Aggressive Gold Gourami, need solution!PLEASE!

[dylanling22]

A while back ago i got a gold gourami along with a dwarf gourami into a 30g with 3 guppies since the first moment they where introduced to my 30g tank the larger gold gourami would chase around and bite at the dwarf, completely leaving the guppies alone though... it got so bad that i ended up having to remove the dwarf gourami and put him into a Q tank to allow him to heal the wounds that where inflicted by the gold gourami. just recently i added in an opal gourami thinking that another large aggressive fish would chill him out.... BUT CONTRARY TO MY BELIEF! the gold gourami has now begun attacking and biteing at the opal gourami...finally i just decided switch out the dwarf whose been hovering complacently in the Q tank with the gold. so now the 30g has the dwarf and the opal and they seem to be getting along just fine... should i wait a week or so with the gold in fishy time out and add him back in once all the other fish have established their territories making him the new fish once again...or should i completely relocate him to another one of my tank vacancies?

the 30g freshwater tall has...
fish:
3 guppies
now has a dwarf and an opal gourami
1 albino rainbow shark (passive)
1 siamese flying fox

plants:
6 white ribbons
1 amazon sword
and 2 other short plants whose names escape me

 

[Pamiam]

I think you got a grumpy gold gourami, if he is aggressive toward the other fish already, I doubt that he will chill out.

Usually gouramis are not compatible with each other . They will sometimes kill each other. My gold gourami is the only gourami in the tank and he is peaceful with everyone else.

 

[dylanling22]

OK,thanks ...so i guess ill just put him in the 20g that i'm in the process of setting up...since he is such a curmudgeon, could i make it a semi-agg. tank?

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

Been quite a few years since I've had fw, but don't gouramis fight each other anyway? That was always my understanding unless it was a large or densely planted tank

 

[Pamiam]

Gold Gouramis get about 6", he is not going to like a small tank. I had mine in a 30 gal. at first and he did nothing, just sat. I moved him into a 55 gal and he is as happy as a lark, swimming everywhere, in and out of plants and the decorations, a really big difference in his behavior.

 

[Mebbid]

Generally you can only keep 1 gourami per tank because they are very very territorial towards each other. There's not much you can do to fix it to be honest.

 

[dylanling22]

i guess i just have a passive opal then, he seems to be getting along just fine with the dwarf, and it seems ill have to find a new owner for the gold then, i don't have another tank with the free space to fit him in that he would get along fine in, its alil disappointing that he didn't work out :/ , but i guess its better for all the other fish.

 

[Airborne173x]

They are not always aggressive. I have two female gold gourami, two female pearl gourami and a male blue gourami in a 55g tank with some assorted tetras, live bearers and a pair of Bolivian rams. One of the golds chases the blue and other gold for about a second every once in a while but besides that, they get along just perfectly!


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[absolutangel04]

I agree, I would remove him since you have 2 others in there.
Also, did you happen to know that white ribbon plants are not actually aquatic? I learned that after I had bought them from a chain store where they were labeled as aquatic. But, it is not true. They will slowly die if they remain submerged. Or, quickly die depending on the situation. I decided to leave mine in and live out their lives. They all lasted a good few months before getting mushy and dying. Just a heads up in case you didn't know.

 

[dylanling22]

hmm, i didn't know that, interesting, i guess that explains why they keep dying off on me, thought i was just not having the water properly maintained for them or they just weren't compatible. i also assume since u where able to leave them in (again assuming it did no harm) that i might as well let mine go in a peaceful manner (for the fish at least) to and just leave them be in the tank

 

[dylanling22]

my solution has caused a new problem??


so heres what i ended up doing, i completely removed the gold gourami and have him in the q tank until one of my friends who bought him from me comes to pick him up, i switched the dwarf gourami with the 3 long fin skirt tetra i had in a 10g (so i now have a blue mystery snail, 3 neons, and a dwarf gourami in the 10g) and he seems to be enjoying himself in there
.......but now on the other hand in the 30g (now with 3 long fin skirt tetra, an opal gourami, a siamese flying fox, an albino rainbow shark, a sunburst platy, and 2 fancy guppies) the opal has begun charging at the the long fins skirt tetra...i haven't seen him fully chase them down like the gold was with the other 2 or how the opal had begun with the dwarf, or biting them like had been happening between the gourami...is this normal? is it just his way of telling them to stay out of his way? if so why is he only doing it with the tetra, i haven't seen him doing it with any of the other fish?

 

[dylanling22]

correction, i just saw him chase one through one of the root ornaments

 

[absolutangel04]

Well... I am not sure what to tell you for a solution on this one other than to rehome the opaline if it doesn't get better. I also think that won't be your only issue as I wouldn't recommend a rainbow shark in a 29g tank.
Why doesn't he like the skirt tetras? Who knows. Their shape? Their behavior? Their size? Their nippiness? It could be any of these things. It may just be temporary as they figure out who is boss. Keep an eye on it tough and you may have to re-arrange again. Sometimes gouramis can be a tad difficult in communities. Good luck!