Opaline Gourami getting darker

[Deitta]

I had my bully Opaline Gourami in a 1.6gal, until I convinced my Hubby that it was too small and cruel to keep him there. So now I have a Eclipse 6gal and he went from being really light with opal-like coloring to a darker blue with almost black spots. He looks more like a blue leopard than an opal!
Any clues as to why this is? I do like his current coloring, but it was really weird to watch the coloring change and grow spots!
Also, does any know how to sex a gourami? I just call them all males. :?

 

[Fruitbat]

Deitta...

The Opaline Gourami is a color morph of the Blue Gourami, Trichogaster trichopterus. It is normal for these fish to change color and patter, sometimes dramatically, depending on their mood. Sounds like yours is MUCH happier in the 6 gallon that it was in the 1.6 gallon tank. You'll eventually need to move it into a tank larger than 6 gallons as well...Blue (Opaline) gouramis can reach 5 inches in length.

Males can be distinguished from females by their longer dorsal (top) fin.

 

[LAGlocker]

I have Opalines also, and have noticed that if the setting is right for them to breed, they will darken in color also. And as for the size, correct, I have mine in a large tank, and still am thinking of moving them when I get my big tank set up.

 

[Deitta]

Due to a loss in my adult female mollies, I was thinking of switching my 29gal into a chiclid tank. How well do gourami "do" with chiclids?
My balloon mollies won't get bigger than 1" of body so the smaller tank should do well for them and open up the bigger tank for a new type of fish. Chiclids are very cool and I like the variety of subtle colors.

 

[PlatyLady]

I'm not really sure, but from what I've heard at the LFS, cichlids get territorial and agressive. I think gouramis do too. Anyway, when I was asking about what I could keep with cichlids, I was told only other cichlids. I never did end up getting any, but they are very cool looking.

 

[ferret]

Cichlids would tear gouramis apart, depending on the species. Gourami's simply would not be hardy enough to deal with the levels of aggression seen in cichlid tanks.

As a note though, my opaline is also quite blue. I actually got it for this reason, because I liked the shade of blue better than the 'true' blue gourami.