Hi, I was hoping that somebody with some experience with Blue Gouramis might be able to help me out with a question I have.
I just took my Blue Gourami out of QT (No disease! ), and put him in my 38 gal community tank last night. I put 2 otocinclus into the QT tank to help keep it cycled and to take care of some nasty brown algae that has started to grow. (Why does algae look so gross?)
Anyway, the first night, the gourami was a little crazy, not too surprising as it was his first night! He was cruising around the tank at a pretty good clip, checking things out, tapping everything with those 'feelers'? This morning, I wake up and he is crusing around peacefully with everyone, and everything looks great. Maybe it is the dark gravel or different lighting, but he is beautiful! I have named him Lil' Blue (not very inventive, what can I say?).
Later this evening, however, I brought my father down to check him out. I was right in the middle of telling him how happy I was he wasn't being aggressive. Before I finish the sentence, he starts chasing a swordtail around. Over the next few minutes, I counted 4 separate episodes of him chasing the swordtails around. He leaves the loaches and algae eater alone.
What I can't figure out is what the deal is? He doesn't chase them every time he sees them, and I tried to see if maybe he chases them only in specific spots (territory), but I can't figure out what his reason is. I doubt he'll ever catch the swordtails (they're fast, and Lil' Blue is not), but I don't want him to stress the swordtails to death. I'd say Lil' Blue is about 2", and my largest swordtail is 1.5" and the smallest 1".
Does this sound like a territorial dispute, or is he just mean? I'm not as attached to him as I am to my swordtails (they were my first fish), and while I would hate to get rid of him, but he'd be the one I'd take back if it came down to it.
Does anybody with experience with the blue gouramis have any thoughts, experiences or advice to share?
Thanks!
Paul
I just took my Blue Gourami out of QT (No disease! ), and put him in my 38 gal community tank last night. I put 2 otocinclus into the QT tank to help keep it cycled and to take care of some nasty brown algae that has started to grow. (Why does algae look so gross?)
Anyway, the first night, the gourami was a little crazy, not too surprising as it was his first night! He was cruising around the tank at a pretty good clip, checking things out, tapping everything with those 'feelers'? This morning, I wake up and he is crusing around peacefully with everyone, and everything looks great. Maybe it is the dark gravel or different lighting, but he is beautiful! I have named him Lil' Blue (not very inventive, what can I say?).
Later this evening, however, I brought my father down to check him out. I was right in the middle of telling him how happy I was he wasn't being aggressive. Before I finish the sentence, he starts chasing a swordtail around. Over the next few minutes, I counted 4 separate episodes of him chasing the swordtails around. He leaves the loaches and algae eater alone.
What I can't figure out is what the deal is? He doesn't chase them every time he sees them, and I tried to see if maybe he chases them only in specific spots (territory), but I can't figure out what his reason is. I doubt he'll ever catch the swordtails (they're fast, and Lil' Blue is not), but I don't want him to stress the swordtails to death. I'd say Lil' Blue is about 2", and my largest swordtail is 1.5" and the smallest 1".
Does this sound like a territorial dispute, or is he just mean? I'm not as attached to him as I am to my swordtails (they were my first fish), and while I would hate to get rid of him, but he'd be the one I'd take back if it came down to it.
Does anybody with experience with the blue gouramis have any thoughts, experiences or advice to share?
Thanks!
Paul