Male or female honey gourami

[lonksenopa]

I recently bought a pair of honey gourami from my local fish store hoping to get a male and female pair. I know my other one is 100% male as his belly is turning black and he's been building a bubble nest. I'm not sure about this one though as it seems rather timid. I assumed it was female as it has that black line going across it's body and lighter coloration but from what I've heard juvenile males can have it too so I'm not too sure if this is actually a female

 

[Andy Sager]

Unfortunately, with all the inbreeding these fish have gone through to get new colors, coloration is not always a guaranteed way of sexing the fish. In Gouramis, males have a longer dorsal fin that comes to a point when fully extended. The fish in the picture has a shorter more rounded dorsal fin so it's most likely a female.

 

[lonksenopa]

Unfortunately, with all the inbreeding these fish have gone through to get new colors, coloration is not always a guaranteed way of sexing the fish. In Gouramis, males have a longer dorsal fin that comes to a point when fully extended. The fish in the picture has a shorter more rounded dorsal fin so it's most likely a female.

So she did end up being female and they actually just spawned! Any advice on what to feed the fry? Or is baby brine shrimp ok for them like it is for guppy fry

 

[Andy Sager]

Chalk one up for the old breeder.
You may need to remove the female from the tank if the male is chasing her. Usually just the males care for the eggs and fry. You'll also want to lower the water to only about 4"-6" high and lower any filters or air bubbles to a very slow rate because once the fry hatch, they are very fragile to movement.
Gourami fry are a bit tougher than the Guppy fry. When they become free swimming, ( about 3-4 days after hatching) they need very small food. I like to use infusoria but there is a commercial food called Liquifry for egglayers. ( Interpet - Liquifry Food for Egglayers 25ml ) (You'll also want to remove the male at this point. His job is done. )They will eat that for about a week or so before they are big enough for newly hatched brine shrimp nuplii. Now for the kicker :^s, about 10-14 days old, they will finish developing their labyrinth organ. The air above them needs to be humid during this development so it's best if you cover the full tank with saran wrap or something similar and keep the tank as closed up as possible to keep the humidity in. Use something like a turkey baster to squirt the food in so that you only need to open a very small spot in the wrap and can close it quickly. Most deaths with Gourami, Bettas or other labyrinth fish fry happens at this stage. When the fry are about 3-4 weeks old, you should see them coming to the surface for air. Once they are in this phase, you can also try to feed powdered fry foods. If they take the food, you can open up the saran wrap so that you can clean out any excess uneaten food. From this point, it's just about feeding and cleaning water since the filtering will be minimal. Once the fry are growing steadily, you can raise the filtering volume while they grow out.

Good luck with the spawn and keep us posted on your experience.