Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => General Fishkeeping advice => Topic started by: Aquamaid on March 12, 2015, 09:39:04 PM
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Just wondered if it's possible to tell what sex the Honey Gouramis are, my sister bought them as male/female but reading up it sounds like a male should have some dark markings on them, neither of these do. The yellow one in pic is smaller and the large one, (sorry really bad pic) is more grey and orange, don't know if you can see fins well enough to identify?
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The second one looks more like a red variety which are notoriously hard to sex. The yellows are a bit easier. When he is happy and old enough, a male will have darker markings on his throat, but not as extensively as the wild coloured honey gourami male. Females tend to have a darker stripe down the side of the body from nose to tail, though some females never show this.
Males have pointier dorsal fins than females. Going by this alone, I would say the yellow one is male and the red & grey one is female. Let the yellow one settle, feed them live (or frozen live) food and see if he does develop a blackish throat. It may even blow a bubble nest if there is somewhere in the tank with little surface movement eg behind a filter or spraybar.
The other sign to look for if you do have a male and female is the male displaying in front of the female - he does this by swimming vertically in front of her with his nose pointing at the surface of the water.
Swimming side by side, nose to tail, could be 2 males or 2 females sizing each other up, or it could be a pair about to spawn if you have seen the displaying first.
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Thanks Sue, it's a tricky one this, my sister has had them five or six months, don't know how old they are before they show any dark markings, but as yet they are both very pale. The yellow one does appear to have a more pointed dorsal fin, the other im not sure, i would have guessed female. I would maybe like to introduce some more of them but not sure what sex i should go for depending on what sex i have?
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If you've got at least one male, you should add females. In a 240l planted tank you could have 2 males, but because they are territorial, it is difficult to introduce a second male, as you will be putting him into an established territory. But you could have any number of females and it is usually recommended to have at least 2 females for each male to share the harassment.
I have noticed female gouramis sorting out hierarchy / differences, but I think it is rarely as violent as males competing for territory.
The gourami behaviours seem to be similar for all types of gourami.
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It depends which tank they are in. As Helen says, you'd have more options in the big tank. Honey gouramis are the least aggressive gouramis but they still have the potential to be nasty.
In the 90 litre I would risk only one more gourami, a female. If you have 2 males, adding a female might make them fight but you can remove one in that case. If you have 2 females adding a third won't cause problems. If you have a pair, adding a second female should be OK too - though in this last case keep an eye on the original female for any signs of picking on the new one. The only time I've had problems with honey gouramis is with 1m2f and the females fighting.
In the big tank, it depends if you have something to break up line of sight - tall plants, a tall bit of decor etc. They need to be tall as males hold territories on the surface. With this proviso, you could up the numbers to half a dozen. But get more females than males.
Honey gouramis come in three colours; natural, yellow and red. The natural colour is the fish in the profile on here. They are not common in shops as the female is silvery grey and who wants grey fish :-\ They are the easiest to sex as they are different colours, though males can look washed out in the stress of a shop tank. The yellows are next easiest as stressed females show the stripe along their sides. With this colour, choose the ones with stripes for females and the ones with no stripe and usually a bit more orange towards the tail.
The easiest way is to take someone with you. Choose the fish you want then send your companion to get someone to serve you while you keep your eyes on your fish. When the net goes in the tank, even the males will look washed out and it will be harder to see the difference.
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Hi Sue, the little yellow one seems to have a more pointed dorsal fin, a very orange tail and no stripe, (did you mean more orange tail and no stripe were male? ) so am i to think this is a male? the other i assume is a different variety, and has rounder dorsal, could that be female, i would like to add maybe three or four more females if they can be identified at shop (there were some with distinct black stripe along side), but i don't want to upset the harmony of the tank.
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The yellow one does sound male. The red ( or more usually red and grey) are a lot harder. The more rounded the dorsal fin, the more likely a female. I have never bothered with the red ones simply because it is so difficult to sex them.
Since you have them in your big tank, another four should be no problem. Four females would do fine; you might even get away with 1m 3f.
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Thanks Sue i will give it a go and get the yellow females, can see the black line clearly on them in shop : )
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Is there a size difference between the two? My female is noticeably larger than the smaller and more colourful male. I'm worried about my little guy as he throated up nicely for the first month I had him, but he hasn't had a dark throat for a while now. Could he be stressed by the busier fish. I do have a bully platy, but he only seems to harass the other platies...
