Dwarfs, best single or in groups?

[DrNic]

My mom just put 2 dwarf neon blue dwarf gouramis into a ~40G tank with some rummynose tetras. Although they seemed perfectly fine in the store, one of the fish is clearly dominant over the other, to the point where the passive fish almost can't eat.

Would it be better to separate the fish or try to get two more (4 total) for the tank, to try to spread out the nipping? I was always under the impression that dwarf gouramis were pretty mellow and didn't have dominance issues. Mine have been pretty calm overall.

[Anomaly]

Dwarf Gouramis can be very aggressive with one another. In a 40 gallon you could try adding some more plants and decorations so they can stake out their own territories but if that doesn't work, they will likely need to be seperated. If you're going to add more than one Dwarf Gourami, it's best to add a couple of females per one male.

[Paw Broon]

:goodpost: Though even with more plants or decorations in there i'd still say he'd get bullied from time to time and it's never nice to watch. I've had to seperate 2 males twice so IMO i would just take one back.

[jaysee]

IME the honey and sunset gouramis are much less aggressive than the standard dwarf and more than one can be kept in a tank. I've never tried more than 2, so I cannot attest to that.

[VoidParadigm]

When I had two males in a ten gallon they didn't have a problem with each other. Once I upgraded them to the twenty the larger started getting aggressive. Before I could find a home for the smaller dwarf the aggressive one died of unknown causes. Oh well. Go figure.

Dwarfs, 3-Spots, and Giants are recommended to be seperately housed usually, although I know for sure that at least the former twos temperaments can vary greatly and sometimes they do live harmoniously in the same tank.

[Lab_Rat]

From talking with Dave, I learned gourami actually are group fish, they just need a larger area, so it's not realistic to have a group of 6 in a 10g. If I were you, first I would try to get a hold of 4 females. Since that's not very realistic since females are so difficult to find I would actually try adding 4 more dwarfs since you have such a large tank. It would disperse aggression and the behavior might totally change. Of course, having a backup plan if it doesn't work is important.

[jcarr71]

For what it is worth, I have two dwarfs that I believe to be male in my main community tank. Not only are they completely peaceful towards one another, they seem to actually like each other. The hide and swim together most of the time, a mini-two dwarf school. They never nip at each other. I guess the blue one could be female though. The color just seems too rich on it for it to be female.

[dawguy]

Find him a lady fish.Then what him chase both of them.
Dawguy

thumbs2:

[Anomaly]

Find him a lady fish.Then what him chase both of them.
Dawguy

thumbs2:

You really don't want to place one female Dwarf Gourami in with two males.

[DrNic]

Well without warning she went out and got 2 more for her tank. She said that they seem to be getting along a little better. the dominant fish is still the alpha but the others will now come out in a group when they need to. I think we're going to try to setup some driftwood or something in that tank soon as well to try to mellow everyone out.

[batmura]

Please separate the male gouramis. Otherwise, the weaker one will die due to stress.

[Garrett]

I've got two in a 10 right now and they get along fine. They're also almost exactly the same size, and that tank's getting upgraded into a 38 in the next week, but they've been together for a good four or so months now with no problems. The tank's pretty heavily planted for a 10, and there are tetras to distract them...but I think it's a bit like bettas, it comes down to the personality of the fish.

[red eyes]

dwarf gourami act much like mbuna and will fight to the death over territory unless there are like 1 fish per 2-4 gallons and then there are simply no territory's to be set up.