male or female green tiger barb?? how do i tell??

Sheryl

i have 7 beautiful green tiger barbs. i got them when they were less than an inch long and now after about 7 months they are about 2 inches. how do i tell if they are male or female? i would really like to know. they all have a vibrant orange/red color on the tips of their pelvic fin and some of them have that same color on their dorsal fins and their nose, some are fatter but other than that they all look the same to me. does their color have anything to do with sexing them? how to i tell?

Fat_Fender_40

The easiest way to tell them apart, believe it or not, is that the females are slightly bigger and fatter than the males when full grown, especially when the females are full of eggs. There's no easy color distinguish between them.

willow

hmmm i thought you could tell the difference
with the colouring of the fins and noses ?

Fat_Fender_40

I really couldn't tell by that. I don't have that close of an eye. It was much easier looking at them by the size for me than to try colorations.

willow

i totally agree with the size point :)
the girls do indeed get plump.

Fat_Fender_40

That's like with the anal fin. I tried and tried to actually tell the difference in those species between male and female and I just can't be for sure.

willow

tricky little devils.
i think that's why i went for a big group to hopefully
get a mix of both.