2 Female Pearl Gouramis a bad idea?

[ScottS]

I have two female Pearl Gouramis. One has clearly established itself as the dominant fish and picks on the other. Is this going to work out in the long term?

 

[Fruitbat]

Probably will. I have a trio of Blue Gouramis (1 male/2 female) that have set up a definite pecking order. The male is #1 and he actively chases both females. The larger of the two females is #2...she chases the smaller female and even occasionally sneaks up on the male and gives him a nip. The smaller female doesn't get to chase anybody but still manages to get her fair share of food. I haven't seen any damage done during any of these chases. It would be a different story if you had two males. They'll go at each other relentlessly...sometimes to the point of one killing the other.

 

[lmw80]

What size tank are they in? And is there enough "territory establishing" items in the tank, such as, plants - real or fake, decorations, rocks, etc.? Being that they are females, I can't see there being too much of a problem. Males are usually the aggressive ones.

 

[ScottS]

You can see my tank in my gallery. It's only a 20, but they're in there with just a small school of cardinals.

There are fake cabombas on the left, and a fake amazon on the right with an area of separation between.

 

[lmw80]

Well, it looks good! Give them a week or two to get used to the tank/each other, and see how it goes. If there's no nipping, or other physical damage, I would say that they will be fine.

 

[ScottS]

Well, I went back down and have discovered there is physical damage to the pearl being picked on. There are two decent sized nips near her head. Is it time to see if the LFS will take one back? And will one pearl thrive alone?

 

[ScottS]

Here's a pic of the damage:
(sorry for the double attach)

 

[riftlake_kid]

one gourami will be fine by itself. she would actually prefer it. gouramis are solitary by nature, they only really socialize to spawn.

 

[madasafish]

I'm definitely in support of returning the aggressor. Aggression will just get worse, and the wounds deeper.

 

[lmw80]

Yes! Do return the aggressive one, and keep an eye on the wounds of the other one to make sure they don't get infected.

 

[Timanator]

My 2 Gouramies are just like yours. And they get along perfectly. THey eat side by side and always swam along each other.