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Sexing, stressed, gills, oh my!

adizzle620

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Hi there guys! I'm new to the board and already loving all the advice and experience collected here :). I was a lurker for a while, but figured I'd come to the experts for questions on Valhalla and Hel!

I'm planning on upgrading my tank size pretty soon to a 180 gallon, long, so I was thinking about getting another Lotl' since they'll be able to fit comfortably with Val and Hel.

Questions, though! First, what in the world are these two pals' genders? I'm hoping Hel--the wild type, is female considering the origin from the name's gender is female!

IbJ8KfO.jpg


3Le3zuM.jpg


And is Val leucistic(?).

Second, is Val stressed when they have their gills forward like this? They're normally pretty straight back, but they've been forward a few times when I look in the tank. It's a little extreme in the picture since I turned on the tank light real quick for the photo. Normally they're not so forward, but I just want to double check.

IbJ8KfO.jpg


And third. Hel has a secondary gill growing from one of their first? Is this bad? Should I be worried?

lb42mPt.jpg


I never expected to get so obsessed from a 'donation'! Val was given to me by an acquaintance who just didn't want to deal with her/him anymore. And now it's evolved, haha. Oh! Another thing, can anybody guess their age? Both came from a pet store--the person who gave me Val bought him/her from a small local pet store, and I got Hel from the same place. The owner had no idea on the age, though.

General disclaimer--I only ever have the fish tank light on when I'm taking pictures or cleaning the tank.
 

auntiejude

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Assuming they are adults there is no way to tell how old they are. How long did your friend have Val and how big was she when they got her?

They both look to be female, again assuming they are fully grown.

Odd shaped gill, extra branches etc are fine and very common. Its usually caused by an injury and regrowth. Stressed gills are much more curled than your pic. Almost right over their face, so yours is fine.
 
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