Help !!! Gourami question

[1boatnut]

I need some imput ASAP from THOSE IN THE KNOW !!!
About 2 weeks ago I purchased a Blue Dwarf Gourami. He seemed to be a very docile fish and got along well in my community tank. Today I purchased a Dwarf Gourami & a Fire Dwarf Gourami. I just put them in the tank and my Blue is literally ATTACKING the Dwarf. He is flaring his fins,bending his tail & nipping and chasing the dwarf ALL over the tank. He,for the most part has not harassed the Fire Dwarf too much. At the pet store the entire (little) tank is full with Male Gourami's who seem to get along.
I did alot of research and it appeared my choice (should) have been fine.

Anyne know if this behavior will subside or continue? I don't want the new guys to get hurt. The Neon Blue even gave a quick nudge to one of my Cory Cats. I assume it is now a territorial issue,but it is a 55 gallon tank so there are other places to stake claim to. It appears the Neon Blue wants to stake claim to the entire tank ?

HELP !!! Should I just keep an eye on them?

[fish_freak]

Gouramii's can be very territorial with others of there species. They tend to gang up and bully the weakest till it dies then move on to the next weakest till there is only one left. The reason that he is most likely going nuts right now is because he was left in the tank as the sole male gouramii for two weeks so its not that he needs the whole tank as his territory but scince he was alone he already claimed it and now these new guys are invadeing. Weather or not the bullying will subside will only be told with time. Keep an eye on them and of one gets two beat up then you will have to seperate them.
Im not a gouramii expert but I do belive that you should keep two to three females for each male to help with the agresion.

[echoofformless]

I wouldn't keep that setup.

Except for maybe flame or honey gouramis it's always best to keep only one in a tank, unless it's a very big and heavily planted tank.

[Star_Rider]

gouramis by nature can be territorial..particular to other male gouramis.

dwarfs are suppose to be more peaceful..but they are gouramis.

they may stop but the aggression may continue. bickering is pretty common for the species. it may get better. how big is the tank and how much cover do youhave.

[1boatnut]

gouramis by nature can be territorial..particular to other male gouramis.

dwarfs are suppose to be more peaceful..but they are gouramis.

they may stop but the aggression may continue. bickering is pretty common for the species. it may get better. how big is the tank and how much cover do youhave.

The tank is a 55 gallon,and no real cover (if you mean like floating plants)I do have 1 real plant and 3 fake plants though.

Ok,here is what I DON"T understand. These fish come from tanks with NOTHING but males,and the tanks are maybe 10 gallons. If males CAN|T be together,how can they stay this way at the pet store?

[jm1212]

The tank is a 55 gallon,and no real cover (if you mean like floating plants)I do have 1 real plant and 3 fake plants though.

Ok,here is what I DON"T understand. These fish come from tanks with NOTHING but males,and the tanks are maybe 10 gallons. If males CAN|T be together,how can they stay this way at the pet store?1) dwarf gouramis go so fast in the store that they do not get the chance to steak out territories and separate the weak fish from the strong (yes they do this)
2) there are so many of them that the agression is spread out enough so that they only are "nipping" at one another, and if you sit and watch the gourami tank you will see at least one male nip at another at least once.
the only truly peacful gouramis are pearl gouramis, and even honey gouramis can be terretorial of there are to many males in a tank

[1boatnut]

So what do you recomend? Taking back the 2 gourmai's I just purchased?

[jm1212]

that would be best

[Star_Rider]

probsbly best . you could try adding more structure driftwood with nore plants..a place where the others can hide..but you still need to watch for aggression.

[dontburnthe_pig]

my friend just added two gold gouramis and one of them nearly killed one his diamond tetras over a little rock formation after being in the tank for less than 25 minutes...very territorial

[1boatnut]

my friend just added two gold gouramis and one of them nearly killed one his diamond tetras over a little rock formation after being in the tank for less than 25 minutes...very territorial


I hear ya. A few months ago I bought a couple of Golds and returned them. They didn't kill any fish,but were very nasty..

[1boatnut]

probsbly best . you could try adding more structure driftwood with nore plants..a place where the others can hide..but you still need to watch for aggression.


Well hopefully I have the situation under control. Like I stated I believe the Neon blue was agressive because he was in the tank almost 2 weeks before the new arrivals. I removed him from the tank and went back to the store and returned him for another Neon Blue. So far all is well in Gourami land.
I am glad ! He not only got nasty with the 2 new arrivals,he started being nasty with all the others that he didn't seem to have a prior problem with !

[1boatnut]

Now,here are some of the reasons I even got Gourami's to begin with.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=981

http://www.aquariumarticles.com/?c=403

http://www.elmersaquarium.com/10gouramis_dwarf.htm

http://www.fishrankings.com/?q=dwarf_gourami


http://www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?cur_lang=2&what=article&id=34

[echoofformless]

In general it's a good idea to look at the more aggressive gourami types as you would bettas. They are very picky about who they live with, and that is compounded by the fact that each one of them have very distinct temperments and personalities. (I theorize that this is because labyrinth fish are more highly evolved than say, cyprinids or characins.)

For example I have a paradise fish in my 10g and a three spot in my 20g; both of which show only mild aggression - and that aggression is at maximum only a quick chase away should another fish annoy them or try to steal their food. In fact I have found this behavior to be good for the tank in general, as it keeps the nippy little pain the @#% fish like tetras, barbs and danios at bay. The one gourami in my twenty gallon is at least four years old now...so I worry that when she dies if there might be a power vacuum and the resulting chaos from such a thing. hehe

So yeah...one larger gourami per tank unless as people have stated before - a larger tank with lots of cover. Even then I wouldn't do more than one gourami. They just seem so much more interesting when kept as a specimen species.

I always leave the groupings to the schooling fish.

[justintoxicated]

Interesting, I got 2 Honey Gourami females, and one was in the tank prior to the other. When I introduced the new fish the existing one was very happy and interested (it was happy about the other existing female as well before it died of unknown reasons perhaps I.P. or an internal bacterial infection). It was trying to free the other female from the fish bag. Now they seem to be best friends schooling together in the tank. I want to get one more but I want to make sure it is a male.

My Girlfriend got 4 pearl gouramis. They were ok at first but she says they are being very agressive. One of them died for unknown reasons. She thinks she got 3 males and one female but is not sure as they are very young. Seems like another one is starting to act like the first one which died. :(

Not to hijack but perhaps she needs to add more fake plants and or rocks and caves?

[jm1212]

Not to hijack but perhaps she needs to add more fake plants and or rocks and caves? adding more caves and plants will help.

as for the gold gourami incident, gold gouramis are a variation of three sopt gouramis, and they are one of the NASTIEST fish i have ever had. i have only had one, and i dont want any more, because they beat up and kill everything that is in the tank with them that is smaller than them. that meants they need to be with bigger fish like cichlids, otherwise they need to be by themselves. even femlae three spots (and blues, golds, platinums, etc.) can get mean.