Honey gourami

[embsidney20]

Did you ever find that missing fish?

Never found the missing one! Knowing my luck it was probably female too

I did rearrange the tank before I put the new ones in so maybe that's why things are still OK! I'll be keeping a good eye on them for now.

My tank is 125l with 6 cories and a green phantom - how many more gourami do you think will be happy in a tank this size?

 

[embsidney20]

Sorry, but this is inaccurate, thanks to the insistence of breeders in producing a large variety of colour-variants.

A more consistently accurate way would be to look at the dorsal fins. Males end in a point, whilst females are more rounded at the end.
In the near future, that single female will get increasingly harassed by the boys and, left to their own devices, the boys will get aggressive towards each other.
(Lots of space and hiding places/plants, should lessen this).

My other yellow one has very rounded fins too, thank god haha. So still outnumbered but hopefully OK for a couple of weeks until I can hunt for more. Won't be asking for advise next time, will just spend a while watching the tank before I choose!

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Never found the missing one! Knowing my luck it was probably female too

I did rearrange the tank before I put the new ones in so maybe that's why things are still OK! I'll be keeping a good eye on them for now.

My tank is 125l with 6 cories and a green phantom - how many more gourami do you think will be happy in a tank this size?

Litres doesn't help when trying to work out the actual size of the tank...what are the dimensions, please? These are needed to work out the available surface area.

 

[embsidney20]

Thank you tank is

Litres doesn't help when trying to work out the actual size of the tank...what are the dimensions, please? These are needed to work out the available surface area.

Thank you it's 39 x 14 x 20" (80 x 35 x 50cm)

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

So, to begin my stocking calculations...
39 x 14 = 546.
546 /12 = 45" of fish.

Now, assuming the water parameters are right for the fish.
Assuming your filter and heater are good.
Assuming your regime of tank maintenance is good...including appropriate water changes and no overfeeding.

Currently, your 6 Peppered Cories = 12-15"
4 Honey Gourami = 8"
Green Phantom = 10"

A total of 33" of fish, giving room for another 12".
BUT compatibility, shoaling needs and swimming space must also be considered.

EDIT to take the Green Phantom into account.

 

[embsidney20]

So, to begin my stocking calculations...
39 x 14 = 546.
546 /12 = 45" of fish.

Now, assuming the water parameters are right for the fish.
Assuming your filter and heater are good.
Assuming your regime of tank maintenance is good...including appropriate water changes and no overfeeding.

Currently, your 6 Peppered Cories = 12-15"
4 Honey Gourami = 8"
Green Phantom = 10"

A total of 33" of fish, giving room for another 12".
BUT compatibility, shoaling needs and swimming space must also be considered.

EDIT to take the Green Phantom into account.

Wow thanks so much for taking the time. Filter is the one that came with the tank, fluval u3 but I've found it a bit crap tbh and have added a sponge filter in place of my airstone. The filter is almost at its capacity in that tank and have been wondering if I should fork out for the next size up and get rid of the sponge filter.

Because of this I am doing a 40% water change every 5 days! It used to be 7 until I realised it needed maintaining sooner. However the parameters always read fine now and suitable for everyone in there as long as I am on top of it. Would be nice to do it a little less frequently if I'm honest

So ideally I would be trying to find 2 more females and hopefully have enough room for a couple more cories if any eggs evade the hungry faces!?

My pleco uprooted a big bushy plant over night and I've just noticed one of the definite females has staken some kind of claim over it. Two of the males are very interested in her now. Will be keeping a very close eye on them now. Have some frogbit arriving today so hopefully that'll be a distraction for them for a bit haha

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Whilst it's always tempting to stuff a tank to the limit of what is theoretically possible, I'd advise against this until you know exactly what you're doing and have real, (not imaginary), contingencies in place for possible disasters.
A tank that is understocked has way more wriggle-room, with regards water parameters and so on.
An overstocked tank has none.

 

[jinjerJOSH22]

Sorry, but this is inaccurate, thanks to the insistence of breeders in producing a large variety of colour-variants.

Have to disagree, this is quite a consistent way of sexing at least the majority of sold Honeys.
Not disagreeing that there are potentially strains that this doesn't work with but they seem to be few.

A more consistently accurate way would be to look at the dorsal fins. Males end in a point, whilst females are more rounded at the end.

I disagree with this as being a more accurate way, the fins have little difference.

So I got two more (planning on more) the new guys are silver in colour. So I'm assuming they are female but can females also come as pale yellow? First two are the newbies and the others are two of my older ones, the 3rd looks the same as them.

I would assume they are female, though the wild colour I would never say for sure.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I disagree with this as being a more accurate way, the fins have little difference.

That is inaccurate and not just my opinion.

 

[jinjerJOSH22]

That is inaccurate and not just my opinion.

Sorry but me and my partner, as well as people we know (as in breeders or people who have bred them)have had plenty were the fins are indistinguishable.
This also isn't just my opinion, sorry for phrasing it that way

 

[DoubleDutch]

Sorry but me and my partner, as well as people we know (as in breeders or people who have bred them)have had plenty were the fins are indistinguishable.
This also isn't just my opinion, sorry for phrasing it that way

Hey Josh great to see you here.
Josh and his partner are the gourami-experts on a rival (as it is called here) forum for years.
Their knowledge on this subject is undoubtable !

 

[jinjerJOSH22]

Hey Josh great to see you here.
Josh and his partner are the gourami-experts on a rival (as it is called here) forum for years.
Their knowledge on this subject is undoubtable !

Hoi DD, great to see you here too(It's helpful when people use the same names eh?).

I'll say no ones knowledge is undoubtable and there's still a lot I still get wrong when it comes to biology(and plenty of other things).
But thank you none the less

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Their knowledge on this subject is undoubtable !

As the guy so graciously said...no it isn't.
Whilst colours bordering fins used to be a reliable measure, back in the day, the work of breeders producing colour variants, (present company excepted), has significantly muddied the waters. Even fin shape may be less reliable than it once was, but until we start to get long-finned varieties, I'll say it's still a good indicator of gender...and better alongside body shape and the colours of fin edges.

 

[DoubleDutch]

As the guy so graciously said...no it isn't.
Whilst colours bordering fins used to be a reliable measure, back in the day, the work of breeders producing colour variants, (present company excepted), has significantly muddied the waters. Even fin shape may be less reliable than it once was, but until we start to get long-finned varieties, I'll say it's still a good indicator of gender...and better alongside body shape and the colours of fin edges.

For me the knowledge of "the guy" is.

 

[OliveFish05]

Meet Frodo, Merry, Pippin and Sam

Ah love those names! Such cute fish!!! I have a pleco named Gandalf and 13 Pygmy cories named Ori, Nori, Dori, Oin, Gloin, Fili, Kili, Bifur, Bofur, Bombar, Balin, Dwalin, and Thorin. Certainly love a good theme! Sorry one honey gourami went missing. They are so lovely!