Dwarf Gourami question

[lushmoney]

Hi. I have 2 dwarf gouramis in a 20 gallon tank with a few other fish. One of the gouramis is always laying on his side at the bottom or under rocks, or sometimes he goes up to the plants and just lays there, appearing to be dead, and when I actually think he is dead I go to pull him out with a net, and when I get near, he swims away very quickly, so I dont know whether to pull him or keep him in there? What could this be? He has no spots or blemishes and gets along fine with everything in the tank. Weird...

Thanks!

[jaysee]

Welcome to the forum!

The dwarf gourami may be being bullied to death by the other one. I would remove the weak one.

[VoidParadigm]

Dwarf Gouramis are very territorial (much the same as two male bettas are) and it's much safer to keep them in separate tanks. As Jaysee said, one may be being bullied.

A good rule of thumb to follow is fifteen gallons between each Dwarf Gourami. (So two Dwarfs would need a thirty gallon tank to have sufficient territory, and even then it's up to the individual fish. Some need 20 each or more to be happy.)

[lushmoney]

Yea I have a 20 gallon with 2 gouramis in it. I will take the weak one out into a separate tank with no gouramis and see if he gets better. Thanks for the replies.

[Lukesrees]

Hi I posted something similar recently, the weaker one was just lying on the bottom and constanting being chased by the bigger one, it was cruel. By the time I was in a position to remove him and give him to a a friend he had died unfortunatley.