Agressive Pearl Gouramin.

[BrassMan]

Hi there,

A while back I added 2 Pearl Gourami to my tank, one male and one female. Recently the male has started getting a bit agressive, mostly towards the female which he'll often chase around the tank, but sometimes with the other fish. I guess he's growing up and the hormones are kicking in if you know what I mean

It's currently not a huge problem but I'm worried that the female may get stressed in the long run.

I'm thinking adding a couple more females might calm him down or at least spread out his agression but I don't know enough to be sure if this is the right thing to do.

The water flow in the tank is fairly strong so I don't think they will spawn.

Would a couple more females help or make things worse?

Also I'm worried the tank may then be overstocked, what do people think?

Any ideas?

Tank is 216 ltr ( 57 US gal) and contains the following...

6 Neon Tetra
3 Flame Tetra
4 White Cloud Mountain Minnow (not a tropical fish but they appear to be indestructable ).
2 Honey Gourami (Think they're both male)
2 Pearl Gourami (Male & Female)
2 Platies
2 Guppies (Male & Female)
3 Sterba's Cory
3 Bandit Cory
3 Clown Loach (yes, I will get a bigger tank, honest 8) )
1 Sailfin Molly

Thanks.

 

[Paradise_Gourami]

With gouramis and aggression there could be various things in which could be the cause. With gouramis (along with humans) you may just come accross one who is overly mean or aggressive or one that is really passive and anywhere in between. Some times this aggression can be caused by territorial issues (in both male and female), other times (which i've noticed with my own) they could be just easily irritable, being upset if other two other fish have a dispute, if an other fish rubs up against him/her, etc. so i would recommend that you observe the gourami in question and access whether or not the gourami can be kept. Or if you do some obsevations and post whats going on in more detail im sure other people and i can help a little more

almost forgot.
Move around the tank a little or add some more decor, gouramis are very perceptive of their environment so a reorrangement may calm him down, if only for a little while