# When are occies mature enough to breed?



## aroussel (Mar 5, 2003)

I have 3 gold occies. 2 of them have white trimmed dorsal fins and hang around their shells alot. I think these are the females. One of these are very passive, the other is a little more aggressive and will occasionally wander into the other females territory and chase her from her shell a little.
The third occies has a golden trim on the dorsal, which leads me to believe that this is my male. He also has a more slender body type than the other two. He only clams a shell at night, but for the most part hovers midway up, in the center of the tank. He is not very territorial at all.
Anyways, they are about 1 1/4 inches long. I was wondering at what size do occies sexually mature? I don't see anything that would lead me to believe that they are ready to start spawning.
Any other comments on what i've indicated are welcomed. Thanks in advance for any info.


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## Multies (Mar 9, 2007)

Females will usually have the white trims on the dorsal and/or anal fins.
though some will not and some males can have white dorsals.
my wild male has a white trim on him and i got fry in my tank. the female also has the white trim.


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## aroussel (Mar 5, 2003)

Thanks for the reply. With that aside, how big do they have to be to start breeding? Should I be seeing something at 1 1/4 inches?


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## aroussel (Mar 5, 2003)

anyone?


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## pcrawford1044 (Apr 19, 2008)

the 1 doing the chasing of the other fish is probly the male


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## Multies (Mar 9, 2007)

im not sure how early they breed but ill try to give the most advice i can.

1) always keep a lid on your tank. 
males will be the one doing the chasing.
when they are breeding, the female will curve her tail at him and twitch.
after spawning, the female will not tollerate the male.

my female is close to 1.75? 1.5? inches, male at 2.5inches


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## Furcifer158 (Feb 16, 2008)

I have gold occies that are at an inch breeding, they are my F1 group. So I guess it takes less than a year for them to breed because they are only 10 months old


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## aroussel (Mar 5, 2003)

Thanks guys!


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## Furcifer158 (Feb 16, 2008)

anytime aroussel


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## rrich741 (Apr 18, 2008)

i had some occies and they had many batches of babies and the female was only about an inch in a half. the male was two inches.


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