Female Gouramis!!!!!

[GouramiFanatic]

I called my lfs today to see if they got their shipment of fish in today and they had! They confirmed that they had between 3 and 4 female Dwarf Flame Gouramis that were being held for me. I'm so excited to go see them! I just can't wait!

- Mandy

 

[Blucat]

Wow.... i can't get them anywhere

 

[Acer]

lucky you... im gonna have to call mine and see if the owner pulled through and got them for me.. prolly not because he wouldnt even let me pay for them in advance.. :?

 

[Toirtis]

Good for you. I am fortunate in that one local wholesaler/retailer carries them regularly.

 

[Zezmo]

Congrats! There is no doubt they can be hard to find. I have now only seen them twice. Once, very young ones in an over crowded and dirty tank. Then just recently I found some more at a nice LFS in the next town over. They had a dozen DG's...about half and half male/Female. I didnt get any as I already have a nice troop of 4 females in my tank. About a month ago I hatched a couple eggs, and now I have 2 baby fish about 1/4" long. I am not sure at what age they get color, but for now they look female. Then, last weekend I collected a couple hundred Gourami fry. I hope to raise those and sell some back to some of my lfs. I am on a personal mission to have more female available in my area. The poor DG males just don't come into thier own without the ladies around.

 

[lmw80]

oooh...females! a hard find, congrats!

 

[GouramiFanatic]

I got the females yesterday and so far all is well. I was a little surprised when I got to the pet store and saw them because they look a lot like the males. They're not nearly as colorful, but they do have some color. I thought that the females were mostly a silverish color? These fish are more of a paler orangish color. The blue in the dorsal doesn't stand out nearly as much as the males, in fact it's hardly even noticeable. Is there another way to tell them apart? The girl at the lfs was hired as their 'fish expert' and she says that they are definitely females so I took her word for it. I'm a bit worried that they're not! They're a bit smaller than the males, but so far there hasn't been any aggression or anything. All of the fish seem to be getting along quite well so far.

I'll try to bring my camera back to work this afternoon to grab a few pictures. I'll post the ones that I can get so you can see what I'm looking at.

- Mandy

 

[Zezmo]

Female Dwarf Gouramis are very distinctly different from males. Most of the time they are silver and you only see the colors when the light hits them right. Now, when mating or displaying to other females... you can see thier colors but they are still subtle. Rememer, females come in all the color styles of the males. So red dwarf females are red, wild have blue stripes..etc.

 

[Zezmo]

oh, and when my wild and electric blues were young, they were silver(really more white) with only a blue dot on thier tails.

 

[GouramiFanatic]

Here is a photo that I got with all of my Gouramis in it. I've circled the ones that were sold to me as female. I'm sorry the photo's quality isn't that great. I do have more, but I'm heading out the door and wanted to post one before I left.

The one in the bottom corner isn't as red as it appears. I think the shadows and lighting are kind of making it look 'redder' than it really is. What do you think? Did I get all girls or are the boys?

- Mandy

 

[Toirtis]

The one on the top left could be female...the others do not appear to be.

 

[Zezmo]

My vote is that at least 2 if not all 3 are female.<<Edit>> after seing the close up below, I do not think any are female <<end>> They are certainly very nice colored for being female. That may be a sign they are from a good breeder.

I was looking at my females for distinct differances from the males, other than color. I would say, that like most fish, the female are wider...more girth. Especially when they are gravid. The bodies are a slightly different shape than the males, shorter perhaps.

Of course, if the the males go mad, make nests, and mate with your new fish, then you can be certain you got some females.

 

[RoK]

Closer pics of each fish would help in determining sex. I'm quite sure the one on the bottom right is a male, not sure of the others.

 

[Toirtis]

I have yet to see any females with any real red colouring that were not hormone-fed to get that way.

Dwarf female (bottom) Blue dwarf female (top):

 

[Toirtis]

Red dwarf male and female:

 

[GouramiFanatic]

Here are some close up pics of my three new Gouramis. The 3rd photo is the one in the middle of the original photo that I posted.... The 2nd photo is the one in the top left in the original photo... The 1st photo (I'm sorry for the poor quality - this one stays in the back corner most of the time) is the bottom right in the original photo.

- Mandy

 

[Zezmo]

Those three all look Male. Not by color, but by body shape. The hump on the forehead is more pronounced on the male. The body has a longer more rectangular shape. In Toirtis' post with the Male and Female side by side you can clearly see the differance in body shape.

Nice pics Toirtis. Are those your fish? I have never seen a cobalt blue Female like that. I will have to look closer at the next tank of those fish I see. My female Flame (Orange) DG's do not have any stripes. Both of them are basicly a silver fish with a "corona" of red around the fins. Thier flanks only blush when they are displaying.

 

[Toirtis]

Not mine, although they could be...I have near identical pairs of each.