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But what if shes...a he?


Akythara

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Well boys and girls my beautiful female HMPK has a gill beard. She has an egg spot as well and has a bigger body with shorter fins then the male but still...

I realised she was a bit manly when I put her the glass container in the spawning tank just now. When he flares at her she charges him and flares back but I've never seen a female with such a gill beard! It's clear so its hard to make out but its longer then a normal females and not as long as his.

The thing whichs makes me think she is a she though (aside from the egg spot and short fins) is that he runs up to her, does his little flare dance then zooms around the tank stopping suddenly to look around. - if she was also male wouldn't attack the glass? He's just showing off not attacking.

Also she's never built a bubblenest! He builds 1 a day.

>_< either way I'm a little worried she'll turn out too aggressive to breed, any suggestions on calming down a female? They say to let a male fight another male through glass if he's the aggressive one but they never say anything about calming aggressive girls!

~ Kate

- aww he's being so cute >_<

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hi kate.

a picture would help us out a lot. from what you have said she sound like a real meany. ive got a female just like that who flares her beard as well like mad and even makes nests. though ive had eggs from her so she is a definate female. each fish to thier own i guess. but a picture would help. and yes im sure you will not find a single person who hasnt come across a male with a ovi spot before. its more common than some tend to think.

as for the flaring and running from your male. this sounds like the traditional follow me under the nest type dance. one will see this when spawning a pair. this is usually followed by a nip on the fin and a game of chasy if the female does not respond by following and merely sits there.

calming aggressive girls. i dont think there is a method for this. some girlies just arent nice enough to breed. my advice would be to put her up against a just aggressive male rather than a male who is going to sit there and cop it sweet. fight fire with fire otherwise you may see seriouse injury to your male by letting her dominate him.

hope its helped.

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if you have a breeding plan and she is in it, I would not recommend spawning her with another random fish just because it's more aggressive than your chosen male is!

These fish naturally select for aggression. The male you have in mind for her is a PK right? IME they come out of the spawn tank fairly unscathed.

You only just put her in the spawning tank, right? This sort of aggression display is not unusual. You may have to leave her in the container til she calms the hell down, but after that I think her aggression will stand her in good stead against having the crap kicked out of her.

If you're worried she's too violent even on her release then supervise the pair after her release, but I don't think it's likely to be a problem. I certainly wouldn't deviate from your breeding plan just so she gets her just desserts!

My advice - weird as it may sound - is that if you have doubts, don't release her now at all - wait til the next full moon. It can't be a coincidence that several of us finally had success spawning our fish right smack bang on the full moon.

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i must be unfortunate tonight. this is the second time in a row that my post has collided with someone elses.

good info lilli, although i thought it was obvious that i meant kate should only elect a better spawning partner that is suitable to her goals and not some random mut. my brain is running alittle slow tonight. i should have explained in further detail.

the last full moon was on the 7th of this month. going by the recent spawns i think all of our run of bad luck may be at an end for the next month or so. <<<QUICK EVERYONE SPAWN WHILE YOU CAN>>> lol

she is a beautiful fish though. where did you pick her up from?

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She is a beauty, you can see why I want to breed her! (the fact that they're my only pair helps too). If I could get a less aggressive female who was also a blue marble I'd do it but I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens when I release her tomorrow.

If she attacks and chases him I'll wait till the full moon and hope for a storm :cloud9:

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hehe Silly betta fishies! >_> I've never seen her with strips going in either direction, not even stress strips. Do any of you know if this is a marble thing?

I'm going to put her in with him tomorrow before midday and remove her before I go to the plant study group tomorrow (Friday) night if she is active aggressive/nothing has happened.

If she does act like a female and I don't end up with a dogfish fight on my hands I'll start a spawning log!

Edit: She's from someone - she was almost white in the video I saw but by the time I had her on hold and she was shipped to me she'd turned this stunning blue, I suspect she'll end up a true monster with only her head being white.

Edited by Akythara
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I've never heard about them spawning to the moon or tides but I've read a lot about them spawning after large storms (fish seem to like storms!) the slight shift in pull from the moon at the full moon could be enough to set them off, it'd be an interesting study.

Actually seeing as she is a symmetrical HMPK and he is an asymmetrical HMPK maybe I should find her a new boyfriend anyway! Ah well they'll throw some nice marbles :cloud9: Can't wait to see how the fry turn out!

