Gourami and Cichlids together?

[russrimm]

We just got a pearl gourami and put it in our community tank that has an opaline gourami in it. The opaline isnt being very nice to the pearl. She's chasin the pearl and scaring him or her into the corner. Now the pearl wont come out of the corner very much, and when he/she does, the female opaline pecks at him/her and scares him/her back to the corner again.

Question: Should I give them a few days, or can I put the opaline gourami in my 65 gal with a yellow/lemon lab, red zebra, and jewel? Or will these african cichlids be too aggressive for the opaline? The africans are still small (1-2") - we just got them.

Thanks

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

The gourami won't last long in the cichlid tank.

I'd suggest removing the opaline from the tank for a bit. This will give the pearl a chance to settle in- and when the opaline is re-introduced to the tank, it'll be the "new guy" and hopefully won't harass the pearl.

 

[Menagerie]

I agree with Voodoo Chilli.

 

[russrimm]

So I need a 3rd tank? Ack! A 3rd tank with another pump? Would this be my 'quarantine tank'? Whats the cheapest setup I can get for this purpose? And how long should we take the opaline out for?

 

[Menagerie]

There is a article on QT tanks in the articles section. QT tanks and their filters need not be expensive.
I would remove the agressor until the other fish's fins heal (if they are damaged) and it is swimming about freely.

 

[russrimm]

OK I read it, but that's for a new fish. Since my fish is only in "time out", how long should I keep her out to let the new guy establish his territory before I put her back in and make her "the new girl"?

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

I'd set up a bucket with tank water and an air stone to give the opaline a couple of hours worth of "time out".

 

[russrimm]

OK that didn't work, any other ideas? We kept her in her time-out tank for about 15 hours and just put her back. She's back to bullying the pearl gourami again, but this time he's not going into hiding, he's just running away from her all the time. Should we give them more time or?? The funny thing is, the pearl is quite a bit bigger than the bully opaline.

 

[cflux]

How big is your tank?

I had a problem like this with an opline and a gold, one thing that helped is I changed the aquascaping so that there wasn't line of sight form one side of the tank to the other. That helped quite a bit, but in the end I moved the opaline into another tank.

 

[russrimm]

20 gallon... Maybe i'll try changing the aquascaping... Thanks

 

[Menagerie]

I would keep the fish out for a few days if changing around the decor does not work.

 

[Opalie]

We had the same probs with our (female) Opaline gourami and a Dwarf gourami that was introduced one day after... One thing we did, and maybe it worked, is that we lowered the temp. from 27C to 25C. and we provided a cave to the Dwarf to hide in. After one week of coabitation, they have both their own territory and now the wimpy male Dwarf is defending his ground with spirit!!

 

[smallfry]

Hi Russrimm,
If it was me, I'd by a cheap 10g tank/filter/heater and set it up for the Opaline gourami. Leave him in there for a week or so....this will give the Pearl more time to heal and adjust to the community tank. Then return the Opaline to the community tank on a day when you are home most of time and can keep on eye on things. Set up multiple hiding places and territories...this will help also. You could leave the 10g tank set up as a QT tank.

HTH!

 

[molotov256]

I have 2 african cichlids in a 55g along with 2 gouramis (one moonlight, and one golden). The cichlids have NEVER paid a bit of attention to the gouramis. In fact, the golden gourami bullies the moonlight one a little bit, and my 2 cichlids have little turf wars with each other, but never with the other species... All 4 of the fish are about the same size, so that may have something to do with the harmony they've created with each other.