Scientific Name: Trichogaster trichopterus

Comments
These fish were originally called Three Spot Gouramis because they have a dark spot at the base of their tails. You can see this dark spot in the picture above. Many of these fish also have a spot in the middle of the body. That spot is very faint in the picture of the Gold Gourami at the top of this page, but easy to see on the Blue Gouramis shown just above. The third spot was the eye.

This fish is now available in several color varieties called the Blue Gourami, the Gold Gourami, the Opaline Gourami, and several other color types. They are all the same species, Trichogaster trichopterus. They are pretty, hardy, and peaceful. They grow rather large for small aquariums, but are a very good fish for larger aquariums.

I feed these fish a few Black Worms every other day. Click here for more about feeding Black Worms.

Appropriate Home
Eventually an aquarium with at least 50 gallons of water, an exterior power filter with a bio-wheel, a maximum of 1/4 inch of gravel, and an aquarium heater adjusted to between 70 and 82 degrees F. Click here for more about warm water aquariums.

Recommended Diet
Gold, Blue, and Opaline Gouramis do well on a diet of floating flake food, some freeze dried blood worms, which are actually mosquito larvae, plus an occasional treat of live Black Worms and live or frozen brine shrimp. Click here to read more about feeding fish. Click here for more information about Black Worms.

Compatibility
This species enjoys each others company. There are several color varieties, and you should mix and match at least four of them from the Blue Gourami, Gold Gourami, and Opaline Gourami. If you keep only one of these Gouramis, it will probably annoy other types of fish, especially other Three Spot Gouramis and Dwarf Gouramis. But when kept in a group the Blue, Gold, and Opaline Gouramis will focus most of their energy on each other and be less likely to bother other types of fish.
 
Good tanks mates for these Gouramis: All Barbs, Gouramis, Danios, Rainbows, a school of Clown Loaches, one Red Tail Shark or one Rainbow Shark, a school of Bala Sharks, and a  Spiny Eel.
 
Click here to read more about several other groups of compatible fish.

Size and Lifespan
These Gouramis can grow to about 6" and live for several years.

So my first reaction is to encourage you to be much more patient, and patience is one of the essential ingredients in breeding any fish.

As mentioned above, Gold Gouramis and the other color varieties of this species will grow to 6". They don't need to be 6" long to breed, but they usually won't start breeding until they are at least 4" long.

I'm guessing that yours are smaller than 4" now, because I usually see them for sale at about 2" to 2.5" long. So you may have to raise them up for a while, before they will breed.

Incidentally, you say you have six Gold Gouramis and three Opaline Gouramis, making a total of nine, which need quite a large aquarium, even if they are only 2". Above on this page it recommends keeping at least four of them and says that they'll eventually need an aquarium with at least 50 gallons of water.

I hope these comments help you.

We know that Gouramis generally come from dark stale water, and that's why they have an extra organ called a labyrinth in their heads that assists in absorbing oxygen.

Like other fish Gouramis take water in through their mouths and pass it out through their gill. As the water goes through their gill, oxygen is absorbed into their blood stream.

Most Gouramis go to the surface of the water, take a gulp of air into their mouths, then force the air up into the labyrinth organ in the top part of their head.

Later after the oxygen is absorbed, the Gourami releases the bubbles of air. In this way Gouramis can get extra oxygen from the air, so they are not completely dependent on the oxygen in the water.

What does this have to do with their long pelvic fin-feelers? The labyrinth shows that these Gouramis are adapted to living in stale water, which is often dark, and these feelers may help them feel the bottom and other objects, when it is too dark to see.

I have not noticed that the feelers are sticky. If so, you've made an interesting observation, that I will have to check and think about!

You mentioned that your fish seem to stay in one corner, which is probably because you have too few of each type. Guppies live best in a group with at least three males and about twice as many females. Click here for more about Guppies.

Cory Catfish live best in a group with at least six Corys of their species. Usually different species of Cory Catfish will not school together. Click here for more information about Cory Catfish.

Three Spot Gouramis live best in a group with at least four of them. As with most types of Gouramis it is best to keep at least three males and about twice as many females.

To summarize: it would be best if you had a group of about 8 or 9 Guppies, 6 Cory Catfish, and 8 or 9 Three Spots. These fish would require at least a 40-gallon aquarium.

But your Guppies are too small to be compatible with the Three Spots. Perhaps the Guppies should go in a smaller aquarium, and the Tree Spots in another bigger aquarium.

I hope my comments answer your questions and help both you and your fish.