# Lamprologus ocellatus sexing query



## davemuir (Oct 10, 2009)

Long story, short version.
I bought 7 Lamprologus ocellatus 'gold'. I received 5. 
Reputable place, they'll help me fix this in the long term, but I just want to know if I have a short-term problem!

I ordered 5xfemale, 2xmale.

How reliable is the sexing method of checking the colour on the dorsal/anal fin?
From what I can see, 2 of them have gold markings, the other 3 have no markings at all.

This makes me think that I've got 5 males - which can't be a good thing.

Any experts here that can help me?


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## mrgreen (May 28, 2004)

females have a white edge to there fins ( dorsal and anal ) males will not

hope that helps

Cheers
Steve Green


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## davemuir (Oct 10, 2009)

mrgreen said:


> females have a white edge to there fins ( dorsal and anal ) males will not
> 
> hope that helps
> 
> ...


Does the edging definitely have to be white?

3 of mine have gold edging.


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## Multies (Mar 9, 2007)

No, The dorsal thing is not 100% fool proof. My WC male had a white dorsal as well as my female. They male should have a more stubby nose more angry looking lol.


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

Males are much larger, I guess you'll have to wait!


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## mrgreen (May 28, 2004)

no , the edging doesnt have to be white , but in Australia , that seems to be the varient we have here . different geographical varients will show different colours

cheers
Steve Green


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

I bought 20 of them at an auction. In the bag they looked like mostly male with a few ??? but as those grew it turned out the seller guessed right and culled 100% males for his auction. One male can have two or more females in the tank and provide them all with their own little familes. IOW, male shellies are surplus commodity.


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## davemuir (Oct 10, 2009)

It looks like I won't be any wiser until they reach full maturity.

3 have set up home in the left side of the tank, 1 has claimed the entire right side for itself.
1 poor fish isn't allowed near any shells, anywhere.

I've tried redecorating the tank, moving all the shells etc, to change this, but it hasn't changed anything, they all just go back to their original places.
Very bizarre to watch.


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## mrgreen (May 28, 2004)

occie males are great at killing there tank mates ( other occies ) two things i have done with success , move rocks and deco's around so to take out the line of sight of the bully boy.

secondly cut up some pvc pipe get 5 lengths at 10cm long and lacky band them together and suction cup them to the top of the tank so the outcasts can hide.

these methods reduce the carnage.

Cheers
Steve Green


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## davemuir (Oct 10, 2009)

Thanks for the tips guys.

Thankfully, my bullied fish seems to be holding his/her own now.

It's quite entertaining to watch - the fish ignore each other when the lights are off, mostly sleeping or doing the occasional bit of digging, but when the lights come on (for 4hrs) they're flaring at each other, chasing each other around, fighting over food etc, but at no point does it seem like bullying.

I still don't have a clue what sexes I have, but all the violence seems equal now.

Having great fun watching these guys, every night when the lights come on, the tank looks completely different from the previous day!
They're doing an amazing job of completely burying shells that they don't like and they're also building a huge mound of crushed coral (mixed in with my sand) in the back corner of the tank.
Maybe I should build them some miniature waste skips?


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## BioG (Oct 12, 2008)

why do you only give them 4 hours of light?


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## ~Firefly~ (Dec 23, 2009)

davemuir said:


> Thanks for the tips guys.
> 
> Thankfully, my bullied fish seems to be holding his/her own now.
> 
> ...


Mine (5) are behaving much the same. They've only been in the tank 2 days and the entire front section and all shells are being controlled by the largest (presumably) male whilst the others have settled for some caves at the back. A couple do get "seen off" by him when they enter his territory but aren't scared of swimming around him at all. One however, who originally had a shell is now hiding in a cave and hasn't eaten anything at all today (from two feeds). Not sure what to do about it. It's not a small one (although they're all juveniles so sexing them is very difficult at this stage). Any advice appreciated but I suspect I should just leave them to settle and get on with it for now.


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