Male showing off chest

[Sunnyspots]

I'm having a spot of bother getting a pair of honey gouramis. I reckon I havec2 males (again!) but wondered if their behaviour might help clarify. One is in full breeding colours and keeps floating vertically showing his chest to the other. Is this flirting or an aggressive show?

 

[Essjay]

My males did that when they wanted to entice a female - swimming with their noses in the air, so to speak. The courtship proceeded like this.
Stage #1 Male swims in front of female, nose up. Female ignores him and turns away. Male chases female.
Stage #2 Male swims in front of female, nose up. Female takes notice, then swims away. Male chases female.
Stage #3 Male swims in front of female, nose up. Female starts to follow male, then swims away. Male chases female.
Stage #4. Male swims in front of female, nose up. Female finally follows male all the way to the bubble nest and they spawn. Then male chases female away.
The female usually ended up with bits missing from the edge of her tail, but it healed quickly.

Males fighting involves them circling round each other.

Your male is in breeding condition judging by the amount and depth of colour of his black throat. If he's swimming nose up, he is displaying to a female.
Has he started building a bubble nest? One male I had never built a bubble nest, after spawning he clustered the eggs around the heater cable

 

[Sunnyspots]

My males did that when they wanted to entice a female - swimming with their noses in the air, so to speak. The courtship proceeded like this.
Stage #1 Male swims in front of female, nose up. Female ignores him and turns away. Male chases female.
Stage #2 Male swims in front of female, nose up. Female takes notice, then swims away. Male chases female.
Stage #3 Male swims in front of female, nose up. Female starts to follow male, then swims away. Male chases female.
Stage #4. Male swims in front of female, nose up. Female finally follows male all the way to the bubble nest and they spawn. Then male chases female away.
The female usually ended up with bits missing from the edge of her tail, but it healed quickly.

Males fighting involves them circling round each other.

Your male is in breeding condition judging by the amount and depth of colour of his black throat. If he's swimming nose up, he is displaying to a female.
Has he started building a bubble nest? One male I had never built a bubble nest, after spawning he clustered the eggs around the heater cable

So he certainly thinks 'it' is a 'she' and is showing off. That is what I thought at first, it just looked quite boastful. He hasn't made a bubble nest yet, but he's not really had much of a chance.
Funnily enough he spends a fair bit of time around the cables too!