Gouramis changing color

J

jacqueline2215

New Fish
#1
Aug 10, 2005
3
0
0
#1
I have 3 gouramis....2 dwarf blue and a fire. The 2 dwarfs are orange and blue striped with one being more blue and one being more orange. The past week, my more blue one got very teal under his mouth and neck. It almost looked like he swam through something and like it wasn't part of him. I noticed a couple days ago that it cleared up but now the mostly orange one has also darkened in the same spot. They also seem to be more active and chasing each other around. I noticed some missing color spots on my fire gourami but not sure if it is due to nipping or if it was always there. I don't know the sexes of the fish and was wondering if its a mating thing. Is there a way to tell the sex? I'd feel really bad if they are all males and being aggressive because there are no females. Any suggestions on how to calm the activity if it is due to mating? Thanks!
 

ram man

ram man

Superstar Fish
#3
Apr 16, 2005
1,441
4
38
33
Arizona
#3
the flame dwarfs are not dyed. they are a colour mutation from the origanal red and orange striped ones the only one that are dyed would have its natural color and then wierd pokadots
 

J

jacqueline2215

New Fish
#5
Aug 10, 2005
3
0
0
#5
I don't think its dye.....I have had them for awhile and besides it goes away and comes back. The only one not doing it is my fire one. I just wondered if this is a spawning thing. How can u tell if they are males and if they are should I get a female to make them less aggressive?
 

F

FishGeek

Elite Fish
#6
May 13, 2005
4,294
5
0
38
South Carolina
#6
jeremy

jeremy

Large Fish
#7
Jul 6, 2005
148
0
0
DePere, WI
#7
To add on to what guppie newbe said, the male also has longer fins all around and also the anal fin of the male is more of a point. And fish friend may be correct if they are intending to mate, they could be changing colors in some areas. But that is usually just in the males. Are they of them kind of flaring all their fins? This is also part of the males (for most gourami any way) courting behaviour.
 

straitjacket

straitjacket

Large Fish
#10
Mar 21, 2004
495
2
0
Los Angeles, CA
www.freewebs.com
#10
Female Colisa lalia are very hard to come by. There is high demand for males who are the more colourful sex, the females are drab by comparison. I believe that these fish are hormoned for a greater male output or at least for females that will temporarily develop male colours long enough to sell. Don't take it as fact, just something I suspect as many suppliers do with many other species of fish.

Here are some pics of male and female C. lalia;
http://www.solodvds.com/images/gourami/images/Colisa_lalia3.jpg
http://www.akvaariolaakso.fi/catalog/images/kaapiorihmapari.jpg
http://www.akvarista.cz/web/ryby/?Colisa+lalia
http://www.sozo.sk/akva/colisa_lalia.php
http://www.staff.uni-mainz.de/otto/Aquarium/Fische/Fisch13.html
http://www.aquaworld.netfirms.com/Labyrinthfish/Colisa/colisa_lalia.htm

I hope you can locate some. You might just have re-struck my interest in these little beauties! :p
 

A

aspiringangel

Large Fish
#11
May 28, 2003
114
0
0
42
Food Chain, Ontario
Visit site
#11
I had dwarf honey gourami who turned dark black / blue along the bottom - turns out it was a mating season thing. You should be fine. I have a 'red robin' gourami which looks suspiciously like one of the flames and heis also a little darker along the bottom. According to my LFS that means they are in good condition and are ready to find some pretty lady. ;)

I wouldn't get ONE female if you have 3 males - all 3 would then be chasing her everywhere and she would more than likely get stressed and end up hiding all the time. I wouldn't go for less than 3 females just to divide up the 'amorous' attention equally.
 

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