I have been in fish stores in several cities in the US, that have a lot of pearl gouramis in one tank--and not one is male. They all have short, rounded dorsal fins. I realize that when they are immature, it's hard to tell. But I have seen tanks full of large pearl gouramis--and not one is male.
I recently bought an immature one, and hope it will turn out to be a male. I try to go by the length of the dorsal fin, and shape. If it appears to be a little pointed, and slightly longe than the other gouramis' dorsla fins, I hope it will be a male. My success rate with this system over the years is about 50%.
Does anyone else know why male pearl gouramis are so hard to come by? Are they being bred in water with some chemicals that make the young fish all turn out to be female? Is there any surer way to determine which young gouramis will be male and which female? Thanks.
I recently bought an immature one, and hope it will turn out to be a male. I try to go by the length of the dorsal fin, and shape. If it appears to be a little pointed, and slightly longe than the other gouramis' dorsla fins, I hope it will be a male. My success rate with this system over the years is about 50%.
Does anyone else know why male pearl gouramis are so hard to come by? Are they being bred in water with some chemicals that make the young fish all turn out to be female? Is there any surer way to determine which young gouramis will be male and which female? Thanks.