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I don't know enough to be able to say either way but she looks symmetrical compared to other female PK's I've seen, of course if she is a spawn sister to the male (silly me didn't ask but they both have colored spots on their heads so I'd assume so) then she isn't she just looks it.

It's just that when she shows off her fins rap around wonderfully. She actually wouldn't place in a show as one though I don't think as her dorsal doesn't touch her caudal, her anal does though. If the silly fish would sit still for 3 seconds I'd get you a photo, you're welcome to come around and look some time :)

So are all female PK's meant to have even fins (forgive my lack of terminology) rather then points on the end of their anal? Every one I've seen has ended in a point like my boys does. THAT SAID most I've seen have been traditional PK used for fighting >_<

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When I checked on them this morning she wasn't being overly aggressive to him through the glass but wasn't lowering her head either I've let them out and she isn't attacking him or running from him either so I guess she is a she! A she with a very impressive gill beard.

She has a few nips in her tail but nothing to worry about. With a bit of luck I'll be able to move the conversation to a spawning thread tonight :)

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The anal fin of most shortfin females is very parallel, or about level with the length of the edge of the caudal fin. This would be the same for asym as well as for sym PK females. If it were possible to see a difference, the female sym anal would be noticeably shorter than the female asym anal. Your female's anal is actually slightly longer than the length of the edge of her caudal fin, and her dorsal fin is not significantly broad. This provides no positive indication of her being a symmetrical show plakat.

Hope that helps :)

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The anal fin of most shortfin females is very parallel, or about level with the length of the edge of the caudal fin. This would be the same for asym as well as for sym PK females. If it were possible to see a difference, the female sym anal would be noticeably shorter than the female asym anal. Your female's anal is actually slightly longer than the length of the edge of her caudal fin, and her dorsal fin is not significantly broad. This provides no positive indication of her being a symmetrical show plakat.

Hope that helps :(

Coolies! Thanks :D

Yeah it is slightly longer as you can see, its a nice shape I'm glad she has a good anal :) or had >_> its a little bit bitten atm. So female sym PK's have a larger dorsal as well as the males? Thats so awesome! I want some for my display tank!

Hi Akythara, thought you might like to see this pic of one of my boys. Might be her brother?

- Brad. :D

Wow! he's beautiful! Does he have a little dot of blue on his head too? :P He's from someone I take it? Those ventrals huge!

http://sharpk.deviantart.com/art/Dart-2-124766748 is my stud :P He doesnt have much of a dorsal anymore I'm afraid lol but he builds a great bubble nest :P

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Hi guys, yep he's from JL, she named him "pippy longstockings" - wonder why? Yes Akythara, he has a blue spot on top of his upper lip. This photo doesn't do his colour justice though, he's the same colour as your girl,what i guess i'd describe as a rich irridescent cobalt blue. He's a really aggro/hypo/ballistic little bugger - just as your girl is. He flares at everything, including any people almost constantly. See yuz, Brad. :D

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Hi guys, yep he's from JL, she named him "pippy longstockings" - wonder why? Yes Akythara, he has a blue spot on top of his upper lip. This photo doesn't do his colour justice though, he's the same colour as your girl,what i guess i'd describe as a rich irridescent cobalt blue. He's a really aggro/hypo/ballistic little bugger - just as your girl is. He flares at everything, including any people almost constantly. See yuz, Brad. *lol*

lol theyre such silly fishies! I can't stop mine moving for even a second!

Update: No spawn this time, on the third day (only had them together when i could watch as theyre a tad aggressive) she was doing all the right things but he decided that while luring her to the nest was a good thing - the only thing to do when she got there was to attack her, stun her attack her stun her attack her. Then he seemed confused about why she ran away!

ALSO (and this is interesting) She's a female but one of my females in the Sheila tank had started attacking everyone! (It happens I know) So I've taken her out and low and behold a bubble nest! Still has an egg spot but her/his body and fins are more male shaped so she could be a he or she could of had a hormone enriched diet as a fry :)

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Hi Akythara, I was studying the pic of your little girl/boy,(need more pics to study),and I noticed the rock behind her/him has a most incredible face on the end of it looking to the right. Call me crazy,but I see it! - Brad.

Edited by Brad
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