Honey gouramis, male or female?

Hello!

Today I bought a couple of honey gouramis, thinking they were a male and a female. I did my best to see which ones were female, but I mostly relied on the staff (since I'm new to the hobby). Now I've had them in my aquarium for several hours.. but the longer I watch them, the more they are beginning to look the same to me. Do I have a couple/pairing, or do I have two of the same sex?

Fish #1:


Fish #2:


Thank you!

Welcome to TFF

#1 is a male, hard to tell from the pics for #2

Fish #2 is a male - you can see the black colouration in his anal fin and a hint of yellow in his dorsal fin. When he settles in, the yellow will become brighter and the black extend to his threat.

Fish #1 has a stripe running from nose to tail. This usually indicates a female, though it can also be a very stressed male.


I kept honey gouramis for years, both the natural colour and the yellow variant. Mine never followed the usual method of sexing by fin shape and pointiness.

Essjay said:

Fish #2 is a male - you can see the black colouration in his anal fin and a hint of yellow in his dorsal fin. When he settles in, the yellow will become brighter and the black extend to his threat.

Fish #1 has a stripe running from nose to tail. This usually indicates a female, though it can also be a very stressed male.


I kept honey gouramis for years, both the natural colour and the yellow variant. Mine never followed the usual method of sexing by fin shape and pointiness.

Click to expand...

Yes.. I thought number 1 was female and number 2 was male (because of the black fin, like you said). But then I started to look at the shape of the fins, and the pointiness and thought that they're both males. But that isn't a reliable method of sexing?

How do I find out if it's female or a stressed male though? Put it in another tank?

The first honey gouramis I had were a trio, bought as 1 male, 2 females which looked just like your #1 photo. I'd had them about 3 weeks, when I looked in the tank after I'd got up to find I actually had 2 males and 1 female. One of the "females" coloured up literally over night.
I would leave them together unless you see any aggression. But if the fish in photo #2 colours up, don't confuse a mating display for aggression. That starts with a male swimming vertically in front of a female, and if the female doesn't respond he chases her across the tank.

Ah, okay! I guess I'll just wait and see what will happen the coming weeks. I haven't seen any signs of aggression yet, they're both just exploring the tank. Thank you!

This is a fuzzy photo of a wild coloured male I once had. he is obviously a male from his colouring, but you can just make out the shape of his fins - they are not long and pointed.