Male or female honey gouramis?

[JohnH]

Hi,

I bought 2 gouramis, and supposedly there is meant to be 1 male and 1 female. The person who fished them out didn’t really know what they were looking for, and I’m unsure as well. Please let me know if you know the gender of these fish. I think the larger one is female and the smaller one is male, but the stronger colours on the supposed female make me unsure.
Thanks.

 

[Essjay]

Hi, welcome to the forum

I had this colour variety of honey gourami a few years ago, and based on mine I would say that in the photo with the two fish, the one on the left is female - there is a hint of a darker line running from nose to tail. The fish on the right could be either male or female - males usually have an orange tail end, but that doesn't mean it's another female as it could just as easily be a paler coloured male.
How long have you had them? If it's only a few days, give them time to settle in. A male will probably start to develop a dark throat once he's settled.
And if these two do turn out to be 2 females, you can always add a male later (look for the fish with the most orange tail end)


I know you are supposed to be able to tell from the fin shape, but this never worked with my fish - there was no difference that I could see but I definitely had a male and female as they bred.

 

[JohnH]

Hi,

They’re a few days old so I’ll give them some time to settle in.

Thanks for the help!

 

[AmandaN]

image source

Hopefully this diagram helps you some. It is pretty tough to tell with these fish most of the time.

 

[Essjay]

My honey gourami male never had long pointy fins. Looking at photos, they don't. The way to tell with honeys is supposed to be the angle at which the anal fin attaches to the body, but I couldn't see any difference with mine.
You can often tell males from females by the way they behave. Females spend most of their time looking for food, while males spend a lot of their time patrolling the tank.

 

[JohnH]

image source

Hopefully this diagram helps you some. It is pretty tough to tell with these fish most of the time.

Thanks!

 

[JohnH]

My honey gourami male never had long pointy fins. Looking at photos, they don't. The way to tell with honeys is supposed to be the angle at which the anal fin attaches to the body, but I couldn't see any difference with mine.
You can often tell males from females by the way they behave. Females spend most of their time looking for food, while males spend a lot of their time patrolling the tank.

My honey gourami male never had long pointy fins. Looking at photos, they don't. The way to tell with honeys is supposed to be the angle at which the anal fin attaches to the body, but I couldn't see any difference with mine.
You can often tell males from females by the way they behave. Females spend most of their time looking for food, while males spend a lot of their time patrolling the tank.

Thanks!