Honey Gourami male or female?

[Avel1896]

IF your tank is LARGE with many hiddingplaces and if they are from the same fry, they maybe get along well and quietly but...... risks of fight.

 

[Sunnyspots]

Video of behaviour to own reflection

 

[Avel1896]

Stunning !
So, the other is either a dominated male or a female.

 

[Trebo13]

Looking again, I think you could be right.

I had honey gouramis for years and could never see any difference in the dorsal fin. I found the anal fin showed most difference. This is a very crude drawing to show what I mean.

View attachment 138952

In a female honey the end of the anal fin attaches to the body more or less at a right angle. In a male, the end of the fin comes back on itself before it joins the body.
Now that I've looked more closely, the anal fin in Trebo's fish does look as though it comes back on itself = male. But quite a stressed male with that colouring. A newly purchased fish will be stressed.


We'll only know for sure if @Trebo13 replies and tells us if the fish did colour up like a male.

Thanks for the explanation! So I went back to the LFS and talked to the guy and he said that he knows for sure that its a male since he saw it color up. Mine still hasn't colored up but he brought up that it may not show any color if there isn't another female for him to show off to. I'm not sure if that's the case but maybe he's on to something as to why it isn't showing color?

 

[Trebo13]

Sorry @Trebo13 for hijacking!

Thats okay! I'm learning a lot from this thread! I don't mind the extra questions

 

[Trebo13]

Hey
Very often hard to sex honeys.
Something you could try : make it flare in front of a mirror. Like every territorial fish, if it's a male he's gonna flare. A female more likely won't.

That's a great idea! I will grab a mirror and see if he will show any color.

 

[Avel1896]

That's a great idea! I will grab a mirror and see if he will show any color.

This is good for any territorial fish

 

[Trebo13]

The mirror worked! His throat started showing that bluish/black color. It wasn't much but it was enough for me to know its a male. Now I just need to find a female, which might be difficult since none of my local fish stores have any. I am on a call list so we will see how long it takes to get one in stock.

 

[Avel1896]

In addition to be a mean that works to sex territorial fishes, it is also a mean to make long fins Betta to get muscles helping them to bear the weight (yes) of their looong fins.

 

[Sunnyspots]

The mirror worked! His throat started showing that bluish/black color. It wasn't much but it was enough for me to know its a male. Now I just need to find a female, which might be difficult since none of my local fish stores have any. I am on a call list so we will see how long it takes to get one in stock.

Good luck in your search!