gizngoly

i recently bought 2 blue paradise gouramies from a walmart. i cant tell if they are males or females.

they are colorful to me, but not nearly as colorful as some of the pics i have seen online.

the males are suposed to have pointed tails while the females have rounded ones. these are somewhere in between >.>

males are supposed to be aggressive towards one another. i picked out these two, because they were very friendly with eachother in the tank at the store and i have even seen them "kiss" like kissing gouramies. lately they have been swimming around eachother in circles like they are suposed to do when they spawn. neither has tried to build a nest yet.

i will try to put some pics on here (i'm new to this). they look identical except that one is slightly larger than the other (and sometimes i can't tell them appart that way either). some of the pics were taken when they were relaxed and the more colorful ones were taken while they were eating.

Attached Images

	fish.JPG (71.7 KB, 46 views)
	fish2.JPG (55.5 KB, 44 views)
	fish3.JPG (81.8 KB, 44 views)
	fish4.JPG (47.3 KB, 43 views)

MissMTS

Welcome to Fishlore

I think you may have two males. The "kissing" that you are referring to is actually mouthlocking and a form of aggression. I would take one of them back and see if you can get a female. You may also want to add a few more tetras to your tank since tetras are schooling fish.

Also, I see in your aquarium info that you don't know about the nitrogen cycle. I suggest that you read the article about it that is posted on fishlore. It is very helpful and will really help you maintain the long term health of your fish and tank

gizngoly

i don't know if i would call it mouthlocking. they don't actually touch when they do it, just have their faces close to each other. sometimes they stay at seperate ends of the tank and sometimes they just sit next to each other. the only pic i have to go by is the one on wikipedia. they look just like the female in that one (except the one on wikipedia is blue and yellow. mine are... kinda rainbowy). i am going to go to the pet store next time i am in town and see if they have any so i can compare them.

i'm sure i'm not the only one confused by the nitrogen cycle >.> i read the link. if the tank has been up for a year, it should already have nitrogen in it? i had a feeder goldfish (who had gotten about 8 inches long) and a pleco in it for a year. the goldfish recently died and we put the paradise gouramies and the tetra in there. there are 4 live plants.

gizngoly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pa...nd_male_02.jpg

not sure if it worked or not, but that's the pic i was going by =D

Lucy

Welcome to Fish Lore
If your tank has had fish in it for a year it's most likely cycled.
Here's a basic explantion of it:
When you start your tank.....
First your ammonia will rise from fish waste and left over food.
In a few weeks bacteria will begin to develop and you'll see the nitrite levels rise and the ammonia levels start to drop.
After a few more weeks another type of bacteria will begin to develop and you'll see the nitrate levels rise and the nitrite levels drop.
When you having readings of 0 on both ammonia and nitrites with some nitrates (5-10) showing, your cycle is done.

MissMTS was just concerned because your aquarium info indicates you don't know about it.
Now that you've added new fish, it would be a good idea to check you ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels to be sure the cycle is still in tact.

Your gouramis are beautiful, good luck with your tank.

gizngoly

alright... i've had 3 people from 2 different pet stores that have experience with paradise fish tell me they are pretty sure i have females. i watched some videos on youtube of paradise fish and the females do have small tips on their tails. they aren't completely rounded like the other gouramies. thanks for the replies =)

angelfish220

There color is probably dulled a little bit from stress from a new tank, making them look female. They'll color up soon!

gizngoly

yep. that's what one of the pet store guys that has paradise gouramies told me. he said not to go by color because they constantly change. he said just look at the tail fins and that mine looked like females full of eggs.