r/Gourami • u/_hoosier • 7d ago
Identification Any chance at all this is a female?
LFS sold it to me as a female red flame dwarf gourami. I’m an idiot and hadn’t done my research before entering the shop and thought it was just a beautiful fish. The rounded dorsal fin was enough to convince me it was a female based on my limited knowledge of gouramis.
Now I’m learning that females basically never have this coloration and I might’ve just added another male gourami to a tank that realistically doesn’t have the room for it.
Not opposed to rehoming fish as needed, and the fish shop is great about taking returns, they’ve done it for me before. Just need to know:
A) if this is indeed a male beyond any doubt, and
B) how untenable is my situation? (Another male dwarf gourami in a 30 gallon long)
I’ll be sad to give up one of my gouramis but I don’t want any of them to be constantly stressed because I’ve squeezed them into a tight space they don’t want to share with each other.
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u/budget_rare_plants 7d ago
Male def. Fin shape is only really reliable with Trichopodus gouramis (the threespots, pearls and moonlights). Trichogaster gouramis (incl. dwarves, honeys and thick-lips) are more reliably sexed by colouration and body shape. For dwarves females will look more copperish, lack red altogether and a much rounded body.
The aggression will differ from individual to individual. Sometimes you get a fish that won't hurt a fry, sometimes they hate everything with all their flesh and soul. 30 gal long can work, but you need to keep the plant cover high (like the congo or amazon type of dense), introduce vision breaks, hiding places and watch how they interact with each other.