Mature Gourami?

[Valmyre]

Hiya, I purchased a Honey a couple of days ago , the LFS told me that it was a male though i think it looks like a female as it has hardly any colour, it is a whitish/sandy colour (very pretty though) and about 1.5 inches. I have read that juvenile Honeys male/female are the same colour but when mature the male develops more colouration and the female remains the same. The question is, is a Honey mature when they reach the max size?

 

[karlp]

It sounds like you've got the less common variety (rather than the 'gold honey' variety many shops sell). These are beautiful little fish when they get their colour and often overlooked in the shop where they appear pale and colourless.

You could well have a male. Any chance you could post a picture ?

In general honey gouramis colour up better if you feed them with a good varied diet, keep them in a planted tank and also keep them in pairs, so that the male colours up to display to the female.

The male looks like this when in colour, whereas the female remains fairly drab:

They should colour up quite quickly if you can give them the right conditions (e.g, a few weeks).

 

[Valmyre]

hi Fishy mad,

Thanks for the info, i'll try and get a photo soon

 

[sylvia]

The fish in the picture is a color morph of the honey (note red coloration and blue-green dorsal). 'Normal' honey males are yellow. Females are creamy-brown with a horizontal stripe. Yes, at 1.5 they are mature. BUT, the blue-black underside males develop may only be displayed when the fish is in breeding condition or even only when it's actualy breeding.

 

[Valmyre]

hi Sylvia,

The Honey i have is a creamy brown sandy colour but has no horizontal stripe, so not sure still whether it is a male or female.
Thing is i was plannng on getting a female or 2 if it is a male, but as it does not show the male colouring not sure what to do.

 

[sylvia]

Can you post a picture? Though less reliable, body shape and fin shape can also be used to determine sex. Also, the coloring could simply be attributed to it being a color morph - not allf emales have the horizontal stripe and some males never develop the black.

 

[Valmyre]

Can you post a picture? Though less reliable, body shape and fin shape can also be used to determine sex. Also, the coloring could simply be attributed to it being a color morph - not allf emales have the horizontal stripe and some males never develop the black.

Aye, i'll get a pic soon... thanks for ye help