what to do about an aggressive gold gourami...

[fishfanatic]

I've had a 33 gallon peaceful community setup for about 3 years, I have 5 harlequin rasboras, 6 neons, 3 cherry barbs, 6 rummynose tetras,2 dalmation mollie, a red tailed shark and a african dwarf frog and 1 remaining danio.

I added this gold Gourami a few months ago, things were fine at first, now it's aggressive as hell!!! especially at feeding times. The danio has not left the corner of the tank in over a month, it wont even eat a feeding times, Now all my harlequins are stuck in the corner with the danios as well, it's really sad :scry: The whole vibe of the tank is completely different

What do you guys think I should do? the fish is beautiful I would love to keep it. If I bought another gourami would it improve the situation or would they fight like hell? I would give it away, but I dont know anyone with a tank. Any insight would be appreciated.

[Lady Hobbs]

Easy enough solution. Get rid of it. No reason to keep all fish hostage to one bully.

[rich311k]

He needs to go, another gourami would only make it worse.

[fishfanatic]

Yep, thanks guys....I think I should take him back where I bought him

Trying to get him out is gonna be fun

[Lady Hobbs]

Why I invested in an 8" net! LOLOL Got tired of those small nets.

[elb08]

Yep, thanks guys....I think I should take him back where I bought him

Trying to get him out is gonna be fun

I just returned a dwarf gourami today, he was beautiful and I was very bummed... I bought 2 at the same time hoping it would work but it didn't. I even picked 2 out that were swimming together at PetSmart. I gave it a week, and the one I took back bullied the other one nonstop. So I took him back and kept the submissive one, let's hope he stays mellow...

My Husband had me cracking up, the petstore asks why you're bringing them back and he said to just tell them "He's an a$$ hole" lol

[DrNic]

Like the others said, the main option is to get rid of the fish. However if you have the space there is something you might consider trying.

In 2007 I got a pearl gourami as a centerpiece fish for a 29G neon tetra tank. With pearl was fine with the neons in the tank but whenever I would put in anything meduim sized (dwarf gouarmi, livebearers, etc.) the pearl would get really agressive. Well I had other tanks running at the time which were the leftovers from my days breeding angelfish. Most of these tanks had large 5+ year old angelfish in them, most of which had their own mean streaks. So I put the pearl gourami in with a trio of large female angels. Sure enough the pearl calmed right down. As soon as she was clearly not the big fish in the tank her attitude changed a lot. It's now been more than 3 years and I still have that pearl gourami, currently in with some small koi/comets, causing no problems at all.

This might not work for all grumpy gouramis, but it might be worth a try if you have an extra tank around.

[Lady Hobbs]

"He's an a$$ hole" lol:hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange:

That's been my opinion with a few fish I've had. Turns out they were also gourami's. LOLOL

Mean fish is like having a mean dog. Time to go away!

[elb08]

:hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange:

That's been my opinion with a few fish I've had. Turns out they were also gourami's. LOLOL

Mean fish is like having a mean dog. Time to go away!

Hahahaha! :ssmile:

[ldoerr]

I have Opalines and they are the sweetest fish ever. I used to have 2 Golds in my tank and they chased my other fish to no end. So I gave them to 2 of my friends. The person who ended up with my female ended up putting it in time out for a couple of weeks and that calmed it down for a little wile. The person I gave my male to already had 1 Male Gold and 2 female Blues. He calls his fish racist. They are always fighting amongst each other. The Golds eventually died and he gave me his Blues until he could decide a few things. The Blues are being as sweet as can be at my house even thought they are only in a tank that only holds .5 G of water.

But yes Golds are very mean. I have not seen one yet that was not supper aggressive.

[Lady Hobbs]

They probably appear happy now because what else can they do in half a gallon of water?

Gourami's are not group fish. A pair may be fine but males do not get along well at all. I had 5 in a 55 gallon and it was a mess.

[Cermet]

I have two gold Gouramis in a 75 gal and it isn't big enough but they can barely get along in the tank - as long as one hids in the corner of the tank, at is. All the other fish are ignored, even the cardinals but don't let anyone tell you otherwise, size does matter! LOL

[ldoerr]

I currently have 4 Gouramis (2 Opaline females, 1 Opaline male, and 1 Blue Female) (I just introduced 2 of the Gouramis yesterday) in a 29G and they are all doing fine. They even leave my Clown Loach alone.