Gourami problem

[mr.geronimo23]

Im having a little problem with my 2 gouramies they dont seem to get along anymore , I bought a dwarf blue gourami and about 2 weeks after that got a gold gourami ( I think they also call them honey gourami not sure), for the first couple days everything was fine , they didnt bug each other or anything but 2 days ago the gold gourami started beating up the dwarf for no reason . I was told gourami are not aggresive fish, is this true ? do these type of gourami hate each other or something ? any info on this matter would be appreciated. thanks

[Swimfins]

2 males will definately be a problem unless its a huge tank...
I'd take it back and get a couple female blues.

[Harlock]

Gouramis are generally not aggressive fish and do well in communty tanks. That is, unless another gourami or anabantid is in that community. There are exceptions, of course, but sometimes females will fight with males, different types of gouramis will feud, and of course, gouramis may have it out with other labyrinth fish. Sorry to hear your two are not working out. If you can return the one you don;t want, and then enjoy the peace once again.

[theop]

Ditto. If the golden one is also a dwarf gourami, then they are likely both males, since female dwarfs are not sold as often. Look at the dorsal fins. If they come to a point (and not rounded off), you have males.

All bets are off with these when combined. You can expect problems with multiple males in a tank (same or different species - doesn't matter), but even pairs/groups of females can still have significant problems with each other (even to the point of one of them getting killed). In general, they tend to be non-aggressive towards other types of fish, however.

[nickbuter]

sounds like it took them two weeks to establish there territories.

[mr.geronimo23]

The blue one isnt aggresive at all its the gold one , I guess Im going to take the gold one back to LFS and get some ghost shrimp as a trade since he didnt cost much :( .really liked the look of two gouramis in my tank, oh well cant always have what you want I guess .Thanks for the info guys .

[mr.geronimo23]

Blue didnt make it :sad , guess I wasnt fast enough in taking out the gold one :mad2 . Whats weird is I had the gold one in a little breeder /net cage thing inside the tank for 2 days and today is when blue died , he was eating and swiming around just as happy :confused:

[JosephMCorbett]

I had two dwarf blue Gourami's in a 55. Bought them both at the same time. For a week there was no problems. Then they started to establish territories; basically one on either side of the tank. Whenever the one on the right would come out, the one on the left would chase him back. This went on for about a month until the one on the right wouldn't even come out to eat. Three days later....dead. Now I have everyone in a 125 including the "bully" Gourami. A couple of days ago, I added 3 large Angelfish. The Angels have not bothered anyone, but the Gourami will not come out of one of the plants in the top right-hand corner of the tank. I've watched when he is out and they do not bother him. Maybe he's just intimidated?

[LakewoodEngine]

I put 4 male dwarf blue gouramis in a 29g tank. What a mistake. Two killed. One without a tail or dorsal and ventral fins. Two left. I think I'll reduce it to one.

[stingray4540]

I have two dwarf gouramis in a 29, blue and flame. They get along marvalously. If trying to keep two I wouldn't suggest anything smaller that a 29. A 29 is just big enough to allow them to establish territories. I have noticed though that gouramis will exploit any weekness or sickness, slow to acclimate etc. of another gourami and will kill it. If you introduce 2 fish at the same time, in a large enough tank, and both are healthy, then you should be ok. A lot has to do with personality as well, if you really want two, then it may take a few tries to get two that get along, or put up with each other rather. Mine don't like each other, but are satisfied with staying in there territories.

[minka-1974]

I love blue gouramis and have kept them for a long time. They are right to be called commuity fish provided you don't keep more than one in a tank (unless its huge) as in my experience they are very territorial and will bully each other and any other type of gouramis to death. Shame more aquarium shops don't tell this to people buying them but then I guess its more money for them if you buy tow or three fish and end up with one. They are great fish though and will mix on their own with most others.

[Windy]

If you can, remove one of the gouramis and put him in his own tank. It doesn't have to be a huge tank. Like a good 5 gallon tank all to himself or if you want an 8 gallon or a 10 if you feel that the 5 gallon is not enough for him or her. Good Luck.

[silentcircuit]

My three-spot just recently decided my hatchet fish should not have a tail after two months of zero issues. Of course the hatchet is way too fast for him (pointy dorsal fin, very sharp coloration, definitely male) so it's not a big deal, and the chasing isn't constant. I may remove the hatchet anyway -- I started with 5 and they died like it was their job when everything else in the tank was perfectly fine, and nothing was chasing / stressing them then. Made no sense. I know hatchets do best in groups and I don't really feel like dealing with a bunch of dead fish again.

Anyway, point is they can be aggressive, especially with each other. Sorry to hear you lost the gold. Unfortunate, but a learning experience.