Gendering blue gourami?

[itiwhetu]

That looks like an old fish to me. With Blue Gouramis it is best to always buy young fish, less than two inches long.

 

[Essjay]

That's an opaline gourami, or "three spot" gourami...be very careful...as they age, they can become quite nasty and aggressive

A few years ago we had a member who had to keep her female three spot gourami alone because the gourami killed every other fish in the same tank.

 

[biofish]

YEESHHH. Alrighty then. I shall keep a very close eye on her. She was only $7 so if I need to return her if she gets too bad it won’t be that much of a loss

 

[biofish]

How long does it take in the tank for them to start getting aggressive/claiming territory? Any signs I should watch out for? The other inhabitants of the tank are two female pearl gourami, one albino baby bristlenose, and a small group (5 maybe) of guppies who will be moved out soon. It’s 55g and it’s got quite a bit of tall plants/wood for hiding places and I should be getting half a pound of java moss in the mail today/tomorrow. The pearls are quite social and like to wiggle their feelers on the glass whenever I watch and like to feel my hands when I’m messing around in the tank. So I was pleasantly surprised with them. They typically stay in the lower half of the tank while the guppies like the top half. My usual feeding practice is once in the evening and I scatter the food under the surface of the water across the entire tank so it creates a large cloud of food rather than a direct drop. Have had much less loss in my guppies (them crashing into each other at meal times lead to a few deaths) and it gives my bottom dwellers a chance for food.

Awhile ago I had to put a female betta in my female guppy/Cory cat tank because the betta tank cracked. It was fine for a couple months before she bit out one of the cories eyes. Watched it happen so o was able to take her out immediately. The Cory healed and lived for a couple more months before you could see his brain had started swelling. The signs then we’re she was starting to steal food from the cories….

 

[Alice B]

Went to my nicer fish store and after spending an awkward amount of time scrutinizing the blue gourami, I snagged the only one that I think is female

They are less aggressive in a school but a single female - I have a single female moonlight who has been wonderful since about 2016 and still is so... except she trims the anubias leaves.

And I'm going to ask a really stupid question - what is the java moss good for? I had so much grow in my shrimp tank and my 29 that I threw about 2 cup size clumps out.

 

[biofish]

And I'm going to ask a really stupid question - what is the java moss good for? I had so much grow in my shrimp tank and my 29 that I threw about 2 cup size clumps out.

It’s just basically a good hiding place for smaller fish/shrimp. I’m getting it to put in this tank and my female guppy tanks to help higher numbers of fry survive and to help provide some more cover for my bottom dwellers. Plus it’s really pretty and it doesn’t die lol. None of my in person LFS were selling any so you might be able to start a business

 

[Slaphppy7]

How long does it take in the tank for them to start getting aggressive/claiming territory? Any signs I should watch out for? The other inhabitants of the tank are two female pearl gourami, one albino baby bristlenose, and a small group (5 maybe) of guppies who will be moved out soon. It’s 55g and it’s got quite a bit of tall plants/wood for hiding places and I should be getting half a pound of java moss in the mail today/tomorrow. The pearls are quite social and like to wiggle their feelers on the glass whenever I watch and like to feel my hands when I’m messing around in the tank. So I was pleasantly surprised with them. They typically stay in the lower half of the tank while the guppies like the top half. My usual feeding practice is once in the evening and I scatter the food under the surface of the water across the entire tank so it creates a large cloud of food rather than a direct drop. Have had much less loss in my guppies (them crashing into each other at meal times lead to a few deaths) and it gives my bottom dwellers a chance for food.

Awhile ago I had to put a female betta in my female guppy/Cory cat tank because the betta tank cracked. It was fine for a couple months before she bit out one of the cories eyes. Watched it happen so o was able to take her out immediately. The Cory healed and lived for a couple more months before you could see his brain had started swelling. The signs then we’re she was starting to steal food from the cories….

Sighhh...not long, unfortunately, IME

I made the mistake of not doing my research a few years ago, and purchased one from my LFS, a male..."spot" purchase, ANOTHER mistake...added him to my 40B community tank, all peaceful fish (mainly tetras, some corys, a pleco)...also, a M/F pair of pearl gourami...the "king and queen" of the tank, my daughter called them, because they were always up above, looking down on their subjects, lol

Maybe 3 months later(?), they were both gone...found remnants of both...they were perfectly healthy, like the rest of the fish in the tank...didn't see it happen, but I know the 3 spot gourami was responsible...lost some corys during that time, too, that were perfectly healthy, found bits of them, as well...there's snails and shrimp in the tank, too, so the remnants were scavenged

It didn't even live long in the tank, either, maybe 6 months...then, just wasted away, and died...I shed no tears

Hopefully, you'll have better luck than me, but do keep a close eye on things...bully fish like to harass after lights out, so you may see no aggressive behavior...so look for other signs...fish suddenly shy or hiding...the pearls acting skittish...stuff like that

 

[Colin_T]

Have you already got pearl gouramis in the tank?
If yes, how big is the tank (length x width x height) and how many floating plants do you have?

What other fish are in the tank?

Post a picture of the tank

Normally you only keep one species of labyrinth fish (Bettas and gouramis) per tank because they are all territorial to some degree, with blue gouramis being one of the more aggressive species Blue gouramis also come in gold, 3 spot and platinum forms (same fish, different colour).

