'bully' Male Dwarf Gourami...

[bogwood]

Will taking the floating plants out of my tank remove the 'urge' of my male gourami to build a bubble nest and therefore calm him down? Or will he still be mildly aggressive - just protecting his territory?

At the moment he is building a nest and hassling the other fish - not just the female gourami but all the tank inhabitants - whenever they go near. I don't really want to get rid of him (but will replace him with another female or two if needs be)... and am not interested in trying to breed them.

 

[sylvia]

In your signature, it states you have 2 female gouramies - where does this male fit in?

Removing the plants is likely to make things worse. Without a territory near the top of the tank, he'll be encouraged to rage over the whole tank. However, it may achieve what you are after and stop him bulding nests as well (at least for a time). Try it if you like and see how things go - if the situation does not improve or gets worse, return the plants to the tank.

Having just one female with him is also a bad idea - the chasing is concentrated only on her (as opposed to being split between 2 or 3) so she's likely to get overly stressed (and this can indirectly lead to death). Adding just one more female isn't realy an option though as the new addition is likely to be bullied - if you have space for them, perhaps consider adding two. Re-arange the tank when you are ready to do this to minimize any aggression and give the newcomers a chance to settle in.

To stop him building a nest, see if you can increase the water current along the top of the tank - not by much though or you'll cause more harm than good. Adding more hiding places for the other fish would also help and feel free to destroy the males' nest whenever he builds one and becomes overly aggressive. Lowering the water temperature (just a little bit - what is it at now?) can also throw him off.

 

[bogwood]

In your signature, it states you have 2 female gouramies - where does this male fit in?

he's now gone (a shame, he was a lovely looking example - when my lfs put his bag in their gourami tank to acclimatise, 2 people came over and started haggling for him!)... replaced him with another female... the other fish seem happier and are moving about the whole tank much more and the gouramis are nice and chilled...

 

[sylvia]

That's good news then Though, of course, it's a shame he had to be sent back.