Chasing Gouramis?

[sparrow]

I have two Gouramis a smaller blue female and a bigger Pearl male. they v lived together for probably over a year but just today iv seen the male chasing the female. This has never hapened before...any idea what hes up to?

 

[Lunar Jetman]

From another post it seems you have quite a lot of fish in a relatively small tank. It could just be that they've matured enough and now he's getting more territorial. 

 

[Byron]

I don't know the data on your tank, but the territorial issue Lunar mentions is certainly correct.  Gourami males of any species are highly territorial, very much like male cichlids, and the tank size must be sufficient for the species and numbers.  Different species of gourami in the same tank is not usually good, especially with the larger species as we have here (Pearl and Blue).
 
Another aspect is the size of the tank, if small for the number of fish, can inhibit natural behaviours in fish initially, so things may appear to be smooth.  But at some point this stresses the fish and then it can be even worse.
 
Byron.

 

[Alasse]

Gouramis chase each other, thats just what they do. I have a pair in a 90gal tank and they still chase each other lol, same as they did when they were in a 34gal tank. They can be cantankerous sods. I treat them like angels generally, add more to spread the aggression (this is what i am going to do in my 90gal), which is only a solution if you have a big enough tank.

 

[sparrow]

i wont add more but perhaps rehome my blue. i cant bear to part with my pearl. hes my favourite haha. he has seemed to stop chasing the female now. perhaps it was bacause i had recently fed them...maybe he was chasing her away from a flake.
thanks guys