizontal stripes.

http://www.oneworldinternetcafe.com/...etta_fish.html
if you go to the link, you can see two female betas, the first(blue) you can see the vertical bands that I am talking about.

[Swan900]

Originally Posted by luke20037

I thought that another reason for the lines to change was when they become sexually active?

And if mine is a female, swans too, isnt it really rare for two females to show signs of male aggression and other quality's, even to the point of them both building bubble nests?

Also found this picture, as you said how easy it is to google, this male plakat which has almost the exact same finnage as mine?



http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums...le-114068.html

Im with Luke here. That confirmed male Plakat looks the exact same as my suspect one. Infact theres little differenace at all! I looked today and there was no 'Oviposter' that was visable on it either. I will get a picture up of it later today.

Swan

[mistergreen]

Originally Posted by luke20037

I thought that another reason for the lines to change was when they become sexually active?

I think so... For sure, only females get vertical stripes, and a ovipositor when they're ready.

Laura is right. Horizontal lines are a sign of submission as well.
Here are my babies. Both males and females show lines... But when the males have matured, the lines go away.





I raised them with their dad mainly because I don't have the space and I hear they'd become more normal bettas that way.

I hear that when females don't have males around or that they find the male unsuitable to mate with, yes the girls make the decision , they'd build bubble nests and reject and even will kill the male (very rare).


Can you make your betta flare with a mirror? Maybe the finnage is easier to see.

[lauraleellbp]

You know, aside from the issue whether your short-finned betta is male or female, the issue remains that it seems to be a very dominant/aggressive fish, and may start having issues with the other bettas in the tank if you haven't separated it out.

Keeping Betta splendens together in the same tank is always a challenge even when keeping just females in a "sorority" tank. IMO keeping both males and females together in a tank this small is just inviting problems as those fish reach sexual maturity.

If you really want to keep both male and female Bettas together in the same tank then I encourage you to either try and find some "true" wild-caught Betta splendens or go with one of the other Betta species that are not as aggressive by nature. http://smp.ibcbettas.org/ is a really great resource.

[speedie408]

Originally Posted by lauraleellbp

You know, aside from the issue whether your short-finned betta is male or female, the issue remains that it seems to be a very dominant/aggressive fish, and may start having issues with the other bettas in the tank if you haven't separated it out.

Keeping Betta splendens together in the same tank is always a challenge even when keeping just females in a "sorority" tank. IMO keeping both males and females together in a tank this small is just inviting problems as those fish reach sexual maturity.

If you really want to keep both male and female Bettas together in the same tank then I encourage you to either try and find some "true" wild-caught Betta splendens or go with one of the other Betta species that are not as aggressive by nature. http://smp.ibcbettas.org/ is a really great resource.

X2

Plus, wild bettas are much more rewarding to keep.

[Swan900]

Originally Posted by speedie408

X2

Plus, wild bettas are much more rewarding to keep.

Why are they more rewarding?

Swan

[lauraleellbp]

They're more unusual, they're more interactive with each other, they have unique and gorgeous color patterns, fascinating courtship rituals that you could observe in your tank if you go with some of the mouthbrooding species...

[mistergreen]

Don't forget, much more expensive.