I have no problem waiting to see if this fella is a male or female, but I am curious on if I'm able to tell now or if things will change later.
I bought Munch aka Tiny Dancer (from the way he/she jumps and twirls around on the glass) from PetSmart about 3 or so months ago. He or She has almost doubled in size, mainly in the head area lol.
Munch is exactly 2 inches long from tip of the nose to tip of the tail. I'm assuming it's little over 8 months old - I believe at 8 months is when these bristles start showing up.
I can see bristles or 'tentacles' on it's nose and have been for a little while now. They are finally starting to grow out some more and some along the sides of the face have started showing up. However, these little bristles are currently only at the tip of the nose and not anywhere in between the nose and eye area, which males have. Is it too soon to assume that Munch is a female?
Also, Munch is currently only in a 10 gallon planted aquarium. I've got the means to buy a 20 long as soon as my Petco has another $1 per gallon sale. Munch's tank is next to another 10 gallon with my Betta.
Anytime my Betta comes to that side of the tank where Munch can see him, Munch literally races over to that glass, attaches to it and flares his gills so the little spikes are sticking out and lashes his tail back and forth.
I've also seen him/her do this on his own while latched to an object- gills flare out with spikes and tail moves hard back and forth.
Is this a sign of aggression? I've heard males can be territorial to other males or other plecos, but for the most part i've heard they are fine being around other fish. Could it be because of his smaller living condition right now? I know they are supposed to be in at least 20s to themselves, could he/she just be protecting it's territory?
He/she has actually scared my Betta off acouple times- and they are in different tanks lol.
Also, don't mind all the poops in the 2nd photo. I had just placed a silk plant in the tank for Munch to clean for me since it was covered in green algae.
I bought Munch aka Tiny Dancer (from the way he/she jumps and twirls around on the glass) from PetSmart about 3 or so months ago. He or She has almost doubled in size, mainly in the head area lol.
Munch is exactly 2 inches long from tip of the nose to tip of the tail. I'm assuming it's little over 8 months old - I believe at 8 months is when these bristles start showing up.
I can see bristles or 'tentacles' on it's nose and have been for a little while now. They are finally starting to grow out some more and some along the sides of the face have started showing up. However, these little bristles are currently only at the tip of the nose and not anywhere in between the nose and eye area, which males have. Is it too soon to assume that Munch is a female?
Also, Munch is currently only in a 10 gallon planted aquarium. I've got the means to buy a 20 long as soon as my Petco has another $1 per gallon sale. Munch's tank is next to another 10 gallon with my Betta.
Anytime my Betta comes to that side of the tank where Munch can see him, Munch literally races over to that glass, attaches to it and flares his gills so the little spikes are sticking out and lashes his tail back and forth.
I've also seen him/her do this on his own while latched to an object- gills flare out with spikes and tail moves hard back and forth.
Is this a sign of aggression? I've heard males can be territorial to other males or other plecos, but for the most part i've heard they are fine being around other fish. Could it be because of his smaller living condition right now? I know they are supposed to be in at least 20s to themselves, could he/she just be protecting it's territory?
He/she has actually scared my Betta off acouple times- and they are in different tanks lol.
Also, don't mind all the poops in the 2nd photo. I had just placed a silk plant in the tank for Munch to clean for me since it was covered in green algae.