Hey, I've had this blue/opaline gourami for just about 2 years. He just started becoming really aggressive these last few weeks and had to move him into a new tank because he killed 2 fish in my 75-gallon tank. I got him a female and he in a span of a few hours hurt her pretty bad. I'm not sure what to do I was hoping to breed some babies with him, but I can't seem to keep any fish with him with him trying to kill them. How can I get rid of his aggressiveness with females? (Possible euthanization?)
blue Gourami aggressiveness, Help.
- Thread starter crb3566
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DoubleDutch
Fish Gatherer
Only option is to give it more than one female, but it is taking a risk.
This is why I don't like keeping fish single for some time. They really get asocial and frustrated with sometimes these consequences as result.
I don't like the idea of euthanising a healty fish.
This is why I don't like keeping fish single for some time. They really get asocial and frustrated with sometimes these consequences as result.
I don't like the idea of euthanising a healty fish.
I'll second @DoubleDutch 's comments. That's a species noted for aggression issues in many individuals, and keeping them alone for any length of time seems to kill off whatever social instincts they have. They can be made aggressive by keeping them alone.
So he needs to live alone.
Btw - a fish in a crowded tank is still living alone if it doesn't have its own species to interact with.
So he needs to live alone.
Btw - a fish in a crowded tank is still living alone if it doesn't have its own species to interact with.
I agree with above members. It really is a shame that this gourami species (Trichopodus trichopterus) is so widely available, because it is probably the most aggressive of the small/medium sized gourami species. There are several varieties but they are all the same species so all have this aggressive tendency--blue, gold, marble, cosby, 3-spot, and I don't know which others. Either keep him alone, or find another home (store maybe, or another aquarist)..
You have to see a large full grown Blue Gourami . Really cool fish in its full grown state.
Hes a pretty fish, but he hasn't been alone for more than a week. I will try adding some more females bit bigger his time but Hes really being a pain in my neck right now.
DoubleDutch
Fish Gatherer
Alone as a Gourami / of his species I mean.
sunsetboulevard
New Member
The 3 spot gourami or blue gourami or opaline gourami is very aggressive. I had one in my community tank and he chased and nipped the fins of my peaceful gouramis (powder blue gouramis). I returned it to the pet store and replaced it with a smaller one hoping it will be more peaceful. It was also aggressive, running after and hurting my powder blue gouramis. I gave it away and I swear I won't take another 3 spot, blue or opaline gourami fish for my peaceful community tank.
Fishies4Ever
Fishaholic
Sorry for the loss of some of your fish do to your gouramis aggression. Aggression is usually do to stress and they let it out on there tank mates especially if it’s a bit overstocked. I would not recommend euthanasia just because of aggression it just doesn’t seem right. I agree with some of what other people above said that maybe he has been away from other fish of his kind to long. You might want to try putting the female in some kind of breeding net to protect her and see how they do through the net. Another option would be to re-home to someone who could keep him in a tank by himself or you could do that yourself.
There is truth generally in post #10 but it is not the whole story. Fish can and we now know do increase aggressive behaviours from being in too small a shoal (this applies to shoaling/schooling fish), and from too little space to behave normally. The wrong tankmates can cause this too. Too bright a light, and who knows what other environmental factors.
But in this thread we have been dealing with a naturally inherent aggressive species. If the fish are in sufficient space, with whatever tankmates of their own species, and other species that are compatible...they will still display aggression because this is in their genetic makeup. This is why we do research on a species before acquiring it--or we should--so we know the "normal" for that species and its requirements, and if we cannot provide these then we do not acquire the fish. You cannot change nature. If you pick up a rattlesnake with your hand, it will in all probability strike. You cannot blame the rattlesnake, it is how it is programmed to survive.
Related to this is what to do with aggressive fish. Circumstances vary obviously. If we are considering a naturally aggressive species like this gourami, you need to know this beforehand and decide accordingly. There are other situations that also create difficulties for the fish and the aquarist. A soaling/schooling species must have a grop, for the sake of argument let's say you have 15 of the species. In time, they will die off from (hopefully) old age. You may or may not want to get more, depending. This can lead to a real dilemma. Sometimes when the shoal gets down to just a couple of fish, they can suddenly turn aggressive, to each other and to other fish. When that happens, you certainly cannot leave them where they are because this aggression will severely stress all the fish being targeted and before long you will have a tank of stressed and diseased fish. I've had it occur. The only option I had was to euthanize the remaining three fish, because they were actively going after the fish in the tank and there were clear signs of the stress to these fish. Putting them in their own tank was tried, but not surprisingly they tore into each other. That is just not humane, to allow this to continue.
There are responsibilities to being an aquarist. And it starts with research so you can avoid some if not all of these situations.
But in this thread we have been dealing with a naturally inherent aggressive species. If the fish are in sufficient space, with whatever tankmates of their own species, and other species that are compatible...they will still display aggression because this is in their genetic makeup. This is why we do research on a species before acquiring it--or we should--so we know the "normal" for that species and its requirements, and if we cannot provide these then we do not acquire the fish. You cannot change nature. If you pick up a rattlesnake with your hand, it will in all probability strike. You cannot blame the rattlesnake, it is how it is programmed to survive.
Related to this is what to do with aggressive fish. Circumstances vary obviously. If we are considering a naturally aggressive species like this gourami, you need to know this beforehand and decide accordingly. There are other situations that also create difficulties for the fish and the aquarist. A soaling/schooling species must have a grop, for the sake of argument let's say you have 15 of the species. In time, they will die off from (hopefully) old age. You may or may not want to get more, depending. This can lead to a real dilemma. Sometimes when the shoal gets down to just a couple of fish, they can suddenly turn aggressive, to each other and to other fish. When that happens, you certainly cannot leave them where they are because this aggression will severely stress all the fish being targeted and before long you will have a tank of stressed and diseased fish. I've had it occur. The only option I had was to euthanize the remaining three fish, because they were actively going after the fish in the tank and there were clear signs of the stress to these fish. Putting them in their own tank was tried, but not surprisingly they tore into each other. That is just not humane, to allow this to continue.
There are responsibilities to being an aquarist. And it starts with research so you can avoid some if not all of these situations.
Problem has been solved, Fish is back in the big tank and all aggressiveness as seem to have left no problems from him for little over a month.
I don't know if you got the memo, but I was asking for help so I didn't have to kill it. Maybe next time chip in or keep it to yourself.
Fishies4Ever
Fishaholic
Yay happy to see that it has been resolved!!
I don't want to scare you, but...keep a close eye on this gourami. A change of environment can cause many fish to behave differently, sometimes for just a few days, other times for several weeks and even a couple months. Then they suddenly revert. The aggressive nature of this fish is programmed into its genetic code. It is in this case not something learned, or caused by negative factors as will also happen, but it is the very nature of the fish. We cannot change nature. Why some individual fish of a species show more or less normal behaviours is just one of those things with all animals. But the norm for the species is still the overriding fact.
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