I am a new fish keeper, having started a twenty gallon planted tank a few months ago with some neon tetra and zebra danio. Having fun so far, and decided to add honey gourami to the mix this week.
Absolutely love them but am having a hard time figuring out if they are male or female despite reading several guides :( Maybe because they are still young. I was aiming for a male and two females and I think that's what I have but not sure.
Can anyone tell from these pictures? Apologies for algae---slowly working on balancing this tank.
Any help appreciated.
Many years ago, I kept a colony of a deep golden yellow strain of honey gouramis procured from House of Tropicals. These are definitely one of my favorite species. I love their peaceful and curious nature. One of mine was very naughty. He would repeatedly swim up into a jet lifter and get lodged there. Luckily for him, he never got seriously injured by his hi-jinks.
They were easy to sex once they hit sexual maturity. As Frank said, the females become much rounder, and the males turn gorgeous technicolor reds/oranges. Good luck with them.
Gouramis are normally easy to sex. Males are usually more colorful and have a noticeable point to posterior end their dorsal fin compared to females. And when the females are mature, they are normally ripe with eggs and so their bellies are round or swollen compared to the males.