Honey Gourami Is Darkly Colored And Aggressive, Any Advice?

ManMan125
  • #1
On Sunday (July 28), I bought 5 honey gourami's from my lfs. I was very exited, since my tank was quite lonely and needed some new fish. When I got the gourami's, 4 of them were a bright yellow color with a blue stripe across their back, and the last one was a bright reddish-orange with the same blue stripe. For the next few days, they were lively, hungry, and didn't bother each other at all, until Wednesday when I noticed one of them was not like the others. This one fish is much darker in color and is very aggressive, charging at the other gourami's if they get near. I have no idea what could've sparked such aggression in him, especially since none of the other gourami's have been remotely hostile or territorial in any way. I've included pictures to show the difference in color between the fish. the top is of the normal gourami's, while the bottom one is of the aggressive gourami. The pictures may not be that good, but there is a significant difference in color between the fish.

P.S. :I didn't make this clear before, but the gourami that has become aggressive is NOT the reddish-orange one, he is one of the four yellow fish I got from the store.
 

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Giul
  • #2
What size tank are they in and what are the other inhabitants? I can’t see the pictures but I wonder if the aggressor is a thick lipped gourami
 

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ManMan125
  • Thread Starter
  • #3
What size tank are they in and what are the other inhabitants? I can’t see the pictures but I wonder if the aggressor is a thick lipped gourami
They are in a 36 gal with 4 zebra danio's and 1 african butterfly fish. The butterfly is an aggressive fish, but he doesn't bother them since they are so big. The most I've ever seen him do is slowly swim towards them, but he has never attacked or chased them. I don't think the aggressive one is a different variety from the others because he was the same color and size as the others and had the same blue stripe on his back.
 
Giul
  • #4
The photos finally loaded, I’m not familiar with that coloration morph but DoubleDutch identified mine so maybe he could help give insight on yours
 
chromedome52
  • #5
I'm still not seeing the photos, but it is not uncommon for young Sunset Thicklips to be sold as Honey. The difference in attitude is major.
 
DoubleDutch
  • #6
The photos finally loaded, I’m not familiar with that coloration morph but DoubleDutch identified mine so maybe he could help give insight on yours
Can't see the pics either.
 
ManMan125
  • Thread Starter
  • #7
I've tried to upload the photos again, so hopefully you guys can see them. I looked at the gender of the gourami's, and I'm pretty sure I have all males. One or two might be female, but I can safely say that the majority are males (including the aggressive one). Is this the cause of the aggression? Did I get too many males? I took a good look again this morning, and they were all a bit aggressive when I turned on the light, but have since calmed down and are now schooling with each other. The aggressive gourami seems to have calmed down a bit, and was even schooling with one of the others, but is still aggressive. I'll keep you guys posted on what happens.
 

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