male or female fish?

Question
How can i tell what sex my platies, Mollies, angelfish, swordtail, tiger barb and cherry barb are?

Answer
Hey Becky,

Platys, Mollys, and swordtail are all small toothed carp, like a guppy. There are 3 generic keys to sexing a livebearer, and all are pretty useful.

1) Males have a unique anal fin, shaped like a straw or a tube. It's located just behind the stomach, before the tail and is visible from both sides. It's also used to inject sperm during mating. Females have a triangle, or "fan shaped" anal fin. I use this method

2) males are brightly colored, smaller (generally) and have unique characteristics. Swordtails have a protruding "sword" on their tail fins, females do not. Platys often have thinner, slender male bodies, and bulgy fat female bodies. Guppies have a peacock's tail of color in the males, and females are normally bland.

3) At a mature age, females develop a "gravid spot" its a dark brownish black spot visible through the scales of lighter colored fish just above the anal fin.

As for barbs and angles, sexing is much harder.

A common rumor for tiger barbs is males have a red nose, and brighter colors. I go by size. Females are larger. It's an uncommonly tough call on some fish. Try the red nose trick, i suppose.

Male cherry barbs are a deep red, females are more brownish gold. Also, slimmer, smaller males and fatter bigger females.

Angels I don't know how to sex, but common rumor seems to be that males have more lengthy and showy fins, and females are just fatter. no real reliable method that I've found yet. If you're looking for a pair, then get a group until a pair forms, then return the rest. That seems to be about the best advice for a novice I've found... seem's a bit over dramatic though.

Well, i hope that all helps! best wishes.