Gouramis doing what??????

[Rory Waliser]

So up until this point, I was almost sure both of these fish were males. I saw them doing this today. I have never bred my fish, but I have absolutely no clue what they could be doing besides that. I have a couple questions:

1. How do I sex these? They are gold honey gouramis. They seem to be about the same color, and I am not quite sure how to sex them by looking at their fins.

2. There is no bubble nest in the tank at this point. Will the male (whichever turns out to be the male) make one after they have bred? Is it possible that they hatch eggs without using a bubble nest? Could they have a nest hidden somewhere under one of the plants at the bottom of the tank?

 

Apologies for the bad quality, but this is the only time I was able to catch them doing it on video.

 

 

 

Edited April 15, 2021 by Rory Waliser

[Kirsten]

"Doing it" is right, I think! Gouramis can be very hard to sex from external features. I wonder if there's a bubble nest in some dark corner you're not able to see or under a leaf or something. If not, I wonder if they're just young and trying a few dry runs, for lack of a better term.

[Rory Waliser]

Interesting. I'll have to keep a look out for nests in there. Ive got a couple ozelot sword plants that might be able to hold a nest under their leaves.

[Rory Waliser]

Yeah so funny thing.

The one I thought was for sure a male this whole time just popped out a bunch of eggs an hour ago. She is brighter colored than the real male who is now trying to frantically keep the eggs floating on the surface with no bubble nest. Was for SURE not prepared for this so fast, but i have a plan lol.

[Rory Waliser]

Update

They had fry and they are about an inch long now. Not what I was expecting but they look GREAT in the tank.

[laritheloud]

For future reference, after a ton of research I've realized that male honey gouramis have lemon yellow 'mohawks' on their dorsal fins, while female fins are rimmed with orange. We have one male and two females in my tank, and he's started in on building a nest. 🙂 

EDIT: Congrats on the fry! They must be so adorable!

Edited July 9, 2021 by laritheloud

[JPF]

So...my honey gouramis just bred today without building a nest...I didn't think it was possible but Gilbert was clearly protecting his territory from my female  honey gourami Finley, and collecting eggs. He seems to just be sticking them in the floating bunch of water wisteria. Apparently, they do not need a bubble nest. 

 

[BriannesFishFam]

Yes not all fish build a nest, bettas most of the time build them. With gouramis there can be no nest and they stick them on the plants or there can be a small to large one with bad to excellent quality. Anything works it's just a matter of the males picking the eggs up in the bettas or gouramis. The females develop eggs and the eggs are fertilized when the males puts them in his mouth a coats them. 

[ARMYVET]

On 4/14/2021 at 8:30 PM, Kirsten said:

I wonder if they're just young and trying a few dry runs

I remember those days...🤣