Croaking Gourami Sexing

[Kiarra]

I have two Croaking Gouramis, and I don't have the slightest clue how to sex them.

One of them is larger, more brightly colored, and has a fairly large black spot on both sides of his body near his head. The other one is smaller, clearly the more submissive of the two, slightly less brightly colored, and has no spot. I haven't seen any obvious differences in fin shape while inspecting them, and I HAVE heard some croaking coming from them, so I know I have at least one male. I think it's probably the larger one. I haven't seen any nests, nor witnessed any obvious breeding behavior. The larger one used to be aggressive with the smaller one, but since they've been living with several female Betta splendens, that has changed entirely and there is no aggression whatsoever between anyone.

Am I right to suspect the larger one is a male? I'm sincerely hoping the smaller one is a girl, but I'm not counting on it.

 

[sylvia]

Well you are probably right in thinking the bigger, brighter one is male. Males also have longer anal fins and tend to develop a red edge to it. Males also tend to have more blue-edged fins than the paler females. Honestly though, the other fish might still be just an immature male. Wait a little more. If the other fish doesn't change behaviour/color/size, you probably do have a pair.

 

[Kiarra]

I hope I do. I've had them several months now, and they're quite similar in their patterns of coloring. The smaller one just doesn't have the bright, vibrant colors that the larger one has.

As for the anal fin...on the smaller one, it still comes to the long point at the distal end, but it's much closer to the body through the length of it in proportion to the body than the other one.

Thanks, sylvia. I very much appreciate your help on sexing the little fellows.

 

[Kiarra]

Don't mind the glare, or the female Bettas begging for food. I completely unintentionally caught a photo of the smaller Gourami that I suspect (and dearly hope!) is female. By the way, the water isn't green...the background is.

Can anyone confirm my suspicions? Or am I totally wrong on this one, and I have two boys?

 

[cometcattle]

I would say that fish is female, unless, like Sylvia said, it's still a juvie. It's really hard to tell. I'm still trying to figure out the sex of my third croaker.

What filter are you running?

When I've kept them in tanks with strong HOB filters, I don't recall seeing any bubble-nests. The tank mine bred in was a 29g(US) with an Eheim 2213 canister. I had the spray bar pointed down, and had virtually zero surface movement.

BTW - your female bettas are beautiful.

 

[Kiarra]

No filter because it drives the female Bettas NUTS. I just do frequent water changes. It used to stress the Gouramis out a little bit, but they're happy as can be now. They don't even get their "I'm scared!" lines during water changes anymore.

I have a suspicion that if I add live plants or at least floating plants, then they'll end up with a bubblenest. My male Gourami does blow random bubbles...I've seen him do it. But they're never cohesive.

 

[cometcattle]

I have a suspicion that if I add live plants or at least floating plants, then they'll end up with a bubble nest. My male Gourami does blow random bubbles...I've seen him do it. But they're never cohesive.

I agree about the plants. The tank mine bred in is stuffed with live plants. The male built the nest under a leaf of a huge "red rubin" sword that is growing out across the surface. I was just about to prune the plant when I noticed the nest.

I was just noticing that the male has 3 "extensions" on the end of his anal fin, with the top one being the shortest, whereas the female only has one. Unless yours is a juvie, which it doesn't look like next to your bettas, I'd say you have a pair.

With my third, I'm sure it's a male, in which case I plan on removing him unless I find a few more females. He has the 3 "extensions" and when he swims anywhere near the father or the fry, the fathers chases him to the other end of the tank.

 

[Kiarra]

Unless Gouramis are EXTREMELY long-lived, there's no way I have juvies. I've had these two for at least 3 months now, probably more than that.

That anal fin idea is very interesting. I just noticed that the larger of my two has the 3 extensions on the anal fin, and the smaller one doesn't. Very, very interesting. I never noticed that before!

Maybe I'll give them a chance at breeding using one of my Betta spawning tanks one of these days. Load up the tank with plants and let them have a go.

Thanks, CC, for the ideas. Oh, yes, and keep up with the pictures of your developing babies. I'm EXTREMELY curious!

 

[sylvia]

You may be interested to know (if you didn't already) that, actualy, gouramies do have quite a long lifespan (for a small fish) and can live to over 7 years old.

 

[Kiarra]

Wow. I didn't know that. But it's very good news that, should everything go well, I won't have to say goodbye to my little fish for a good, long time.