Gourami Behaviour, Advice needed

[DNoble993]

Hey guys,
Just need advice on the behaviour of my Gourami fish, I'm from UK, store bought fish, in a 64 litre tank, everything in it is correct, temp ph etc etc, got the Gourami a week ago, 1 male 2 female, put them in tank with my guppies, mollies and algae eater, but I noticed last night that 1 female and 1 male were hiding behind the filter, I have 3 ornaments that they can hide in, I also have 3 real plants, 2 of which they can hide in, they can hide in the third but it isn't very thick so can be easily spotted, they are out and about today but yesterday they were hiding and there is a few times they have hidden, is this normal? The other female is always out, need any more info just ask

 

[Barliman]

Howdy!

64 liters is... 15 US gallons? it looks like you bought dwarf gouramis. It could be a couple of things: one, they're just taking time to adjust to new surroundings and are hiding out of insecurity. Or, and I think this is more likely, the tank is a bit overcrowded (in my opinion, of course) for a 15g and they're feeling stressed from it. Finally, it's possible the active female is bullying the other two, though usually I see the males do the intimidating. Have you seen any signs of her picking on them?

Also, have you tested your water? Do you know what the readings for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are? This would be handy to know, too.

 

[DNoble993]

Last time I tested the water it was all good but I'll do some testing tomorrow; if that comes back all okay what I'll do is ill keep an eye on them and look for any signs of intimidation or aggression from any of the fish towards them and if I can't see that then I will off load some of my fish into my other tank I have which is a bit sparse at the moment. Thanks for the advice mate

 

[Barliman]

Good luck, and let us know if it helps.

 

[neosilee]

I got my first pair of gouramis (pearl) about five weeks ago, and it took over two weeks for the female to really get comfortable, three weeks for the male. Now they just cruise around all over.

 

[DNoble993]

Seems like it was a case of overcrowding, took a few fish out yesterday and the Gourami haven't hidden since, still going to just keep an eye out though see if there is any aggression in them but haven't noticed yetp

 

[Diana67]

Good to hear things have improved. I have a pair of gouramis, a golden and a blue. The blue one is a bit more skittish than the golden one. We named him Pretty Boy. If he gets nervous or someone walks by the tank too fast, he retreats into a rock cave formation for a bit.

They don't like bright light or loud noises or 'tank chaos'. But I do think you licked the problem so they should be fine now.

 

[Barliman]

Seems like it was a case of overcrowding, took a few fish out yesterday and the Gourami haven't hidden since, still going to just keep an eye out though see if there is any aggression in them but haven't noticed yetp

That's good news; I'm glad i was something simple to fix!