Gourami aggression

[sydneypaige690]

I got male and female opaline gold gouramis last week and at first they stayed hidden behind plants. They finally started coming out and being more active as they explore the tank (36 gallon Bowfront) but now the male is pushing he female away during feeding times and chases her roughly. My male platy has joined him in these chases and I feel like they are ganging up on her. She swims away fine and hides in any of the plants but I'm worried it isn't good for them. I could take both or one back but I don't want to do that to them.... I just want what is best for them. Any suggestions on how to stop or slow this aggression?


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[landon_garcia]

You need to keep at least a 1:2 ratio of male and female gouramis. Get another female asap and increase hiding spots.

Where did you find female gouramis?


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[absolutangel04]

First off, it sounds like fairly typical behavior of territorial fish sorting out a dominance hierarchy. As long as they aren't too aggressive to the female, I would try and give it some time to sort itself out. Adding addition hiding places is a good idea. If the behavior continues (and if you are certain you have a male and female), you could try getting another female and seeing how it goes. Generally, this is how territorial fish will act for a bit in a new space while they sort things out.
Make sure to keep on top of water changes. A stressed fish is more prone to diseases. Hopefully it sorts itself out soon. If not, feel free to ask more questions.
Good luck, and let us know how it is going.

 

[sydneypaige690]

Thanks for replying. Landon, I'm planning on getting female platies to disperse his aggression but I didn't know I needed two female gouramis. Thanks. I got them at petsmart. The associate didn't know how to sex them but I looked online.
Absolute angel, I knew they were territorial but it's just concerning for the female. I've been doing PWC twice a week for a while to tone down the driftwood's tannins so the water is pretty good besides being slightly brown.
Here's a picture


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[landon_garcia]

Beautiful tank! Im sorry but the gouramis are most likely both male. This is fine i have 4 males in my 55 gallon and they get along just fine.

I would highly recommend getting a schooling fish like Australian Rainbow fish to break up any fight. Thats what I use. Giant Danios work aswell. Platys arent great for breaking up fights because they dont school as often. Plus rainbow fish are cool looking haha.

Good luck!



My gourami photobombed lol.


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[sydneypaige690]

Thanks Landon! Your tank looks good too, and so does your gourami!


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[absolutangel04]

The OP does not have a big enough tank for giant danios or for Australian rainbows. Though, I do agree that they are cool fish. Having some other distracting fish might help though. Frankly, I think platies are often plenty distracting. It is not the act of schooling that distracts a fish, but rather just its existence in the territory. Any fish that swims in and out of a given territory will trigger the same thing. Though, that doesn't always work. Depends on the gourami. If you were going to add a school of fish anyways, you can try it sooner rather than later and see if it makes a difference.
Gouramis have highly varied temperaments. Some get along, some don't. I still think you are just dealing with the early "settling in" jitters and it is not yet indicative of what the future may hold.
And yes, they will even be territorial with the opposite gender, especially when young. Angels are like that too. Even though they may eventually bond, they first sort out who is the big fish on the block.
They may be a little young for sexing accurately. Time will tell! Keep us updated.

 

[sydneypaige690]

Absolute angel, yeah I'm hoping it's just settling in. I think I will still get two female platies for the male platy I have so he will be distracted and there will be more going on to distract the bigger (if not male) gourami.


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[sydneypaige690]

I got two female red Mickey Mouse platy today! Cuties. We will see if it helps with the males' attitudes....I also got some more plants for the girls to hide in.




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[sydneypaige690]

The first picture is the smaller gourami, I think the female. The second and third are the bigger gourami, thinking the male. And then that's one of my peppered corydoras and one of the new platy.


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[44Paps44]

Both of those Gourami's look male to me.

Here is my snakeskin and you can see how much more 'rounded' the dorsal and anal fins are. I had a Gold male at one point but had to rehome because of how much bigger this female (7") was in comparison.

If you still have room, you may want to consider adding in a rainbow shark or an medium sized Angel. Gourami's tend to lose their aggressiveness when they are no longer 'top dog' in the tank.

 

[sydneypaige690]

Thanks for replying, 44Paps44. You have a pretty gourami! Sadly I am not comfortable adding any more fish to my tank with my current stocking level. Are you sure you're looking at the right pictures though? The little gourami is in the picture of the one hiding in the plants, you can't see the fins. The other two gourami pictures are of the bigger gourami.


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[44Paps44]

Thanks.

Sorry, shoul've been clear, the gourami in these two pics are male. I can't see enough of the other to determine anything.

Male

Can't tell on this one or the other 'hiding' pic.

I don't see the platy's doing much to change the aggression toward each other. The two gourami's will spar for dominance. Don't think you've seen real aggression yet though (lip locking, etc) so I wouldn't be too concerned.

if you only have the two Gourami's and a couple of platys you should still have room for more stocking. Just need to give thought as to what will work long term

 

[sydneypaige690]

Yeah, those two pictures are of the same fish. The last one isn't my picture. I have the two gourami, three platy, and two peppered corydoras. Aqadvisor has me at 148% filtration capacity and 71% stocking level.


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[44Paps44]

ok, well if you're still questioning the sex of the other gourami in the tank, comparing the fins from my snake should help. There is a noticeable difference.

Aqa is very conservative and remember, it's showing you at 71% based on adult size. At minimum you need more Cory's (at least three as they do best in groups of 5 or more). You can safely look to increase your stock. Just need to research for best fit. But waiting wouldn't be a bad thing either, in case there does turn out to be real aggression in your tank and someone needs to be rehomed in the future.

 

[sydneypaige690]

Looking at your gourami, I can definitely say my smaller one is female. So thank you! I think I will get more corydoras and just wait for the gouramis to settle.


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