golden gourami

Question
hi i bought a pair of golden gouramies a pair of blue all died exept one golden and its color was pure gold really pretty golden. But now it has black lines all over its body and has become agressive why? Also is it true if you by fish by one not by the pair they will die? My mom says you can buy them buy one and they will not die  

Answer
Hi Javier;

Gold gouramis can indeed be quite aggressive. The rule with all types of gouramis is there really should only be one male per tank, unless you have a really large and well-planted tank with plenty of hiding places. I would guess yours is probably a male by it's attitude. Males are very territorial and some will even be overly aggressive toward their females and other fish in the tank too. Death of the weaker fish is a common result. That's why your prettiest one has survived. He was the strongest, most aggressive and may be responsible for the death of the others. Gold gouramis get pretty large too. I have seen some as big as 6 inches long. They usually get around 4 to 5 inches, but that's still pretty large. The smallest tank I would keep one in is a 30 gallon. They need plenty of room. They are the same type of gourami as the blues (Trichogaster trichopterus), just a different color variation. Here is a profile page about them;

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/555.htm

You can certainly buy one fish at a time without buying a mate for each one, but many types of fish are happier if they have buddies of their own kind to swim with. Tetras and barbs for example need two or more of their own kind in order to feel secure and want to swim around. If one is alone it will hide for a long time waiting for a school to swim by so they can join with them. Livebearers such as platies, mollies, swordtails and guppies need to be in groups of one male for every 2 or more females. Males want to breed with the females every minute of every day. There must be several females to distribute their "amorous" attention so the females get rest. If there is only one female, he will literally chase her to death.

If you could tell me more about your tank (size, filtration, other tankmates, etc.) I may be able to recommend other fish for it.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins