male or female? bloat or gravid?

Hi all,

i'm in need of some help again
firstly, i'm wondering if this peppermint below has bloat or is gravid? basically i haven't seen either before (only in photos) and i'm just a bit worried about this bristlenose as she is more often than not sitting in front of the filter on the glass and won't move, which makes me question her health. this is a couple pics i took today and yesterday.




and my next question is from the photo below, can anyone tell me if they are male or female??



any help would be great! i'm still learning heaps about these guys and i want to give them the best life
thanks

get ready for some giggidty giggidty

i reckon she is about to pop with eggs my friend see the colour near her neather regions, thats a tell tale sign of good news

as for the other to it is a bit hard to tell, is it possble to get a shot from the top, i could have a guess now but would be better from the top

Doug wrote:

get ready for some giggidty giggidty

i reckon she is about to pop with eggs my friend see the colour near her neather regions, thats a tell tale sign of good news

as for the other to it is a bit hard to tell, is it possble to get a shot from the top, i could have a guess now but would be better from the top

lol yay! thats great news! thanks
i haven't been able to get a decent top view photo as every time i go near the tank when they are in a good spot they quickly hide, i guess when they are on the glass they can't see me? hehe
but the top of the two is usually hanging in a cave. is that automatically a male? not sure if females behave like that?
if they are going to spawn what's the chances of their first spawn being successful? on average how many babies survive?

thanks for your help

unfortunatly, being in a cave doesnt make it a male. Females like to hide in spare caves as they feel safe in there. If the fish in the cave is fanning (waving his pectoral fins around) then that is more likely to be a male.

First spawns are a bit hit and miss. some males get it right straight away while others take their time getting into the swing of things. The best bet is to give them the easiest time of it possible. This means disturbing them as little as possible, no looking in the cave, not rearranging the wood, not excessive water changes etc. make everything as stress free as possible. that will give the male the best chance of getting it right.

first spawns are often a bit smaller than normal ones, usually around 20-30 fry. from there it depends on you to keep them all alive

Hmm hard to tell sex of peps when they still have that white stripe, they are still sub adults..
first photo, I would say it's female cos it is so rounded..& the reason she would be hiding behind th efilter is cos she feels comfortable there, the others have prolly taken all the prime positions,
How many peps are in together? in what sized tank?
The other two hmmm....I am just guessing now...The top one I'd say male, the other one, female...Guessing remember.. Having a second look they are both a tad elongated, might be both males lol sorry I'm just adding to your confusion lol

thank you for the replies

it's a 3ft tank holds about 150L. 5 pepps total and that's all that's in there except for some damn snails. 4 peices of driftwood, terracotta pot, rock with many holes, two breeding caves, and heavily planted. hoping to get a trio out of the 5.
the two in the photo together are 9cm and the white stripe is fading, do you know at what age/size does the white completely go?
i will try my best to make it as less stressful as i can for them.
we'll just have to wait and see