Aggressive Gourami

[themollusk]

Hey, I'm new to the forums but won't clog this post with my introduction, as that's for the introduction thread!

I have 3 gouramis, one male golden, one female golden and one male blue who has been in my tank since it was established. The two new goldens are being harassed by the blue one and it's created aggression between all three of them. I currently only have one "vase/jug" for them to hide in, and the blue one has taken it as "his territory." I've tried feeding them from three different points of the tank and that has helped slightly, but I was wondering if I put another hiding place in there for them, would that help with the aggression?

All of the stats of the tank are fine, the temp is 73 and ph is normal.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
I will be uploading a photo of my tank in the near future to help with my poor explanations n___n;

Thanks so much!
xx
themollusk

[GouramiGal]

You could create hiding areas with plants for them, too. It should help a little.

[CAllain]

What size is your tank?

Do you have any plants? I've found sometimes denser planting and bogwood can help as it breaks the line of sight/helps them hide.

[davidix]

My opaline gourami is also very aggressive. to the point where I had to take all my other fish out. He was fine at first with little Neon Tetras and little molly's but as soon as I put another Gourami it was over...it took no more then one night for my bigger gourami to dismantle the smaller gourami. After that He started picking on the little guys.

[PhilliesFan202]

My Gourami is aggressive whenever I add new fish to the tank he will alwalys Harass them and chase them around the tank its almost kind of like a Hazing for new fish I usually feed him some brime shrimp and this not only calms him down but gives him something else to do..

[C-Dub]

I think you def. need more hiding places first of all. Secondly you should have 2 or 3 females to every one male. If adding more fish is not an option i would at least put more cave's/plants for hiding. Also, 73 seems a bit cold to me but im certainly no expert. Warming the water actually will make the fish more active though and you may not want that right now.

[GouramiGal]

Oh yes, I didn't catch that. I think the water should be warmer too!

[PhilliesFan202]

as said before I keep my temp around 78-83

[themollusk]

I put some water into the tank, along with a bit of stress coat to help take some of the water hardness out, and I made a point of raising the water temp. just slightly. I'm planning to put the heater back in when I have a few moments of free-time from doing lots of yardwork with the father (it's a daily concentration camp of sorts, heh)

It seems that they pick on the female, then chase each other around periodically. I'm going to put more plant-life in there, along with propping up some seashells against the tree ornament that is the central point of the tank. Hopefully this will make the female feel safer, as there's not a whole lot of room for more fish, and I was already planning to get a couple more barbs, since I only have one currently and he's lonely :(

So yeah, I'll keep you posted as to how they're doing! :D
Thanks so much for the advice, you guys! Much better than the typical "elitist" nature that a lot of these types of forums bring to the table.

[Gemini]

Welcome the mollusk!!
Opalines I think are cranky gouramis. Mine has been a terror in the tank, but calms down after awhile. I found rearranging the tank when I added new mates helped as he had to find a new home too. Plants also help. I would try and create a little territory for each of them to call their own and they should be ok.
Everyone on this forum is very nice. So feel free to ask all your questions, and of course to share pics!!!

[maggie3]

Hey, I'm new to the forums but won't clog this post with my introduction, as that's for the introduction thread!

I have 3 gouramis, one male golden, one female golden and one male blue who has been in my tank since it was established. The two new goldens are being harassed by the blue one and it's created aggression between all three of them. I currently only have one "vase/jug" for them to hide in, and the blue one has taken it as "his territory." I've tried feeding them from three different points of the tank and that has helped slightly, but I was wondering if I put another hiding place in there for them, would that help with the aggression?

All of the stats of the tank are fine, the temp is 73 and ph is normal.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
I will be uploading a photo of my tank in the near future to help with my poor explanations n___n;

Thanks so much!
xx
themollusk
Hi, I have four male gouramis. They do chase each other but it is not too serious.

I would like to obtain a FEMALE dwarf gourami as I have four males, two dwarf, one larger and a paradise fish which is supposed to be a gourami too.

Anyway, is there a chance that anyone out there can sell me a female gourami?


Thank you.