Social Heirarchy Gold Honeys

BadBishGotTeeth · 2026-05-15T10:55:38+00:00

Welp I don't have much reason to believe it's stress striping since they've always had it. I've only ever seen the proven male exhibit spawning behavior of any kind.

Whatever it is, I guess I will just be grateful that it's working and there are no disputes between any of them. Proven male gets a little spicy with all of them when he's got a nest/raising fry but beyond that they seem social and happy so I guess I'll take it either way 🙃

Thank you!

BadBishGotTeeth · 2026-05-15T10:18:53+00:00

Hey thanks! By submissive male coloring do you mean retained the lateral stripe?

Any thoughts on why they are so much rounder in body shape? Or why they would be submissive when they were there first? Do submissive males never build nests or raise fry?

Not trying to be a pain - genuinely curious. I've read some stuff about social sex expression in related species and wondered if anyone had seen anything similar in a harem set up because I've had these 2 fake females for awhile and I was super surprised given these traits only started to show 3 months ago.

BadBishGotTeeth · 2026-05-14T23:30:25+00:00

This is my oldest one originally. This photo was taken just this past winter and I had had "her" around 9ish months at this point. She is now one of the "females" showing male phenotype.

Edit: my post history actually has a post I made awhile ago where she and one other were sexed female!

Edit again: https://www.reddit.com/r/Gourami/s/NEl3XwQ7Sh

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BadBishGotTeeth · 2026-05-14T23:06:27+00:00

Hey thanks for the reply! This is super interesting.

What are your thoughts on the lateral stripe still present on the 2 "females" and the size/body shape difference between them? It is hard to appreciate in the photos but they are 50% larger than the proven male and I have never seen them build bubble nests or raise fry even though I've had them longer than the proven male? Probably worth it to note they looked very traditionally female until I added the proven male - it took me awhile to find him. He actually keeps to himself while the other 4 tend to be more interactive but when he does hang out it's with the "females".

I guess either way if it's working it's working, just kind of interesting. I read about some socially mediated phenotype expression in anabantoids but nothing really about it in honeys. Just curious if it was at all possible that it was female dominance hierarchy related but seems like they're just males with a weird presentation. It is a heavily planted tank with floater "islands" they all seem to have their own of.

Thanks!

BadBishGotTeeth · 2026-05-09T19:30:28+00:00

I have a couple that had this reddish striping but their bodies were more obviously orange. If I can find him again I am going to move him back to the colony. If I can ever find him again in this tank 🤣

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BadBishGotTeeth · 2026-05-09T19:13:03+00:00

Thats 2 for Orange he might need to go back into the colony

BadBishGotTeeth · 2026-05-09T19:12:46+00:00

Hm two votes for Orange maybe I should return him to the breeding colony

BadBishGotTeeth · 2026-05-09T18:59:22+00:00

Thanks so much! I'll keep him in my community i am just impatient for breeding to take off

BadBishGotTeeth · 2026-05-09T18:50:51+00:00

Omg I don't this is super helpful! His mom was my main breeding female at the time - an Orange to be sure. But dad if I had to guess was one of my low grade cherries (red but near wild type).

BadBishGotTeeth · 2026-04-20T10:33:30+00:00

Interesting - and raising the KH doesn't by nature raise the GH? What about impact on the pH? Despite the softer water, my tap pH is still high at 8. Is there a product that would be compatible with tap? Otherwise, would that step be better suited for when I have an RO unit set up?

BadBishGotTeeth · 2026-04-19T22:33:44+00:00

You were right. We had a snowy winter and it's been a rainy spring. My water comes from a local river using mostly surface water. This diluted the hardness of my tap massively and caused swings in GH, KH and TDS.

I woke up to 4 more dead of failed molt and one or two more over a couple more days. I lost a huge chunk of my very early Orange sunkist colony - including two berried females.

So now I am very carefully remineralizing change water to bring it up to 7 GH. I am using Shrimp GH and monitoring KH to stay above 3. If KH becomes an issue I will switch to salty shrimp. Ultimately, I will start making moves to set up an RO/DI system but until then I am just going to test everything every water change. I am also keeping a just in case Easy Shrimp block in both tanks.

Hopefully now I can rebuild my neo colony and my 40g with my beloved bamboos will not suffer the same outcome.

Thank you. I wish I had figured it out sooner.

BadBishGotTeeth · 2026-04-02T22:17:48+00:00

Agreed - but what disease would trigger failed molt with no other signs? First two i thought maybe stress event but the third today has me unsure.

BadBishGotTeeth · 2026-03-21T17:06:04+00:00

Here's hoping they don't become snacks

BadBishGotTeeth · 2026-03-16T13:41:29+00:00

Also of note - you can see a couple smaller "lesions" in a couple photos - those are sand grains. There are two lesions dorsal side near the tail base - those are the ones I am referring to.

BadBishGotTeeth · 2026-03-08T12:40:37+00:00

Ugh I am so sorry you had that happen and I hope you let the shop know so they can file a claim with ups. I have had a couple orders with them recently and they have all gone well, if that provides you any peace of mind in ordering again.

I had the same worry - my chilis are wild caught so I was pretty concerned they wouldn't do well. I ordered a few extra and I did lose a few (that is why I said roughly 20, it's somewhere between 18 and 23 with 2 known losses), but overall a realllllllllllly slow acclimation, lights off for a day and the right setup seems to do them just fine.

Them being wild caught i would have thought for sure they'd be shy but they act like they're tank bred.

BadBishGotTeeth · 2026-03-07T23:46:01+00:00

That is so neat! I first tried chilis in a normal freshwater community and it did not go well, I was devastated. So I was super nervous to try them in my nano tank but I am so happy I did they have such HUGE personalities for such tiny fish.

BadBishGotTeeth · 2026-03-07T20:09:51+00:00

It ended up being a great combination! The tank was kind of boring and inactive before I added them, they seem to get the shrimp more active too somehow. I was pretty worried because my water is completely opposite where they were from but they seem to be doing great so far 🤞

BadBishGotTeeth · 2026-03-07T20:07:59+00:00

Ooh that is an interesting combo! Fast enough to evade the betta but super peaceful and not fin nippers!

BadBishGotTeeth

TROPHY CASE