Dwarf Gourami Questions

[tqfan]

i have 2 dwarf gouramis, both of which i think are female. this is due to the rounded dorsal fin.

however, having read a lil bit here, it says that females are not so vibrant in colour, yet my two are. one is a neon blue, the other neon red.

the fact my male siamese fighter was flirting (flaring, but i call it flirting ) with both of them (see my other topic on this!), i also assumed they were female.

they court each other, however there is no bubble nest (a male duty). i would take this as a sign they are female, unless females do build a nest??

we did ask the shop for a pair, but it's possible one of the less experienced employees caught them for us.

so my questions...

can females be this vibrant in colour?

(silly question) how long does the male's pointed dorsal take to develop? (my dad's wondering if it's not developed yet )

i've added pictures. to me they are both female, but if not, can you tell me what they are? this will solve an argument in the house!!

http/i13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/gee_ness/dg2.jpg
http/i13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/gee_ness/dg1.jpg
http/i13.photobucket.com/albums/a295/gee_ness/dg.jpg

thank you in advance

 

[stang1]

I used to have a pair of dwarf gouramis, sadly I lost them. The male was red exactly like the one in your photo and my female was a golden sort of colour.
I haven't much experience with them but hope that helps.

 

[Jozlyn]

They both look female to me too, but I am also new to Gourami. I think my Gourami is female as well due to the rounded fin, but it is quite colourful, indicating that it is male, and also does not blow any bubbles. So I'm confused as to the sex of my Gourami as well.

I think that if they were both male they would fight. As I have read other posts stating that you should not have anymore than one male because they will fight.

Not much help I know, but at least it's something.

 

[sylvia]

Both are male (the red absolutely 100% is, the other could possibly be female if the color is misleading - but if the pic represents what it looks like in real life, it's male) and the 'flirting/courting' is actualy displaying as they show off to prevent serious arguments and to settle hierarchy.

Do not keep them with the betta. Even if they were both female, that is a ridiculously risky thing to do. It doesn't work out.

The reason their fins are not pointed is that, actualy, there is no reason why they even should be. With some gouramies a pointed dorsal indicates a male - with dwarfs it doesn't. In their case you need to look for long 'bulbous' fins and bright colors.

Even if you ahd a male/female pair, you could expect aggression - the male would chase the female around and stress her out. I'd actualy venture that 2 males are better than a pair because then they can at least stand up to each other. Having said that, 2 gouramies of whatever sex is a bad idea. These two might be ok if your tank is large enough, the betta is removed and each can establish a territory.

Most dwarfs do not bubblenest freely either - they need to be in breeding condition and settled into their new home fully.

BTW, I doubt the reason you ended up with 2 males was the employees Most LFSs don't stock females at all because they are too dull to be in demand.

edit: For future reference, here are a few dwarf females:
http/www.aquariumfish.net/images_01/gour...blue_female.jpg
http/www.elmersaquarium.com/image_fish/0...oise_female.jpg
http/www.elmersaquarium.com/image_fish/0...lame_female.jpg
http/www.aqua-fish.net/imgs/fish/124.jpg (female just below and behind the bright red male)

 

[tqfan]

hi, thanks.

should have mentioned the fighter was no longer in the tank.

the red seems to be the boss, altho it doesn't attack the other one. they seem to get on quite well, tbh.

so we should just discard all the books we have? they're telling us rubbish!!

it was my dad that wanted a pair, he used to breed them years ago, when we kept fish back then.

thanks for the help

 

[ChiefGourami]

hi, thanks.

should have mentioned the fighter was no longer in the tank.

the red seems to be the boss, altho it doesn't attack the other one. they seem to get on quite well, tbh.

so we should just discard all the books we have? they're telling us rubbish!!

it was my dad that wanted a pair, he used to breed them years ago, when we kept fish back then.

thanks for the help

Yes normally the female Dwarf is a lot more dull coloured than the male. I'd say they are both Male. When i bought my Gourami, the guy told me that its a bad idea to keep a pair (defintly a male pair) as they regulary squabble or atleast in a small tank.