WHICH fish is the problem

[mgkaelen]

augh, i'm back after months of hiatus status.
OKAY. i used to have 2 gold gourami's (months ago). the bigger one would bully the other one, poor thing. my tank eventually (somehow) developed some unsavvy water conditions and the smaller, bullied gourami died =( ... after he was gone, the BIGGER gourami became this huge scaredy cat. when i opened the lid of the tank to feed, he'd run off and then have to slowly ease his way back into the main picture. (i also had 4 tiger barbs at this time, 3 of whom were subjected to death by unsavvy water conditions)... SO. now i have 1 tiger barb (maybe this is why he is aggressive? though i know they are semi-aggressive anyhow...) and one gold gourami (among other fish that give me no problem). [acronym:5339045e87="By the way"]btw[/acronym:5339045e87] i've never noticed the tiger barb really be aggressive up to this point, and all my fish have fins that are intact and pretty.
HOWEVER, yesterday i bought two dwarf gourami's , and now it seems that the gold gourami is back to his old antics, bullying around the poor dwarfs. and ALSO i see that the tiger barb i think wants to fin nip them! is this because they haven't been used to new tankmates? which fish do i get rid of??? how do i know that once i get rid of the gold gourami (or tiger barb) that the two dwarf gourami's aren't going to bully each other around like my 2 gourami's did ? i have a 10 gallon with some dwarf puffers in it, but i don't want any of my fish to get tore up in there with them by experimenting which fish will cooperate with each other. any suggestions as to what to do?? ps water conditions are back to normal, tank is NOT overcrowded... nothing is a factor in the tank that would cause stress other than the presence of these fish.

[krap101]

id return the newest fish(s). if it was fine b4 its the new fish that are probally the problem. and gouramis dont usually go well together. ive heard that dwarfs are more agressive? or you might try using that empty 125

[mgkaelen]

my tank was so empty before they were put into the tank.. really, the ram , gold gourami, and tiger barb are the only fish that use the main part of the tank... i have some bottom feeders that don't get into the way. i thought i had heard that the dwarves were a little aggressive, which is why i was surprised that THEY were being bullied around. now it's like all three of the gourami's are hiding and the tiger barb has the whole place to himself. augh

[krap101]

all 3 of them? that doesnt sound right. when one comes out into the open and the other 2 stay in the dark thats probally the one.

[krap101]

oh and are they all eating?

[mgkaelen]

yep, they love to eat. i fed them brine shrimp last night as a treat to the new tank and they gobbled it right up, and ate flakes this morning. don't think they're sick... maybe they're still acclimating to the tank but my conditions are almost identical to the fish store that i bought them from.

i know, it's weird. the gold gourami takes the top left side of the tank and the dwarves take the bottom right back side and the barb is free to roam! i wanted to maybe throw the barb into my 10g tank but i dont thin kthat's such a hot idea; hah

[krap101]

im sure they'll be fine but watch em for any signs of agression

[mgkaelen]

i guess i'll wait a week or so? tattered fins means the tiger barb has to go. shyness and hiding, augh i'll have to figure it out

[Voodoo Chilli]

Tiger barbs need to be kept in schools of at least five or more. This way, they'll expend their energies on each other and leave the other fish alone. You'll either want to add more or get rid of the one you've already got.