Do I Have 2 Male Pearls?

[xamy_valox]

I was sold this pair of Pearl Gouramis as male and female, however they are being a bit aggressive towards each other. One chases the other round the tank until it has nowhere to go, but then other times they are fine with each other. The pics aren't great but they are so shy and fast!

That's the first one

And the other.
They look the same to me =\ and both have orangey colours underneath so I am convinced they are both male.

 

[Tuxyu3]

Second one is definitely a male, first one could be but i am not 100% sure.

 

[xamy_valox]

How can you tell? I know it's something to do with the fins as I have looked on google but mine seem essentially the same. The secon has more 'flowy' fins and the bottom on is longer as in he has more of a width to it. It's hard to explain!!

 

[xamy_valox]

That's the first one again, don't know if that pic is any better. Sorry about the Angel, he is the exact opposite and loves the camera!

 

[Tuxyu3]

First off i would not recommend keeping any kind of Gourami's with an Angel, though i myself was once very tempted it just is not worth the trouble and heartache when they start killing each other.

My male:

Here he is again (below the female):

One of my females:

And again:

See how the male's bottom fin has all of those fringes? Females bottom fins are smooth-edged.
Also see how is dorsal fin is extended with fringes whereas the females is again smooth-edged and very curved?
There is of course the orange chest, but this is not as reliable as they do not start to show until maturation and have varying degrees of intensity depending on the fish.

 

[Flute]

Just wanted to add my own experience concerning angels and gouramis. My female pearl was the monster of the tank- she was an absolute pain when it came to my keyhole pair, which always led to the male trying to defend his mate. I've had 4 angels in with her for about 5 months now (still early days, I know), and it has calmed her down a lot. They don't bother her, she doesn't bother them and so far it works well.
She will eventually be moved to her own tank which I will stock around her, but for now she seems to do well with the angels. They are animals after all, with different personalities and they don't always conform to what we expect of them

I don't know a huge amount on gouramis, but my guess is two males judging on the colouration (my female has a much paler belly, for example). But they are both absolutely stunning!

 

[xamy_valox]

My Angel only really notices them when it comes to feeding time, he just doesn't like them near him when he is eating haha. Other than that they completely ignore each other.
One has more fringed fins than the other but I suppose until they get bigger I won't know. If the aggression continues I will swap one for a female I think.

 

[Brightestdai]

I have no problem with my angels being with Gourami's. in my tank they get along very well. And it looks like you bought 2 males, males have an orange/red cheek where as the female doesn't. You can also tell by the top fin, males are long and pointed and females a short and round.

 

[Tuxyu3]

They may get along fine now but personalities change harshly as they mature.

 

[RichardA]

Top photo looks to be a female, I would say 90% female.

 

[The Dragon Lord]

Looks likely to be female to me, but could be a slower to mature male as they are still very young and the dorsal is longer than most typical females

 

[xamy_valox]

The aggression was too much in the end and I swapped one out for a definite female. She has no fringing and a much smaller dorsal fin. Since changing there is no aggression between them. They now pick on my large Platy!!! Everything seem quite harmonious in there at the moment other than my hill stream loaches taking a severe dislike to my Cory's =\