# Three spot gourami sexing



## Millns84 (4 Feb 2020)

Evening all

I picked up a blue three spot gourami the other day on the understanding that they're solitary but have since learnt that the females are quite social and would benefit from the presence of conspecifics.

With that in mind, I'd consider getting several more if the one I have is female but I must admit that I'm not great in sexing gouramis!

I've attached a few pics which are unfortunately the best I could get... I'm leaning towards male but what do you think?


----------



## mort (5 Feb 2020)

The dorsal fin is the easiest way to tell the difference as in females it is round and males, longer and tapers to a point. The same characteristics are seen in the anal fin, so yours looks like a female to me.
I'm not sure if it's dependent on maturity, ie whether their fins change as they mature into males, or whether it's a characteristic that develops when they are young, but I've seen very small males in shops and wholesalers so would be reasonably confident that yours is a known sex at that size.


----------



## Gill (5 Feb 2020)

Agree Dorsal fin is the easiest way to sex mot if not all Gorami. 
Taper to a point = Male
Taper to round = Female

Yours are def female, and yes they do best in groups and are a very social fish. And can hold their own against larger fish.


----------



## Millns84 (5 Feb 2020)

Thanks guys. I was thinking male as my male moonlight gourami's dorsal fin is of a similar shape compared with the female... But I suppose they are a different species!

I'll pick up a few more female three spots over the weekend. What sort of numbers should I be looking at? It's a five foot tank but I'm cautious about over stocking as they get to a good size and I've already got the pair of moonlight gouramis.


----------



## Tim Harrison (6 Feb 2020)

Looks female to me too.


----------



## mort (6 Feb 2020)

I would have said 5 is a decent amount and it should be large enough to reduce the chances of an individual being picked on. The issue though is the moonlight gourami. I've not kept them but do remember (this is going back 15+ years, so opinions might have changed) that they are graceful, like pearl gourami, but more timid than three spots. If that is the case then I'd be wary that they might get intimidated or bullied by them and perhaps you'd be better swapping the three spot for either a larger group of moonlights, or perhaps some pearls. The size of your tank is definitely a benefit and you'd probably not have a problem if you did try but just being cautious.
Hopefully someone with more up to date knowledge/experience can advise.


----------



## Millns84 (15 Feb 2020)

So I put another three gouramis in last Saturday. I got two of the gold variety and one opaline. 

I was half thinking of taking them back out as for 3-4 days they were absolutely vile to each other, but they seem to have now established a pecking order. There's only the odd chase now and again but nothing I'm too concerned about. 

I'll see how they go with my moonlights. They're both fully grown and the male is topping 6 inches so I'm not sure they'd try anything silly with him as he doesn't take any nonsense from my cichlids either!


----------

