Pearl gourami aggressive

Why is my pearl gourami suddenly acting aggressive? He’s in a 45 gallon heated and planted tank. I have had him for about 3 weeks now.
He is actively seeking out fish to charge and almost nip. Even my corys peacefully swimming at the bottom. I am making sure he’s fed, I noticed he didn’t want to eat the food I put in my tank, so I tried everything. He finally eats bloodworms, and I thought maybe he’s hungry, so I made sure I watched him eat and he’s still attacking!
What can I do?

 

Is it a heavily planted tank? Does he have plenty of cover to escape to? I have found that fish that are normally a bit reserved and skittish in their personalities will turn aggressive when they don't feel safe.

 

Take him out and change up the decor? I don’t know how you could do that in a planted tank but if you had wood or rocks you could move those around. Adding in floating plants could help. Maybe he just reached maturity? That’s about the time when they can get aggressive.

 

Mine does that too, which is why I'm looking to get him some floating plants and more plants in general.

 

I have this floating plant for him. It’s not real but it’s good to hide in.

 

I have this floating plant for him. It’s not real but it’s good to hide in.

Try adding in some frogbit, the roots will provide more cover for both the other fish and him.

 

In my experience, pearls need a lot more cover than that to feel secure. Think objects that can completely block line of sight. Swords, large anubias, big pieces of hardscape, and some chunks of thickly covering floating plants.

 

Our solo male has never shown any aggression in the 1.5 years or so we had him then again he lives in a heavily planted and heavily stocked 55 So I think the above posters r on the right track with overhead cover cooling him down a bit

 

Would he like a floating log?

I moved the floating plant to his side of the tank & added a floating log! He already seems happier with the plant on his side