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Watch the hole in the dorsal (top) fin. It appears black around the inner edge of the hole, and the anal fin is black along the edge. The dorsal fin hole could be from a bacterial infection and the black edge to the anal fin could be from poor water quality.

Keep an eye on the fish and if the black spreads or the hole in the dorsal fin gets bigger, post pictures immediately.

 

[biofish]

Have you already got pearl gouramis in the tank?
If yes, how big is the tank (length x width x height) and how many floating plants do you have?

What other fish are in the tank?

Post a picture of the tank

Normally you only keep one species of labyrinth fish (Bettas and gouramis) per tank because they are all territorial to some degree, with blue gouramis being one of the more aggressive species Blue gouramis also come in gold, 3 spot and platinum forms (same fish, different colour).

-------------------
Watch the hole in the dorsal (top) fin. It appears black around the inner edge of the hole, and the anal fin is black along the edge. The dorsal fin hole could be from a bacterial infection and the black edge to the anal fin could be from poor water quality.

Keep an eye on the fish and if the black spreads or the hole in the dorsal fin gets bigger, post pictures immediately.

Size: 55 Gallons; 48 in L x 13 in W x 20 in H
Floating plants: Not as many as I would like. I put a good amount in that had grown in my other tanks but they haven’t taken that well to this tank yet
Stocking: 2 female pearl gourami, 4 Cory catfish (adding more soon), 5 guppies (gonna be removed), and a baby bristlenose.
Tank: The tank is right next to my bunk bed so it’s hard to get a good angle for the entire tank but here you can see most of it. I’ve got the newer tank algae bloom going on, (params are good I’m checking frequently) but some mysterious snails should be coming with the java moss I ordered. I put a couple nerites from my other ranks in there in at the moment and you can see the leftover snart lololol!

Edit: other side of tank

 

[itiwhetu]

Blue Gourami's and guppies may not be the best mix. Pearl Gourami's are not nearly as robust as Blues. I will be interested in how you get on with this combination.

 

[biofish]

Blue Gourami's and guppies may not be the best mix. Pearl Gourami's are not nearly as robust as Blues. I will be interested in how you get on with this combination.

Honestly same. I bought the guppies at the same time so they are QTing together but the moment that’s up the guppies are going into my guppy tanks. My usual QT tank is filled with an unexpected guppy fry drop…. And if the blue ends up being aggressive then I’ll prioritize the pearls and return the blue.

 

[Colin_T]

The gouramis should be ok because they are all females and the tank is 4 foot long. However, monitor them and if the blue one causes problems, move it out.

Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta) is a good floating plant. If you get too much, you can plant it in the substrate.

 

[biofish]

I left an loving message for my under-preforming snails and bristlenose

 

[biofish]

Soooo…. The rips in the top fin healed buttttttt the top fin is now kinda pointed. Do you think this is a male gourami after all?

No behavioral problems so far. None of the fish so far show an aversion to them. But I know it’s still too early to know if behavior issues will develop.

Edit: can different types of gourami even reproduce with one another??? Or is it like Cory catfish where they’re all actually different and can’t interbreed?

 

[Byron]

Edit: can different types of gourami even reproduce with one another??? Or is it like Cory catfish where they’re all actually different and can’t interbreed?

A fish of a species will spawn with a fish of the same species. Note this is species, not types (I'll come back to this). The Pearl Gourami (Trichopodus leerii) will not normally attempt to spawn with the Blue Gourami (Trichopodus trichopterus) but as the two species are in the same genus cross-breeding could technically occur, but I do not know if this is at all likely. Within the species T. trichopterus, there are varieties such as Blue, Gold, Cosby, Marble, 3-spot, etc and as these are all the same species they are able to spawn; it was selective breeding that produced all these varieties.

A genus is termed monophyletic whose species (singular or plural) descended from a single ancestor. However, some genera are now recognized as being polyphyletic, which means the species in the genus descended from different ancestors so they are less closely related. Science aims for monophyletic taxa, and as analysis moves forward there will be taxonomic reclassification for polyphyletic genera. Which brings me to the genus Corydoras.

Corydoras is polyphyletic, and genetic analysis has determined there are nine distinct lineages within this genus; a lineage includes those species that descended from the same ancestor. Some of these lineages are now formally recognized as distinct genera, for example Aspidoras and Scleromystax. Eventually there will be nine genera (the 4 sub-clades in lineage 8 may result in more, just for clarity). The species within a lineage have the ability to hybridize. This however only seems to possibly occur when a single male or female of one species is housed with the opposite gender of another species in the same lineage, and certainly not always then. Hybridization does not occur in the respective habitats, according to scientific sources.

Back to the gourami...the fish in T. trichopterus are generally quite aggressive, females and males, much moreso than most other species of small and medium gourami. Only one species of gourami should bee kept in an aquarium, with very few exceptions (there are a few small-sized species that manage in large tanks). It is not a good idea to leave the female/male T. trichopterus in the tank considering the other fish. It may have the appearance of all being well, but there are far too many cases where things changed literally overnight. And even if no sign of trouble is apparent, the fish are still communicating chemically with allomones and this is just as stressful--and stress means sick fish.