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I think male is the little yellow one and the bigger one is a different variety and female. Yep Platys are little devils at harassing each other, mind you my Platy are all male so im not suprised they get a bit frustrated and bossy :-[
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Just saw that you said the other was bigger in the first post, doh! Mine are all males too and one is a fair bit bigger than the others.
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It's a tricky one isn't it, not sure if to add any more or just stick with the two maybe :-\
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Stick with the two for now and see how things go, it's better to add more fish later when you see how these two are getting on. Don't rush into anything.
I had some honey gouramis which I inherited with a second hand tank. Unfortunately they all died within a year, just "faded away" with no signs of disease, though I have no idea how old they were and it could have just been natural death.
One of the males used to chase one of the females into a corner. However, as soon as he moved away she would always shoot up behind him and biff him with her head. He used to look so surprised! I think if she had had a rolling pin she would have bashed him over the head with it :)
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Haha sounds comical Richard, i gather they do have a bit of an attitude, apparently in my sisters small tank the larger orange (assumed) female is the bossy one, but in my tank they are very calm and just avoid each other, when they do meet up there is little if no interest, maybe because they are different variety?
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Ha ha! That sounds hilarious Richard! They're beautiful fish, but a little shy compared to the other fish in my tank. In hindsight I think some CPD and dwarf cories might have been better tank mates.
AM - It sounds like they're enjoying the extra space in your tank. You'll be able to tell when the male is happy as his throat will darken. I'm pretty sure the red robin and the yellow honey would happily mate if they felt happy enough in the tank. You might end up with some orange babies!
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The red variety does grow bigger. I've even seen it suggested that they aren't full blood honeys but a hybrid with dwarf gouramis - I'm not even sure that's possible!
Breeding behaviour is amusing to watch, you can read human emotions into their actions.
The male swims nose up in front of the female - aren't I a good specimen of manhood, come breed with me
She turns away - I'm not interested
He persists, she eventually starts to follow him a short distance then swims away - what do you want to show me, that's a bubble nest, what kind of girl do you think I am, I'm off!
He still persists, she swims right up to the nest before swimming off - hmmm, it s a rather nice bubble nest but I'm still not sure
They finally spawn - oh all right then, you are a nice specimen of manhood and that is a very nice bubble nest......
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Well they certainly seem a happy pair, in my sisters small tank she said the big (maybe female) used to bully the little male, they kept well apart for a day or so in mine, but now they are best of friends, so who knows, and if i get a bubble nest will that confirm male and female or could male build nest regardless?
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A male will build a bubble nest regardless. He has to be ready, who knows when a nice egg ready female will come swimming by........
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Aww so that doesn't help with my sexing issue then :-[ lol oh well as long as they stay as happy as they are : )
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It does in a way. If you get a bubble nest, you will know for definite that you have at least one male! So you'll know to buy (more) females. If you have two males, you may find that you get a second bubble nest at the other end of the tank. If your sister's tank was a lot smaller than yours, I don't think the dominant male would allow the other one to build or keep a nest. But your big tank should have enough space to enable both of them do their thing.
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I'll keep watching, now they are out and about a lot, mmm not sure i want anymore now, they are eating my Tiger Lotus and anything else they fancy >:( lol
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It's quite unusual for gouramies to eat plants. Are you sure they're not just eating the diatoms?
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My honey gourami certainly enjoy eating plants. They eat my elodea densa almost as fast as it grows!
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It might therefore be a good idea to give the gouramies some other vegetable matter to eat, the usual suggestions being blanched courgette or cucumber. Some fish need vegetable matter in their diet and will usually take the easiest they can find. Of course, they could just be hungry, I do feel sometimes people are so obsessed with the worry about "polluting" their tank with uneaten food that they feed too little, or not often enough (which is not always the same thing).
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Well i made today a day of "peas" :rotfl: i usually do in the platy tank and not much gets left behind, so no worries. They do seem to graze the diatoms so they are welcome to stay, but i'm starting to think of them as "aquatic cows" so do i want a herd i wonder lol
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I often give my fish peas and French beans, though they don't seem fussed on cucumber. Getting any food to my gouramis is difficult with the greedy platies and tetra in the tank though. I'm tempted to try and grow my own daphnia as a live food source but haven't had the courage to give it a go yet...