Opaline Gourami

[ESeck]

I'm looking for some help. I bought two opaline gouramis. I think I bought a male and a female but i don't have much experience sexing them. I'd like to breed them if they are male and female. Can you please look at the pics and let me know how I did?

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[Andy Sager]

I can't really tell from these pics.
Males will have a longer dorsal fin than females and it usually comes to a point as well. A female's dorsal will be more rounded. Also, you should see the female's belly being larger than the males when she is old enough to breed. They get full of eggs which makes them easier to sex as well.
Hope this helps

 

[Kione]

I also bought a pair of opalines and would love to breed them but the shopkeepers told me that its very difficult to sex them when young, that it will be more visible later on.


Kione

 

[ESeck]

I bought the two with the most distinctly different finnage and am hoping for the best. If you end up with two of the same let me know. If we have opposites, we can orchestrate a trade.

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[Kione]

That's an idea but I am in the UK


Kione

 

[ESeck]

I've been doing some more research, but thew seems to be a lot of misinformation out there. Does anyone have experience with these that can give me an idea of how big these guys will need to be in order to determine the sex?

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[Andy Sager]

Usually, the size you get them at any pet shop is good enough to sex them. The dorsal fin is the key. Also, look for plump females from the start and you should be good to go.

 

[ESeck]

So, after a trade, I ended up with a male and a female. About a month ago, I got them to spawn. I was amazed how tiny the fry were. They are now about the size of newborn platy fry, a few are a bit bigger than that. They spawned while I was away for the weekend, so I didn't have proper food prepared for them. I ended up outting flake food in a coffee grinder and turning it into powder. Amazingly, I have managed to keep a large number of fry alive with this method.

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[brennae]

Did you get baby brine shrimp? It comes frozen and you thaw it or you can hatch it yourself

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[ESeck]

Baby brine shrimp was way too big for them when they were first hatched. They needed daphnia or green water to get started. I have since given them baby brine shrimp.

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[brennae]

Microworms might work next time as well. They're very small


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