jchiang Posted August 15, 2021 Share Posted August 15, 2021 Hi, Needs some helps to tell the gender of rainbow shiner. Also I saw same of the rainbow shiner I have showing blue fluorescent color. Are they all females? Thanks John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenman Posted August 15, 2021 Share Posted August 15, 2021 Assuming there are only two genders of rainbow shiners, male rainbow shiners tend to be slimmer when viewed from above and more brightly colored. The females tend to be broader to hold the eggs. (If you're a believer in there being many more than two genders, well I can't help you.) 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jchiang Posted August 15, 2021 Author Share Posted August 15, 2021 Not sure it was political or not. My rainbow shiners can have their own opinion of their gender but I am more interested in trying to figure out their biological sex. In any way, thanks for the answer. I found it was not easy by looking at the body size and by looking at colorations. I think my fish are not mature yet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jchiang Posted August 15, 2021 Author Share Posted August 15, 2021 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jchiang Posted August 15, 2021 Author Share Posted August 15, 2021 Just posted four photos. They all look the same to me. Five of them have the blue fluorescent color (only visible under LED light). Maybe they are just too young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jchiang Posted August 15, 2021 Author Share Posted August 15, 2021 I am very interested in buying more rainbow shiners with early showing of the blue fluorescent color. Ideally the blue color is homogeneous and it appears in very young age. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhitecloudDynasty Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 On 8/15/2021 at 2:02 PM, jchiang said: Just posted four photos. They all look the same to me. Five of them have the blue fluorescent color (only visible under LED light). Maybe they are just too young. Male will start to color up first Female will have blue flaking but not as much as males 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 (edited) Love this. I’m beginning to breed Rainbow Shiners. You can follow my journal on the forum here. @WhitecloudDynasty is really experienced — so follow him for best advice, and check out his YouTube channel. Your shiners are still young. They’ll gain color with maturity. Looking at your photos, I’ve circled three probable males: Once mature, males will have powder blue pectoral / pelvic fins. This will also color the male’s head somewhat. Here’s some of mine marked M / F: Now, when they “fire up,” or “turn on” for spawning, what happens is at least one female will glow hot amber / pink. Then the males will all “fire up.” Here’s what that looks like: Here is a video from just a couple weeks ago taken while they are in spawning mode: Edited September 17, 2021 by Fish Folk 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jchiang Posted September 19, 2021 Author Share Posted September 19, 2021 The colors are AMAZING!!! I still don't know why this fish is not popular. Cold water fish so heater is not required (less energy consumption). Native fish and hopefully more and more habitats are protected (don't need to destroy habitats in some other places). And they are pretty hardy fish. Thanks for sharing and I will follow the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Salad Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 Do the rainbow shiners display colour all year round or just spawning seasons? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 On 9/21/2021 at 7:44 AM, Captain Salad said: Do the rainbow shiners display colour all year round or just spawning seasons? Mature Rainbow Shiners have some color year round. Females tend to be less colored than males. Males retain a powder blue petina on pelvic fins and head. They glow amber / pink only when spawning. Under good lighting, this coloration is common year round: During spawning, mature males will vibrantly color up: There is _some_ debate about overall color morph variety between specimens collected in the northern reaches of their native range (e.g. Tennessee) versus southern Alabama. Some experienced collectors claim one or the other is more “blue” while the other is more “red.” Additionally, diet and lighting may affect their appearance. Their fins may variously appear powder blue / or turquoise-green. Often when purchased, they are very young. It may take months of good care for them to mature and color up. Occasionally, keepers report bad batches that won’t color up at all. In nature, with flowing water, live foods, and sunlight adding vitamins a school of Rainbow shiners looks like this… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 Here’s a photo just taken of my R. Shiner fry, ca. 2-months old… No colors yet. Just neat pinstripes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jchiang Posted September 22, 2021 Author Share Posted September 22, 2021 AMAZING COLORS!!!! WOWIII Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhitecloudDynasty Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 @jchiang as they age theyll hold more color These are my breeder male turn off 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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