Sparkling Gourami

[Dave_31]

Heya guys and galls.

I have 4 Sparking gourami's in one tank, and 2 of them keep displaying to each other.... is this just 2 males or a male and female?

What they do is circle one-another fully flared, the they flick each other with there tails, this lasts a few mins max.

Is there anyway 2 determine which is of what sex?

 

[sylvia]

Well the circling sounds like fighting but the tail-flicking is a mating behaviour and the flaring applies to both

If you can sex them and they are both male, they are fighting. Otherwise, they are courting.

Sexing them can be done by looking at the dorsal and anal fins on males and trying to compare these to the females'. The males' are usualy pointier and longer. However, a more reliable way is to shine a strong light through them. You should be able to see that the sex organs (ovaries) in females are further back, towards the tail, than in the males. It takes some getting used to but eventualy you get the hang of it.

 

[Dave_31]

Thanks for the reply sylvia!!

The light method didnt work to well as it just spooked my fish a little to much for my liking.

The fins are a little hard to tell aswell

But i found this information on the net:

"I was given a good tip on sexing them which so far has proved correct. The males have a bold row of reddish brown spots above the 'stripe' which runs along their side. In the females this row of spots is absent or insignificant."

Is there any truth to this? if there is i have atleast one female in four... maybe two of each.

 

[sylvia]

I don't know how reliable that would be as both sexes have the spots to some extent though maybe they are a bit brighter on males and less so on females. During breeding time, both sexes' colors intensify and young, immature or stressed fish would have faded colors regardless of sex. So I'm sure you could work out the sexes if you own the fish for a while and can compare their colors as well as behaviour but I would not use the color or markings alone.

With the light scaring them, have you tried placing it somewhere at an angle to the tank (on a chair or something) and leave it on for a while. They should get used to it and then you can just wait for them to swim into the light to ascertain the sex. Using food to encourage them out into the open will also help and do it while the tank lights are still on (incase you turned them off first) as the fish need not be in total darkness for you to see the organs.