Golden Gourami

[Spindelshankz]

Hello everyone!

Im completely new to this site and completely new to fish keeping! at my local aquatic centre i got 2 golden gourami's both females but one of them bullies the other one! Its ripped a whole in the other ones top fin ive only had them since yesterday though so will this stop once they have established in the tank? Its a 20G tank. Any help will be cool! And when i get some more fishes what should i get to live with these 2 fish?

xx

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Okay, you will need to take one of those gouramis back. I don't even think one, let alone two, can fit in there. Try a dwarf gourami instead. You can add fish after a week or two and there is nothing wrong with your water chemistry and finishing your PWC.

 

[jcolon]

You'll probably need to rehome one of those Gourami's. Gold Gourami are fairly aggressive / territorial to begin with and you have a dominant one that will continually bully the weaker. Gourami's are that way unfortunately. I had a Gold one that constantly bullied a smaller Blue Gourami constantly. Plus in a 20 Gal tank, they'll always be within eye shot of each other. In a larger tank with plants, DW, caves and ornaments ... you can set up territories that break up line of sight ... but its no guarantee. Didn't work work with my tank.

 

[Spindelshankz]

Thanks for your honestly! im annoyed because i was told they would be fine and as i dont really know much about fish but they definately arent happy! Will the aquatic centre let me take them back at all?

 

[bruinsbro1997]

They should let you take it back. FYI don't listen to the people at your fish store, they tell you the wrong things most of the times, especially at Petco and Petsmart. I chose to listen to the guy at my LFS yesterday and well...most of my fish are dead.

 

[jcolon]

Thanks for your honestly! im annoyed because i was told they would be fine and as i dont really know much about fish but they definately arent happy! Will the aquatic centre let me take them back at all?

Can't hurt ... give them a call. IMO Gourami's are hit or miss . Gold Gourami's are beautiful, but a 20 gal may be too small in the long run for even one .. they can get up to 5-6 inches.

I do agree with bruinsbro1997 that dwarf Gourami's are worth looking at, but to get the larger ones .... hard to predict.

Good luck!

 

[Spindelshankz]

yeah they are totally beautiful! The place i went to is an independant store but ive heard really good reviews about them! maybe i'll give them a call in the morning and see what they say cause one is just hiding behind a plant in the corner and it pretty much doesnt dare move!

 

[jcolon]

yeah they are totally beautiful! The place i went to is an independant store but ive heard really good reviews about them! maybe i'll give them a call in the morning and see what they say cause one is just hiding behind a plant in the corner and it pretty much doesnt dare move!

Yep ... not unusual what your seeing. Sometimes it works, most times Gourami's are just territorial / aggressive.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Yes, however some gouramis are not like that, ex. moonlight, chocolate, or honey gouramis, and one's not a dwarf, but both are peaceful and docile.

 

[jcolon]

Yes, however some gouramis are not like that, ex. moonlight, chocolate, or honey gouramis, and one's not a dwarf, but both are peaceful and docile.

That is correct ... the one's you mentioned are more peaceful. I really like the look of some of the Dwarfs ... like the flame dwarf.

It's the Gold Gourami that tend to be the more aggressive / territorial ... followed by the Blue - IMO. Does anyone have experience with the Opaline?

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Yeah, opalines are okay, sometimes they get real agressive at your fish for no reason though. Flame dwarfs, honey sunsets, neon blue powder, chocolates, just to name a few, are some of the cooler species of DG's, IMO. Also IMO, opalines, golds, blues, or any of the similar looking gouramis are all agressive, it just depends on which one you get that will show how much agression it has.

 

[Shadowraven]

One of the reasons that you don't notice this type of bullying behavior at the LFS is because there are usually so many of them in the tank. In a larger group of Gouramis the aggression tends to spread out among the group. That's why the less-than-knowledgeable staff at the LFS don't know any better, they don't see it. But I don't advise you get any more to fix the problem, just return or rehome at least 1 of them. Don't put any other type gourami in with one of them either. They will be bullied as well.

The only types of gouramis that I've seen little of this kind of behavior were Pearl Gouramis and occasionally Dwarf Gouramis. Dwarf Gouramis won't builly other gouramis but they will bully each other.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Moonlight and Lavender gouramis also, IMO.

 

[jcolon]

LOL ... I said before in another post ... Gourami's are weird. My Blue, went from being bullied to becoming the bully ... after the gold was gone.
She ran the tank, and I have a tank full of Barbs ... 11 of which are Tigers and a Red-tail Shark. None of the Barbs wanted to get too close, in fact she would break up fights between Male tigers.

Eventually I had to rehome her to a trusted LFS, since then Barbs are acting more like Barbs.

 

[Spindelshankz]

Thanks for all your help guys! im gonna give them a call in the morning! (im in the uk so its late here) hopefully they'll be alright over night! x

 

[bruinsbro1997]

glad we could help!

 

[Shadowraven]

Moonlight and Lavender gouramis also, IMO.

Not familiar with the lavender, but I agree with you about the moonlights.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Yeah, lavenders are super-dee-duper rare, you don't find them unless you special order them.

 

[GuppyLover]

Yeah, lavenders are super-dee-duper rare, you don't find them unless you special order them.

Really? They have them at my new lfs!

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Oh wow really? I have never seen one lavender gourami in my life in person...