Dwarf Gourami... Sex Change?!

Could it have changed sex?

  • Yes

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  • It's possible

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nicoleandthebee

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This Easter we bought a male & female dwarf gourami to add to our 100lt tank.

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We already had 5 glowlights 3 corys & 5 cardinals but they all got on very well - both gouramis were really peaceful until Mr Gourami started to make bubble nests!

Mrs Gourami was pretty uninterested but Mr Gourami gradually got more aggressive & was constantly chasing her & scaring all the tetras - we noticed they were keeping to one small corner of the tank and he had the rest!

One morning we found a dead cory and we thought Mr Gourami might have attacked it so we decided to move him into our other tank which was housing new fish (6 rummys and a new female Gourami that we were hoping would take some of the attention off the original female...)

Now Mr Gourami's on his own and the two females are together with the rest. Apart from being a bit smaller the new gourami was exactly like Mrs Gourami (unfortunately we don't have any photos). Now "she" looks like this!

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I said we must have bought a boy, maybe they don't get their strong colours til they're older... But apparantly (so I've read) young females can change into males... :blink: Does anyone else think this is possible? It's really weird! And how we kinda have situation one on our hands again :rolleyes:
 
the pic on the left looks like a stressed male, and not a female. You can still see the hint of blue and red which you would not see on a female.
 
:blink:

Oh dear god... I really hope this isn't true! I do see what you mean, I just assumed this particular variety of gourami all had stripes, the males just being more prominent...
 
It's definitely a stressed or sub-dominant male; females are almost completely silver; you may see the tiniest hint of stripes as they move and and catch the light, but no-where near as strong as in your fish.

Freshwater fish (there are some marines that really do) can't change sex; it's just that some males are late developers, or retain their juvenile or feminine colouration becuase of the presence of other, more dominant males.
 
It's definitely a stressed or sub-dominant male; females are almost completely silver; you may see the tiniest hint of stripes as they move and and catch the light, but no-where near as strong as in your fish.

Freshwater fish (there are some marines that really do) can't change sex; it's just that some males are late developers, or retain their juvenile or feminine colouration becuase of the presence of other, more dominant males.
+1
 
Thanks for al the replies guys! In a way it's good to have a consensus, on the other hand it means we have 3 males now...!

I think the stressed male might also be confused (or sending out the wrong signal) as both the definite males have been very interested in him! :lol:
 
Yes, everybody is right about the sub-dominant male. I don't know how about in your area, but for us it is very hard to get females. Apparently nobody wants them, so they do not get imported. I would check it with my lfs whether they only get males in or not. If they do get females, they are mostly more than happy to change a male for a female...
 
I brought a pair of discus from somebody who had them sold to him as a breeding pair, which didnt breed, i always thought the 'female' was a female and they just wasnt a pair, but after buying one from chens asking for a female i can see the obvious difference in fin shape so the 'female' was just a sub dominant male, by the looks of it, obviously unless theres any spawning i cant say for certain im no expert, but sounds like your problem :blush:
 

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