Black Striped Gold Gourami, Looks Like A Tiger!

[gourami_fan]

I have just recently bought 2 gold gouramies 2 days ago and they appeared fine at the lfs, but when i brought them home one of them changed its colour to a black and gold tiger stripe. I am thinking that it is under some stress. It had stayed this way everysince i brought it back.

Is it just getting used to the evnironment or is there something wrong with my aquarium. All the condition of my aquarium seems fine and there is defintely enough room for both of the gouramies.

The other gold gourami has fine colouration with very faint black stripes near its tail and likes to hide behind the plants while the black striped one likes to roam around with my pearlies and doesn't seem aggressive at all. Oh btw, these gold gouramies are still young and about 2.5-3.0cm head to tip-of-tail.

Has anyone experienced this before? When will it show its true gold colouration again? Is it sick or something?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Biulu]

Maybe you can give some more specifications about your tank, such as the size, other inhabitants, etc. You say that it is heavily planted? Do you know the sex of your gouramis? Are they 2 males, or a male and a female?

 

[gourami_fan]

Well my tank is heavily planted, and its a 55gal tank. The only other fishes i have in here are a trio of pearl gouramis (1M, 2F) which are a little larger than the gold gouramies and 2 guppies.

From what i can tell both gold gouramis are female. This is the thrid day now and one of them is still in black stripes while the other one is in its gold colouration. Both of them are eating and swimming freely now but I'm still worried about the black striped one. WHen will it ever go back to being just gold?

 

[Biulu]

In terms of size 5 gouramis should be ok in that tank. Is the tiger one being chased? Another possibility could be that the water parameters from your tank are quite different from the one in the shop; and that that has been causing the stress. It might be worthwhile checking.

Otherwise, if he is eating well, and doesn't show any signs of disease, he should be ok.

 

[sylvia]

Just a warning - these fish are one of the more aggressive gourami species. They may well become quite 'mean' later on. They will readily kill guppies if they feel their tank is being invaded by them - even the females.

The dark coloration might be stress but it could also be the fish' natural coloring and may mean the opposite - that it likes it's new home. So while it's best to assume the worst and not just ignore the change, it's also not really worth worrying too much over it. As they are still small, I won't suggest spawning as another trigger - but an increase in temp. might have been - as could have a change in diet or pH/hardness etc - and not necessarily from stress.

Something to try - switch the lights off and turn them back on an hour later - what color are the fish now (both of them)? If you can, leave it off all night as normal but be there when the lights come back on.