# Venting Pointers



## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

So I want to start "thinning the herd" this weekend, so am going to make my first attempt at venting. My fish are all 2-3" in size, which I understand in generally big enough to sex with reasonable accuracy.

I've read the instructional information on this site and elsewhere, so have a general understanding of the "Oo" vs "oo" distinction. Just curious if anyone has any practical pointers or suggestions based on real life experiences. Any thoughts would be appreciated... :thumb:


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## CutieSusieQ (May 12, 2009)

grommeckdr said:


> So I want to start "thinning the herd" this weekend, so am going to make my first attempt at venting. My fish are all 2-3" in size, which I understand in generally big enough to sex with reasonable accuracy.
> 
> I've read the instructional information on this site and elsewhere, so have a general understanding of the "Oo" vs "oo" distinction. Just curious if anyone has any practical pointers or suggestions based on real life experiences. Any thoughts would be appreciated... :thumb:


Real life experience .... it's IMPOSSIBLE, lol ... that was just my experience though 

I've heard so much different stuff about venting from different people too. Some act like it's so simple, some are afraid of taking the fish out of the water and holding it, some are blind and can't tell the difference of Oo and oo (that's my problem). But I heard it's easier if you use a magnifying thingy with lights... then I also heard that the females won't look like Oo until they lay eggs the first time (but I dunno if that was accurate info or not though).. Soooo, someone else can help you a lot more than me. I just felt like typing, haha!


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

A few pointers from someone who once thought it was impossible but now has no problem.

Tip 1: Buy a Illuminating Loupe. They sell them at coin stores or over ebay. If you dont have one it will be a lot harder. If you have one of these then you can learn what to look for and then be able to do it without it in the future.

Tip 2: If possible learn on a dimorphic species so you can see what a definite male looks like and then what a definite female looks like.

Tip 3: Keep the fish in the net when you vent the fish. Just turn the fish on its back and grab him/her through the net. This way it will not slip out of your hands. Dont keep the fish out of the water more than 15-20 seconds at a time. Also try to limit your venting attempts to 3 times. You dont want to over stress the fish out.

Tip 4: If possible get several buckets. Have one for fish you think are male, one for fish you think are female and one for fish you are unsure of. You will probably be checking each fish several times and you dont want to have to catch it from the main tank everytime.

What to look for: From the head to the tail the males holes will be roughly the same size and look like oo. Some males vent (the hole towards the tale) may be slightly larger than there "poo hole" but not by much. For females- If the female has spawned before or is getting ready to spawn or just spawned the vent hole will be a lot larger. From head to back oO. Actually though it looks more like a grape sitting next to a grapefruit. Of course if you have seen her holding then you know she is a female :wink: .

The unsures- There are normally some fish that you might be unsure of. Some females have smaller vents than others and some males will have larger vents than other males. Just find the fish with the largest vent and use this as your female reference and then find the fish with the smallest vent and use this as your male reference.

All fish are not the same but with practice you will get the hang of it. You might not always be 100% right but with practice i would say 95% right shouldn't be that hard.

The best tips i have is to buy a lighted magnifying glass and do vent some dimorphic species for practice so you know what you are looking for. I am by no means a pro at it but have had a lot of practice with dimorphic species and feel pretty comfortable venting monomorhic species.


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## CutieSusieQ (May 12, 2009)

GaFishMan1181 said:


> A few pointers from someone who once thought it was impossible but now has no problem.
> 
> Tip 1: Buy a Illuminating Loupe. They sell them at coin stores or over ebay. If you dont have one it will be a lot harder. If you have one of these then you can learn what to look for and then be able to do it without it in the future.


Illuminating Loupe ...that's the thingy I was talking about. I couldn't think of the name of it :thumb:


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

Like I have mentioned, I have a program on my phone that uses my led for a flashlight. If the fish is around 2-3 inches, it shouldn be that hard. carefully flip them over while holding tight, but not too tight. bring the light close to the pores and look closely. It should only take a couple seconds to figure it out. When I first stripped a fish and venting etc, I was so nervous I would hurt the fish, etc. In time, I am very comfortable handling a fish. wet hands and to not have them out of the water very long. When I strip, I keep them in the water of my tuuperware container.

For the venting, if u take then out of the water with ur hand, their first instinct is to flop around. Be calm as they will calm almost instantly. As the others have said, if its 0o its female and oo is male. For sure, if u do not get a magnifying lense, use a bright light. Have someone hold the light for u if u can...

Oh, and I find it easiest to net them, and put them in a tupperware container that is easy to reach into.easier to grab them


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

Thanks GaFishMan - very helpful. I'll need to see if I can find one of those loops. I appreciate the input.


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

justinf67 said:


> If the fish is around 2-3 inches, it shouldn be that hard.


I think I'll start with my Acei, since they're the largest (at least 3"). Thanks for the input...


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

good call. Its easiest the bigger they are... I am currently flaoting 2 (2.5'')albino socolofi who I vented at the store. Out of the 4 he had left, 2 were male, 2 were female. I also bought some little maingano. they are prob 1.5 inches and I tried my hand at venting them. They are either both male or too young to vent as the vents looked the same. I would venture that its too early to tell....

Good luck man!


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

Actually, I'll probably start with my Msobo - I know I can sex them with 100% certainty! :lol: :lol:

Seriously though, as GaFishMan said, it's probably good practice...


