Opaline/blue gourami male bring aggressive or is this natural

[Shan98]

We not long ago got 2 opaline gourami. One female (pearl) and one male (opal). Male seems to chase the female around a lot. It is more around feeding time. I don’t know if he does it at night, or if it’s just when he thinks there is food. Is there any advice or signs to look for? the stuff floating is food in the tank by the way…

 

[FranciscoB]

Normal thing. Male gouramis are always somewhat aggressive of other conspecifics (or closely related fish, such as other gourami species). In my experience, the most aggressive are male opaline and 3 spot (blue) gourami, and the least aggressive are the pearl gourami. But all male are somewhat more aggressive and if there is a size difference, it will always serve poorly to the smaller ones.

 

[GaryE]

The 3 spot, with its many regional trade names, is one of the more aggressive gourami species. I've read of them being found in flowing water, and I have noticed a link between flowing water fish in slow moving aquariums, and aggression. I'll never test that out because it's not a fish I plan to keep again, but it might be worth exploring by someone else.

 

[Slaphppy7]

As noted above, one of the most aggressive gouramis on the market...they can and will kill other fish

What size tank is this, and what other fish are in it?

 

[Shan98]

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As noted above, one of the most aggressive gouramis on the market...they can and will kill other fish

What size tank is this, and what other fish are in it

No fish have died to date. The gourami gets along with all other fish in the tank, he only chases the female gourami.

We have a 100L tank. In the tank we have 3 bristlenose 2 Cory 2 loaches 1 ghost knife 1 rainbow shark 3 angles and the 2 gourami. All of them get along really well less the gourami’s they just chase each other but I can’t seem to work out if it’s harmful or not. No fin nip is happening so do I just monitor it? This tank is established and has been running with most of the fish for a while now, newest fish added was the gouramis and ghost knife.

I have another small tank (30L) with just 10 neons in it, but I don’t want to put the gourami in there because I’m sure either gourami would eat them.

 

[Shan98]

Normal thing. Male gouramis are always somewhat aggressive of other conspecifics (or closely related fish, such as other gourami species). In my experience, the most aggressive are male opaline and 3 spot (blue) gourami, and the least aggressive are the pearl gourami. But all male are somewhat more aggressive and if there is a size difference, it will always serve poorly to the smaller ones.

When I purchased these two they were identical in size, I’ve had them probably 3 weeks female hasn’t grown much but the male has definitely grown in size by quite a bit, and also his colours have completely come out since adding him to my tank, he was actually lighter than the female when we first got them.

I have previously had 2 dwarf gouramis, the male always chased the female at the start, but after a few weeks the female was chasing the male. Eventually he died, I think she killed him.

 

[Shan98]

The 3 spot, with its many regional trade names, is one of the more aggressive gourami species. I've read of them being found in flowing water, and I have noticed a link between flowing water fish in slow moving aquariums, and aggression. I'll never test that out because it's not a fish I plan to keep again, but it might be worth exploring by someone else.

Sorry Gary, but I am not quite sure what you mean. Are you saying that fast flowing water in a tank would possibly help with aggression?