Why did my gouramis lose their stripe?

[ILikeFish311]

I have two honey gouramis, and when I first got them they had a horizontal black stripe on both of them, one more prominent than the other. I’ve had them for a little more than four months, and now their stripes are pretty much gone. I have seen many posts that have said it can be determined by gender, and both of mine are males, but I’m not sure! I’ve also seen that it is from stress, so please help (Unfortunately I don’t have a picture from when they did have their stripes, but I have a picture of each of them)

 

[A201]

The displaying of stripes on a fish is, more often than not, an indicator of stress.
Looks like your Gouramis have acclimated to their new home and are displaying their relaxed colors.

 

[Mermegan]

It could also be that they were showing their breeding dress which is a black stripe when you bought them and they aren’t at the moment. You could look up pics of what the breeding coloring for honey gouramis looks like to be sure.

 

[Hellfishguy]

Both of your fish are female, and their breeding colors are pretty much the same as their normal coloration.

 

[ILikeFish311]

Both of your fish are female, and their breeding colors are pretty much the same as their normal coloration.

Are you sure? I’m almost positive the worker said they were both male and I’ve look at pictures (I could be wrong)

 

[Hellfishguy]

Female honeys have a narrow orange edge on their dorsal fins, which yours have. Males have lemon yellow dorsals. Females are also plumper than males.

 

[chromedome52]

Just to note, these are Golden Honey Gouramis. The only time the Gold form shows the black stripe is when they are stressed. Wild form Honey females retain the stripe even through breeding, but their bodies are greyish brown.