Dwarf Gourami .. Female or male?

[Hollyhocks]

Hello,
I'm new to this group.

I wonder if you could tell me, is my dwarf gourami a female or male?

We think female from the fin shape, but she can be quite colourful in some lighting.

(Both photos are the same fish)

Thanks in advance

 

[coralbandit]

Going with male 99% .
Very few females are available usually due to their lack of color and DGI [Dwarf Gourami Iridovirus].

 

[goatnad]

I think male also. You will rarely see females being sold.

 

[Hollyhocks]

Male? Even though the top fin is all rounded?

 

[goatnad]

its not really that rounded though. its still kind of pointed. here is a picture to show the difference between male and female. the fins on the female will be very rounded.

 

[Hollyhocks]

Ah yes, I see the difference now!
Can I keep more than 1 male? If not, who are good tank mates?

My LFS said it would be fine with my otos, guppies and shrimp. But after only a few hours, I had 3 dead guppies so I seperated it into a different tank.

 

[goatnad]

also like coral said the females are very dull in color. female is on the right in this photo.


http://www.jmc-aquatics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Dwarf-Gourami-Pair-600x390.jpg

 

[goatnad]

Ah yes, I see the difference now!
Can I keep more than 1 male? If not, who are good tank mates?

My LFS said it would be fine with my otos, guppies and shrimp. But after only a few hours, I had 3 dead guppies so I seperated it into a different tank.

typically no you shouldnt keep multiple males together. they will become aggressive and one will probably die. now with that said it is possible to keep some male gouramis together but a couple of things need to be in place.

1. you need enough room for the 2 of them to claim their own areas
2. you need alot of places to hide



i kept 2 blue gouramis in a 60g tank for probably 2 years. alot of aggression but it was heavily planted so alot of places to escape to. i wouldnt recommend blue gouramis. alot of people keep multiple pearl gouramis together without problem. i prefer to keep them all seperate just to make sure there are no issues.



what size tank do you have? is it planted and if so is it heavily planted? do you have decorations like caves and such for hiding places?


here are some types of gouramis i keep or have kept and what fish i kept them with.


red flame gourami
serpae tetras
white cloud minnows
leopard danios
neon tetras
pleco


blue gourami
rainbowfish
serpae tetras
angelfish
marbled hatchet fish
siamese algae eater


pearl gourami
neon tetras
black neon tetras

 

[Hollyhocks]

It ideally was going to be in my big tank, however after the few deaths I moved it into a 30 litre.

(I am not very familiar with gallons)
I have fake plants and a cave which it seems to be happy withn.

I understand I won't be able to put much in with it, being a fairly small tank.

 

[Hollyhocks]

Is there a difference between rhe colour of the fish (blur/neon/pearl/ref flame/honey) and the type of fish that it is? If that makes sense. Is there a difference in their care/food?

 

[goatnad]

Is there a difference between rhe colour of the fish (blur/neon/pearl/ref flame/honey) and the type of fish that it is? If that makes sense. Is there a difference in their care/food?

not really sure what you mean by different type of fish based on colour. could you word it differently or try to explain what you mean?


for care there are very slight differences in each type of gourami but over all every gourami i have kept has adapted or was suited for the water i have here.



blue gourami/gold
temp 72-82
ph 6-8.8
kh 4-18


honey gourami/neon and most other dwarf species

temp 72-82
ph 6-7.5
kh 4-10


chocolate gourami
temp 75-86
ph 6-7.6
kh 2-4


pearl gourami
temp 75-86
ph 6.5-8
kh 5-18


for the most part they fall in the same ranges for temp, ph and kh with a few like chocolate and pearl gouramis liking just slightly higher temps. now for feeding i havent found any difference in any gourami. they all need flake food that has a bit of algae in it as that is partly what they eat in nature and they also need a meaty diet like bloodworms, brine shrimp and tubifex worms. ive even given mine common earthworms just to see if they would eat it and sure enough they did. i feed flakes once per day and every 3 days i do a small feeding of frozen bloodworms in the morning and a small feeding of frozen brine shrimp in the afternoon.

 

[Hollyhocks]

not really sure what you mean by different type of fish based on colour. could you word it differently or try to explain what you mean?


for care there are very slight differences in each type of gourami but over all every gourami i have kept has adapted or was suited for the water i have here.



blue gourami/gold
temp 72-82
ph 6-8.8
kh 4-18


honey gourami/neon and most other dwarf species

temp 72-82
ph 6-7.5
kh 4-10


chocolate gourami
temp 75-86
ph 6-7.6
kh 2-4


pearl gourami
temp 75-86
ph 6.5-8
kh 5-18


for the most part they fall in the same ranges for temp, ph and kh with a few like chocolate and pearl gouramis liking just slightly higher temps. now for feeding i havent found any difference in any gourami. they all need flake food that has a bit of algae in it as that is partly what they eat in nature and they also need a meaty diet like bloodworms, brine shrimp and tubifex worms. ive even given mine common earthworms just to see if they would eat it and sure enough they did. i feed flakes once per day and every 3 days i do a small feeding of frozen bloodworms in the morning and a small feeding of frozen brine shrimp in the afternoon.

Apologies for not making myself clear. You hit the nail on the head though. I meant the differences between the different types of Gourami.

Thank you for explaining all of that though.

As for the bloodworms, are dried ones okay?

 

[Anonymous]

I need help telling the difference between male and female powder blue dwarf gourami. I'm pretty sure that he/she is a male but his stomach is swollen a if he was pregnant. The swelling just started yesterday he used to look like this.

 

[Leopardshark20]

I’m 99% sure it’s a male. The fin has a point, even though it’s rounded at the tip.