Help in Opaline Gourami Aggression

GoLdFiSh_GrL

GoLdFiSh_GrL

Aquarius
Aug 25, 2003
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San Diego, CA
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I just bought a male Dwarf Powder Blue Gourami & a Emerald Green Cory cat for my tank yesterday, and my Opaline male was chasing them throughout the whole tank continuously! I took him out of the tank for 2 hours to give time for them to establish territory, and rearranged the decor. It worked for 1 day until today at around 3:00pm, but it started all over. I took him out this time for what's going to be for 4 hours (still set apart), and I still can't figure out what's going on. There's no females in the tank (as I know of because I don't know what 1 of my fish are) so it can't be because of that, & territory: I changed the decor yesterday night & everyone marked new territory. What else should I try? Since I don't want my poor catfish & dwarf gourami to die of a stress attack... All help is appreciated :)

GoLdFiSh_GrL
 
how much bigger is the aggressive one? how big is your tank? i think your only supposed to have one gourami per tank but im not sure, cause i never had any.
 
The aggressive one is about 1/2" bigger... my tank is a 29gal., and you can have more than 1 gourami per tank.
 
This is very common behavior among 3-spot gourami (opalines, golds, blue's etc.). I would either take the dwarf gourami back to the fish store or take the opaline to the fish store. This is not a good combo as dwarf gourami as relatively peaceful, opalines are aggressive, IMHO. I had a pair of gold gourami (same specie as your opaline), needless to say, I didn't keep them very long because they were the terrors of my peaceful community, attacking everything included my mollies, swordtails and cardinal tetras.
 
hmmm... i'm having trouble deciding which one to take back. I don't think PetSmart let's you take them back though. If they do, which one goes better with a Firemouth cichlid & tiger barbs?
 
gourami

his behavior is quite normal i have a gourami same size as opiline but different color he is pale i cant remember what hes called anyhow he chases everyone else from time to time however he NEVER bites anyone just lets them know he's there
 
dwarf gourami + firemouth = bad idea. dwarf gourami + male opaline = bad idea. who told you that would work? dwarf gouramis are so easy-going, they just don't have the kind of tenacity and character to coexist with these fish. definitely take back the dwarf. there is no way this setup would work out well for it.

YES his behavior is normal. BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT'S GOOD FOR THE OTHER FISH! and YES you can keep more than one gourami in a tank...but unless it's larger than 75g, you really need to follow some conditions:

1. there had better only be one male AND in this case you had better have at least 3 or 4 total. one male + just one gourami of any kind usually = lots of torment. one male + one female (except dwarves) usually ends up with a troubled, tormented female.
2. you can keep 2 or 3 (or any number), etc...provided they are all female.

male gouramis need a territory, and they can be tenacious punks.

as far as the catfish goes...you really should keep cory cats in schools. they do much better in a trio than solo, i've found. the school mentality might help them feel more comfortable. i've never had a gourami that chased catfish before. i think he'll be alright, but i'd advise adding a couple more. honestly, i think you need to evaluate what you want out of this tank. do you want a mishmash of fish (1 here, 1 there, all "lonely") or a nice looking, well-designed setup?
 
So I guess I have to take out the dwarf... :( oh well. I bought him at PetSmart... do you think they take back fish?
 
yea I called & they said they did... except my parents are so ignorant that they don't want to take it back & i'm grounded for "lying" to them... :rolleyes: Except now, all my fish seem to be getting along now...
 
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