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## okeefe4787 (Feb 22, 2010)

Although I haven't done it myself, I saw in another thread where the person took a picture of the vent with their camera. I thought it sounded like a good idea as you could go back and look at it again without having to handle the fish. Plus you could compare two side by side. :thumb:


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

I found this web page helpful for its example pictures when I had to do some venting.


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

Thanks for the link, Kanorin - very helpful...


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## Aura (Oct 29, 2005)

okeefe4787 said:


> Although I haven't done it myself, I saw in another thread where the person took a picture of the vent with their camera. I thought it sounded like a good idea as you could go back and look at it again without having to handle the fish. Plus you could compare two side by side. :thumb:


That's what I did. Set my camera to macro and had someone take a picture and then I posted it for opinions since I wasn't sure of what I was looking at.


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## CutieSusieQ (May 12, 2009)

Ok... well I decided to try this venting thing over again today.

I have 7 Cobalts and 8 Yellow Labs in my 55 gallon that I bought as juvies last summer. I know it's time to start venting and thinning them out to get my male to female ratio right.

But first, I studied this discussion and the website that was suggested a few postings above this one. I got me a magnifying glass that has a little light on it. I set up two buckets. One for males the other for females. Took all the rocks out of my tank and started catching them one by one.

When I was done, I was soaked 

I came up with 3 male Cobalts, 3 female Cobalts, and 1 unknown. I'm not real sure about one of them b/c I think he/she is still too small to vent. He/she is a runt for some reason and not growing as fast as the others.... For my Yellow Labs, I came out with 2 males, 4 females, and 2 unknown. The unknown Labs I think are still too small too b/c they are "babies" I kept from the first time my Yellow Labs spawned a few months ago.

I have no idea how accurate my venting is, but I feel pretty good about it. I seperated the extra males and I'm hoping to re-home them soon. I'm keeping the 3 unknowns until I know for sure what they are.


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

after u have seen vents a few times, u get better at distinguishing them... The bigger they are, the mosre it stands to reason that u can see the difference.

*grommeckdr*
how did u make out on this, or did u not do so yet?


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## iplaywithemotions (Dec 18, 2008)

Great advice, and that link was also very helpful. I have 7 yellow labs that I need to vent, so this will be quite useful!

Susie, how difficult was it to vent for you this time around? Were you able to distinguish the males from the females with a lot more ease, after reading this thread and looking at the pictures on that website?


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## CutieSusieQ (May 12, 2009)

iplaywithemotions said:


> Great advice, and that link was also very helpful. I have 7 yellow labs that I need to vent, so this will be quite useful!
> 
> Susie, how difficult was it to vent for you this time around? Were you able to distinguish the males from the females with a lot more ease, after reading this thread and looking at the pictures on that website?


This was only my second time trying to vent my fish. I think the first time I tried it they were all too small. Because I know out of 15 fish it was a very slim chance that all 15 would be males!! .. This time around it was a lot easier and I could definitely pick out a female. It's the males that are difficult!! It's scary calling some of them males when I'm afraid they could be females, ya know. But the ones I called females are females with no doubt in my mind!!

This thread and the pictures on that link helped a lot.


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## shaguars7 (Apr 12, 2009)

i found it easiest to vent when making it a two person job...i would hold the fish in the net and someone would hold a magnifying glass and a flashlight on there jungle goodies. I found it pretty easy, but going back to GAFishmans comment of the loupe...i think that would make me 100% as appossed to the 80% i feel I am now.


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## CutieSusieQ (May 12, 2009)

shaguars7 said:


> i found it easiest to vent when making it a two person job...i would hold the fish in the net and someone would hold a magnifying glass and a flashlight on there jungle goodies. I found it pretty easy, but going back to GAFishmans comment of the loupe...i think that would make me 100% as appossed to the 80% i feel I am now.


Jungle goodies!! :lol: :thumb:

Yeah, I had help when venting mine this time around. My husband held the magnifying glass thingy for me while I TRIED to hold the fish in the net. Holding the fish in the net sounds A LOT easier than it really is though!!! :? I don't think I would EVER try to vent my fish without a second person helping me.

But I must say... I took the extra "males" out of my tank last night after venting them and today my tank does seem a lot more calm!!! Now I have to find a new home for the ones I'm calling male.


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## iplaywithemotions (Dec 18, 2008)

Glad to hear it was much easier this time around, Susie! :thumb:

And lmao @ "jungle goodies" :lol:


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

justinf67 said:


> *grommeckdr*
> how did u make out on this, or did u not do so yet?


Entirely unsuccessful.... I really didn't have any luck distinguishing. Not sure if the fish are too small, or if I just need more practice, but I gave up after about 5 minutes (after spending an hour catching fish... :lol: ). I was using a cheap magnifying glass, which really didn't produce a clear image. I guess I'll wait a few months and try again...


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

Did you try it with the Msobo first?


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

GaFishMan1181 said:


> Did you try it with the Msobo first?


I didn't, only because I didn't want to catch them... :lol:


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

Yeah i understand that. Catching fish is hard enough in a 55g. You got a 125g so i could imagine catching fish is pretty difficult.


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## CutieSusieQ (May 12, 2009)

GaFishMan1181 said:


> Yeah i understand that. Catching fish is hard enough in a 55g. You got a 125g so i could imagine catching fish is pretty difficult.


Difficult for sure!! Mine is a 55 gallon and I had to take every single last rock out of my tank to catch my 15 fish. Venting is not fun.


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