Classic question: Honey or Sunset?

Hello
I need your experienced eyes.
The background to this is as follows:
About 5 months ago I bought two Thicklip Gourami.
Everything is fine with the fishes, but they were never best friends. Each has always done its own thing.

But in the meantime they are very different from each other. Once the male, beautiful and huge. Builds also again and again diligently nests. With him I am quite sure that he is what he should be


Then lady or gentleman number two. He/she/it is tiny in comparison and has a completely different physique than the other. He/She has nothing to report in the tank and is only chased. The second one is not even allowed out of the bushes to eat. This went on for weeks and I separated the two today. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to make photos of the second(I have attached a few pictures - hope you can recognize at least something.). But if I go by the fin, it is a Thicklip Gourami. The fin has a hint of orange and then becomes transparent.

Because of the fact that in the store, where the two are from, honey and Thicklip Gourami were kept right next to each other, I am now uncertain.

Maybe you can tell me more
Maybe it is just a completely suppressed male? The last picture shows the other one as a comparison.


In the double picture, the head shape looks completely different for both fish or does it just look like that?

 

T.labiosa (Thicklipped)

 

Can they really hate each other so incredibly then? Then I'll let the two of them separate.

 

Can they really hate each other so incredibly then? Then I'll let the two of them separate.

If he has a bubble nest he won’t tolerate another Thick Lip nearby. Could be that they spawned and then he got really defensive.

Personally I’m not a huge fan of keeping Gourami in pairs, it doesn’t allow for them to be as social as they often want to be.
Keeping 3 or 4 plus if often better.

 

You have a pair of Thicklips. If the male is ready to breed but the female isn’t, he can become very aggressive.

 

Thank you very much for your feedback.
I think I'll add one or two friends to the two and hope that the tensions will then subside or at least be evenly distributed.

It is sometimes always a bit difficult, especially when you are always immediately told in the store " single fish or maximum pair".