Aggressive Gourami?

[molotov256]

A while ago my boss gave me two golden gouramis that had been causing problems in his tank. Within a week of me putting them in my tank, one of the gouramis died, and the other one has been healthy and happy since then. Since he hasnt made friends with any of the other fish in the tank, I decided today to get him a gourami friend, but he seems to be chasing it around the tank all day. Are they playing, or is he upset with the new fish? It looks like he's trying to nip his fins or something, but I didn't think that was normal gourami behavoir.

 

[Fruitbat]

molotov256...

The Gold Gourami is simply a color phase of the Blue Gourami, Trichogaster trichopterus and I've found them to be very aggressive with each other while they're establishing a 'pecking order' and every once in a while after it has been established. Two males in the same tank will often fight...occasionally to the death. I've got a trio of Blue Gouramis in my tank and the male chases both of the females and the dominant female chases the other one. They've been at it for months with absolutely no harm done.

 

[Christmasfish]

My male dwarf wild tore my poor neon blue female to shreds. Before, during and after the spawning.
The only fin she has left that looks like a fin is her anal. he tore the rays out of her dorsal, snipped a ventral whisker, chipped a pec fin and her gill cover, bruised her sides and head and one eye, and took a big mouth shaped bite from her tail. She is in better company with female bettas. He is a very diligent father fish but not good company otherwise. He will be a bachelor with fast fish or with larger females later. Guess sometimes a fish can just be anti-social.

 

[lmw80]

molotov:

To best answer the question, I need to know what size tank this is you have with the 2 gouramis in it, and the other inhabitants. Also, is there sufficient decorations/foliage for territories to be established?

 

[molotov256]

aggressive gourami

I'll tell you the tank inhabitants, but you dont have to tell me that my tank is going to be too small in a year or two, because I know it is, and I'm prepared to upgrade when the time comes

Right now the tank has:

1 Tiger Oscar (only about 4" now)
3 African Cichlids (about 3" now)
5 Columbian Catfish aka Blackfin Sharks
2 Gouramis
1 Crayfish
1 Pleco (about 3")

Everybody gets along fine except the two gouramis. The crayfish dosen't even bother anybody.

Do you think that if I rearranged the tank, they'd all re-establish their territories and stop fighting?

 

[molotov256]

Oh, sorry! I forgot to say they're all in a 55g right now.

 

[lmw80]

Well, if there are already established territories, I would only movestuff around if I had to. The gourami may just be trying to establish dominance. How long have they been in the tank together? Also, is there any fin-nipping or biting - any physical harm going on, or is it just chasing?

 

[molotov256]

There was some fin nipping going on, but the golden gourami dosen't have a very big mouth to nip with, so it didn't cause much damage to the blue gourami.

As it turns out, I think it was a territory related problem. I got tired of the fish all hiding in their respective corners all the time, so I rearranged the tank and did a water change today. That seemed to solve the problem. The gouramis don't seem to get along too well like I hoped they would, but they stopped fighting all the time. That works well enough for me.