3 Spot Blue Gourami Help

[HylaChristine]

Ok, I need some help. Last night I had a sick gourami, not three spot, so I moved him from the 55 to the ten gallon. I have two blue three spot gouramis, one male and one female. They are the same size, female slightly larger, 4 inches, they do not get along with each other or other middle dwellers. One was in the 10 and one was in the 29. I moved the female in with the male last night so it wasnt in with the sick fish and put netting in the 29 to keep them seperated. Since I had to keep getting up with my baby last night, I kept checking on them. Though they had kept switching sides, which means there was some contact, everytime I checked on them, they were seperated. There are no torn or bleeding fins this morning, but their mouths are a little red, I was expecting this, due to probably pecking at each other through the net. But this morning when I went to turn off the light, their spots were no longer visible and they are now striped, light with dark blue stripes.

Is this mateing or due to stress?
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[HylaChristine]

Anyone? Help please.

 

[fish_freak]

could be either I would guess stress though trying to show dominance. If you see your male start to build a bubble nest on the surface of the tank then you will know it is definately mateing.

 

[joylynn]

I have Gold, blue and Opaline gouramis (all three spot varieties) and I have noticed that the stripes get very visible on mine when they are displaying aggression. I had two females pushing each other around and the opaline in particular got very dark. I also saw my 3 male opalines get very dark when I first moved them to thier new tank. So from what I have seen, it seems that stress or aggression can cause the darkening of these fish.

 

[Jericho]

They lose their spots when they are stressed, but that is not the only reason. I have 3 3spoted in my tank and they all get along. They lose their colors quite often and I have been told that is normal. I was told they tend to show their spots as a defense mechanism and for mating. I do not know for sure. But as long as they have their own spaces and hiding places they should be fine. Just make sure they are still eating and are not tearing eachother apart.