Determining sex of Rachovii fries and group ratios

[Bybloz]

Hi, I have a batch of about 25 RAC fries growing in 4 separate tanks. How do I determine the sex of the fries apart from color? While some males are obvious, I'm not sure if some of the colorless ones are females or just drab looking males. Cause there seem to be faint color markings on their bodies.

For now, all the female looking ones (~10) are in 1 tank, and the rest of the "males" in 3 separate tanks. What would be the optimal permutation to raise up viable breeding adults?

Thanks,
Kai

One of the 2mth old males...

[stoker]

Hi Kai

I would start to set them up as trio`s 1 male 2 females at about this age and see if they start spawning ,, remember they are short lived and can start spawning at a early age . Have a look at this link http://users.pandora.be/marc.bellemans/Rachovii_E.htm they give a life span of about 6 months



Mike

[timebomb]

Unlike the females of other Nothos, the females of the N. rachovii often have some colours on their bodies. As for the ratio of males to females, I think the best ratio is to have as many females as possible with just one male. You should use the best-looking male of the bunch, of course.

In their natural habitats, only the strongest males get to fertilise the eggs. It's nature way of ensuring only the genes of the fittest get passed down to the next generation. I would equate fittest with most beautiful.

Loh K L

[Bybloz]

Thanks for advice guys. Guess I'll treat all drab-looking ones as females and group them several to a male to see if spawning takes place.

Conversely if fights break out between a male and a "female", then I suppose the "androgynous one" is a male?

Is there anyone out there who have a pic of female RAC Beira 98? Or point me to some site that has them?

Thanks again
Kai

[arvin555]

Check out the URL that Stoker suggested, scroll down and you will see a pair of Rachovii maiting, though the male (Rachovii Moz) is a different colored variant, the female is the same color, at least they are the same color as what i have.

I guess people seldom take photos of females because they don't really have much color, very drab.

TTFN
Arvin

[erikthur]

My Beira 98 females are colorless like my other species (foerschi, palmquisti, guentheri and so on).

[timebomb]

Here's a pic of a pair of N. rachovii which I took more than 2 years ago.



Loh K L

[erikthur]

Interesting. Clear fins but some color on the sides. Not at all like mine. But are you dead sure that is a female and not a harassed male? Can there be some androgens present in the water causing this?