Gouramis are very active fish, many of them are classified as aggressive fish, while some are classified as semi-aggressive, especially their males. They have so many behaviors which could sometimes be weird. People say so many things about these fish, including that they can change or alter their colors. In this article, you will learn if Gouramis can change color or not and why they may.
Can Gourami change color? Yes, they can alter their colors when they feel like it.
Learning that they could alter or change color, you might be surprised and shocked at the same time, well, they do, but for certain reasons.
Let’s say, you bought some Gouramis and kept them in your aquarium, and all of a sudden, they changed to another color after some weeks or months, you did be mad and maybe start thinking if you have gotten a Chameleon ( lol )
The fact is, many animals could alter their colors for so many reasons, including fish, now, let’s look at why Gouramis might try to alter their colors.
Why Do Gouramis Change Color
1. Stress/Bully: Although Gouramis themselves are agents of stress and bully, they don’t like getting bullied by other fish or their kind.
Naturally, all fish hates getting stressed, and that is one of the reasons a Gourami fish could change from its former color to another.
Being very colorful, they normally attract the attention of other fish which could disturb them, or the attention of the opposite sex which could harass them sexually.
Many of the Gourami that change colors are females because they are usually harassed sexually, and it does stress them a lot, and could even kill them if the harassment is much.
Again another reason they do it is to hide from an unfriendly animal.
2. Poor water quality: It is an undeniable fact that water is the life of every aquatic animal in the world.
The truth is, the type of water they are in goes a long way to determine the type of progress, or how healthy they would be.
Poor water condition includes dirty tanks or water, having harmful chemicals in the water such as ammonia, chlorine, nitrites, etc, high temperature, wrong pH, etc.
Although Gouramis are somewhat hardy, any of that factors could make them uncomfortable and could act as a stress to them, or might even kill them.
Being in a water condition that is not suitable could alter the color of any fish, including Gouramis, so, if yours have changed in color, then you might have to look at the water quality, and try to improve it.
3. Tank size: Thank size matters a lot for many fish, which includes Gouramis.
Naturally, fish does not like whatever that will stress them, they like where they will be and will have enough space to swim about anyhow they want and play about too, etc.
So whenever a fish is kept in a small tank that it is not comfortable in, it will easily be Stressed, and won’t feel relaxed and healthy, so it might bring about a change in color as a result of stress and poor health.
4. Aging: Age is another factor that could lead to this.
Naturally, many animals will fade in color as they approach their lifespan limit or end.
So if your Gourami’s color is fading, then, it might be nearing its end.
5. Sickness/Diseases: As we all know, no living thing could be sick and remain very colorful and shiny.
Once an animal becomes sick, it will look sick and unattractive.
Many diseases usually infect fish such as white spots, black spots, fin rot, etc. Any of these could alter the overall appearance of your fish.
6. Food: Food matters a lot for every living thing, including fish. Wrong food could fade the color of your fish, while the right one could boost it, and make it shinier, etc.
So the type of meal you give your fish goes a long way to determine how colorful it will be.
Any of these factors above could alter the color of your Gourami fish, that’s why your Gourami could change to dark color, Brown, your Yellow Gourami could turn to White, White Gourami might get dark, etc.
Every specie of Gourami could also change color, be it dwarf Gouramis, Opaline Gouramis, Pearl Gouramis, etc
Conclusion
Gouramis could change color, but sometimes, they do it involuntarily due to some of the factors listed above.
