Kmwade22
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hello everyone!
Since the beginning of my tank (this past weekend) I have had 2 peppered Cory catfish (I know I need more), 2 sunset gouramis, 4 gold skirt tetras, 4 black skirt tetras, and 2 mystery snails. Everyone got along "swimmingly!"
Between starting on Saturday, we added a Bolivian Ram cichlid on Monday and 3 threadfin rainbow fish on Wednesday. The cichlid had no problems, we think he gets a little annoyed with the tetras as they try to get him to join the school, but he's very nice and will still interact with them despite preferring the Cory's and the gouramis. The rainbow fish were a little more difficult, as I took some different advice when acquainting to the tank, and my original fish weren't totally prepared for new friends, so they thought it was feeding time (they are on a schedule). Even so, the rainbow fish settled down quickly and everyone gets along fine. Everyone's colors have really brightened since coming home and seem very happy and calm.
Then, last night on a quest for more Cory's (which there were no more upon our return) the store had been restocked and had some very beautiful neon blue dwarf gouramis. After spending an hour looking online for compatibility and talking with the employee, we decided to try to take them home and just see how well they went in the tank. We also got two more mystery snails.
We went back to our "original" way of introducing to the tank, and while they were still in the store bag everything seemed fine. However, once they were in the tank, everyone else (specifically the sunset gouramis) started acting out..... but within their own circles. One sunset gouramis began to "bully" and chase the other around for many minutes at a time. Did not like when he was anywhere near him. The black skirt tetras, who are more mild mannered than my gold skirt tetras, began chasing any other tetras and the rainbow fish, until the alpha rainbow fish flared up and they were eventually left alone. The tetras also tried antagonizing the cichlid, but that didn't last very long. However, the blue gouramis just seemed to go about their day. Nobody bullied them and they didn't bully anyone else.
It is now the following morning. Most of the tank has calmed down and gone back to normal, except the sunset gouramis. While the chasing is not as fierce, its still a 50/50 shot that the new bullying one will chase him momentarily, and they are not currently bubble nesting together/interacting as they did before. (We have Salvinia contained on the surface and they loved to bubble nest together, usually constantly around each other). The bullied one has been warming up to the blue gouramis, but we haven't seen the bully interact with them yet.
I do have plants in the tank, but they are bulbs/starter cultures/young and, while growing quickly, are still small. Did I unintentionally make some gouramis hierarchy? Is it because the plants are still small and I should put bigger/short term artificial ones in? There are also a bubbler coliseum ruins, a three stone "hut" type thing, and a medium sized artificial rock with a cave-like entrance.
My biggest confusion is that the blue gouramis are not bullying/being bullied, so I was not expecting this reaction in my tank. They did really well with the other additions. I also have concerns that, even if I were to remove the blue gouramis, that the interaction would not go back to "normal."
Nobody has any nips or injuries. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Since the beginning of my tank (this past weekend) I have had 2 peppered Cory catfish (I know I need more), 2 sunset gouramis, 4 gold skirt tetras, 4 black skirt tetras, and 2 mystery snails. Everyone got along "swimmingly!"
Between starting on Saturday, we added a Bolivian Ram cichlid on Monday and 3 threadfin rainbow fish on Wednesday. The cichlid had no problems, we think he gets a little annoyed with the tetras as they try to get him to join the school, but he's very nice and will still interact with them despite preferring the Cory's and the gouramis. The rainbow fish were a little more difficult, as I took some different advice when acquainting to the tank, and my original fish weren't totally prepared for new friends, so they thought it was feeding time (they are on a schedule). Even so, the rainbow fish settled down quickly and everyone gets along fine. Everyone's colors have really brightened since coming home and seem very happy and calm.
Then, last night on a quest for more Cory's (which there were no more upon our return) the store had been restocked and had some very beautiful neon blue dwarf gouramis. After spending an hour looking online for compatibility and talking with the employee, we decided to try to take them home and just see how well they went in the tank. We also got two more mystery snails.
We went back to our "original" way of introducing to the tank, and while they were still in the store bag everything seemed fine. However, once they were in the tank, everyone else (specifically the sunset gouramis) started acting out..... but within their own circles. One sunset gouramis began to "bully" and chase the other around for many minutes at a time. Did not like when he was anywhere near him. The black skirt tetras, who are more mild mannered than my gold skirt tetras, began chasing any other tetras and the rainbow fish, until the alpha rainbow fish flared up and they were eventually left alone. The tetras also tried antagonizing the cichlid, but that didn't last very long. However, the blue gouramis just seemed to go about their day. Nobody bullied them and they didn't bully anyone else.
It is now the following morning. Most of the tank has calmed down and gone back to normal, except the sunset gouramis. While the chasing is not as fierce, its still a 50/50 shot that the new bullying one will chase him momentarily, and they are not currently bubble nesting together/interacting as they did before. (We have Salvinia contained on the surface and they loved to bubble nest together, usually constantly around each other). The bullied one has been warming up to the blue gouramis, but we haven't seen the bully interact with them yet.
I do have plants in the tank, but they are bulbs/starter cultures/young and, while growing quickly, are still small. Did I unintentionally make some gouramis hierarchy? Is it because the plants are still small and I should put bigger/short term artificial ones in? There are also a bubbler coliseum ruins, a three stone "hut" type thing, and a medium sized artificial rock with a cave-like entrance.
My biggest confusion is that the blue gouramis are not bullying/being bullied, so I was not expecting this reaction in my tank. They did really well with the other additions. I also have concerns that, even if I were to remove the blue gouramis, that the interaction would not go back to "normal."
Nobody has any nips or injuries. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
