Gourami Habits

Fizban · Nov 4, 2005

i have herd a bit about how to tell the males from the females by the red fin and the yellow fin difrents i still find it hard to tell infact i dont have a clue :look:

i have a fair few difrent typs of Gourami now and they all get along and had some breed a bit back thats why i wanted to try breeding the moonlight Gourami i have 3 not shore if there male or female 1 is realy big well bigger then all my other typs of Gourami i have 1 Dwarf Gouramis 3 blue Gouramis 3 golden Gouramis and anuth 2 typs not shore what typ of Gourami they are but the 3 moonlight Gourami are what i need help on i have a anuth tank for breeding at the moment the big moonlight Gourami has been grabing hole plants and takeing them up and back the tank in its mouth it looks funny and some times it put a few in the corner of the tank i thort this was the female one ???dose any one no any thing of there habits that might be able to tell me more and maby any info you think i might want to no

Miss Dib Dabs · Nov 4, 2005

Links to pics of the blighters is always a good start.That we can try and judge whether they are male or female ourselves. Best way is by the obvious difference in the top fin. It's much more rounded on a female and pointed and generally longer on a male (someone correct me if I'm wrong since I'm a 3 spot lady).
They will bit pieces of plants off to aid with a bubblenest if there isn't much where they want it.
Hugs,
P.
P.S

oz toy cut short but I'm late getting my daughter!

Fizban · Nov 4, 2005

thanks oh this the first time i have used a message board so this may seem like a stuiped qestion i dont have a web site and im not shore how to put pics on here? :huh:

.............oh as for the top fin i have herd of that way but again i have a hard time working that i thort with my 2 3spot gourami that i had 2 female but well they had babys and i think the bigger one was the female i think they were both 3 spots one looked the same makeing and all but one was a green color and the other a brown kind..................and as for the moon light ones its kind of the same i think they may be all male but im hope im wrong again

Miss Dib Dabs · Nov 5, 2005

To add pics you need have the photos on your computer then have an account at somewhere like www.photobucket.com (There are other sites but I use photobucket and it's very easy) upload the photos into your account there and simply link. Photobucket shows you the links below the pic so you only have to copy and paste the link over and there you have it!

You obviously have a male and female 3 spot for them to have bred or there's a scientific issue there. :lol:

But do post pics of them all so we can help you out and see if we can't guess for you. :nod:

Hugs,
P.

sylvia · Nov 5, 2005

Although there is a difference in color in the ventral (feeler-like) fins of the male moonlight as opposed to the female, the difference (males have red/orange ones, the females' are yellow) is only obvious when the fish are in breeding condition.
As for using the dorsal fin to sex them, in moonlights the shape difference is not at all obvious most of the time.
You can also use body shape to sex them - males are more elongated or stream-lined in appearance. Females have an obvious buldging/plump look around their belly area when full of eggs and you can also try looking at the fish from above - females are wider than males.
Also, behaviour can be useful as the male is likely to chase females around. He is also more likely to protect a certain 'territory' or area in the tank than the females are.
Bulding a bubblenest (your fish sounds like he's doing this) is also usualy a male behaviour and you can be almost certain the fish pulling bits of plant around is male.
Also, if all your fish are the same age, the bigger one is most likely to be males as the males end up larger than the females when fully grown.
Having said all that, posting a picture is probably a good start.

Now a note on your large list of gouramies - I don't know how experienced you are with them and the fact that you aren't sure what some of them are suggests you have not done all that much research on them.
Post pictures of the unknown fish so they can be identified as well.
Back to my point, many gouramies won't get along and crowding them is not a good idea. they may be fine while young but will turn on each other once they reach sexual maturity. Unless you have all the fish you mentioned in seperate tanks or in one very large tank, be aware that you may have problems in future.

Fizban · Nov 5, 2005

i will try to get some pics soon as for not noing much when i first got them well most of them i would be about a year and half ago now and at the time i did not no about the fighting problems they can have and i bleave most are at sexual maturity i no for 100% 3 are and thats cuz 2 had some frys and the big moonlight gouramis is realy big and i dont think hes changed in size much from when i got him as for the others most are the size or near the size of the 2 that had there babys .......i have been researching on them from time to time at the start when i got them the only thing i had herd was they were a good fish to have for just starting out cuz there hard to kill as for tell wich are girls and boys well i no how your ment to tell but im not any good at it .............and all of them love each other cuz i feed them pellets and flakes they all gather together to eat and dont chase each other away to try geting more food