2 male dwarf neon blue guoramis

[Bevin Subocz]

We have two neon blue dwarf guoramis… We think they killed our Molly. Attacked him until he died and had no friends left. Now the one guorami is attacking the other guorami. One is more docile and looks peekish and scared now. Stressed. We put him into an isolation container in tank. Is it a problem to have two male dwarfs in same 38 gallon tank.

 

[Byron]

Welcome to TFF.

The short answer to your question is, yes. Male gourami (of all species) are territorial. The degree to which they enforce this territorial behaviour depends upon the species and individual fish. So two males will likely lead to trouble at some point; it may not occur for a while, or it might happen with hours of placing them in thee same tank. Store tanks are generally so crowded that the fish do not exhibit normal behaviours, but once on their own with less interference, they can.

You need to permanently separate the two you have, or the weaker will soon be dead.

Be careful acquiring dwarf gourami. This species is still known to carry the iridovirus which is not treatable. The honey Gourami is a better option for a gourami of the relative same size, but males are still territorial as with any gourami species.

 

[Colin_T]

In addition to what Byron has written, you should check the water quality for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Post the results (in numbers) here. Most fish health issues are caused by poor water quality and if you have ammonia or nitrite in the water, you will probably lose more fish.

The following link has information about what to do if your fish get sick. It's long and boring but worth knowing. I recommend printing it out and reading it in bed to help fall asleep.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/#post-3804819

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What is the GH (general hardness) and pH of your water supply. This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Mollies need hard water with a GH above 250ppm and if they are kept in soft water, they don't do well. Gouramis on the other hand, come from soft water with a GH below 150ppm.
Find out what the GH of your water is and keep fish suited to that.