Basic Gold 3 Spot Gouramis Questions

[Orbit887]

Hi all, new to the forum, but been reading posts on here for a while, just never posted! Anyhow, I've got some basic questions about gold gouramis that I was hoping you'd be able to help me with!

Currently I've got a 29gl 30x18x12 tank, stocked with 3 gold gouramis, 6 panda corrys and 6 neon tetra, all of which seem to live happily together, apart from the bickering that occurs between the gouramis.

I'm new to keeping fish, did work about 8 years ago for World of Water, but was never taught specalist knowedge about the fish, only picked up on stuff, so when I got this tank I ended up kinda diving in a bit before researching (typical beginner!) and bought 3 of these gouramis. I think from looking at various web pics and articals that they are the three spot variety and not dwarf, and I think that I have 2 females and 1 male, but have no digital camera at the moment to check with you lot! One of the females is about 3.5 inches, the other about 2.5 inches and the male looks small in comparison at 1.5 inches long!

All the fish have different personalitys, which is great. The problem is that the largest female has a problem with the other 2 gouramis, if any of them get to close to her she will chase them away quickly and aggressivly. The middle sized female seems to enjoy winding up the large female by trying to get closer and closer until the large one snaps and chases her and generally just try to get on with the other 2, whereas the small male just trys to keep out of everyones way, and keep the piece! It's only the large female that is aggressive, the other female and male are very passive.

The questions I've got are:

1. Firstly - is my tank simply just too small for all 3 of them - I've read that they can grow upto 6 inches, which I'd assume is too big for my tank, or will I be ok?

2. How can I curb the larger females aggressiveness? I've read am trying some of the advice on here - today went out and bought more plants for the fish to hide in if they are getting chased or just want some privacy! When added them also did a rescape & reshuffle of the tank interior as read on a different post that this will fool the fish into thinking that they were in a new location, which should give them some time to posibly re-adjust their pecking order!

3. I've reduced the temp from 28 degrees to about 25 degrees, as also read that this can help them chill out, hasn't seemed to make a difference, appart from making the tetras and corrys less active! Would it be advisable to slowly put the temp back up to get the activeness in the other fish back?

4. I've got a feeling that I'm gonna have to either take back or give away the larger female, will the other two live ok together, or do they prefer to live in threes? Also if they all or just two stay are they gonna just end outgrowing teh tank?

If anyone can help on one or all of the questinos that would be greatly appreciated!

 

[sylvia]

1. Firstly - is my tank simply just too small for all 3 of them - I've read that they can grow upto 6 inches, which I'd assume is too big for my tank, or will I be ok?

Technicaly, the three won't outgrow the tank. Unfortunately, however, three-spots (and they can't be dwarfs if any are over 2.5") are very aggressive fish once mature and even in trios (which is ideal for most gouramies - 1 male, 2 females), they can pose serious aggression issues and ultimately stress all their non-gourami tankmates as well. My main worry would be that they'll spawn (three-spots are on of the easiest gouramies to breed) and a this point the male especialy will become extremely aggressive and capeable of killing the tetras and cories as well as the females. To prevent breeding, a good current near the surface and lower temperature is adviseable.

Idealy, I'd advise you to return all three of these gouramies and replace them with a more peaceful species in the same male-female ratio. Attractive, hardy ones are the pearl gourami (my favourite!) and the banded gourami (Colisa fasciata - it's a good idea to learn the scientific name as there are many common names and they can also be mislabelled).

The real problem you have right now is the size differences. I guarantee that the male will end up the most agressive fish in your tank once your gouramies reach adult size.

2. How can I curb the larger females aggressiveness? I've read am trying some of the advice on here - today went out and bought more plants for the fish to hide in if they are getting chased or just want some privacy! When added them also did a rescape & reshuffle of the tank interior as read on a different post that this will fool the fish into thinking that they were in a new location, which should give them some time to posibly re-adjust their pecking order!

Heavy planting, floating plants, lots of hiding places etc are all good but, ultimately, you won't be able to prevent three-spot aggression. Once fully grown, they'll be on more equal turf (the females at least) and the male will become the bossy one. Until then, however, you simply need to ensure they have lots of places to get away from each other and try feeding them in several spots in the tank to reduce competition.

3. I've reduced the temp from 28 degrees to about 25 degrees, as also read that this can help them chill out, hasn't seemed to make a difference, appart from making the tetras and corrys less active! Would it be advisable to slowly put the temp back up to get the activeness in the other fish back?

You may as well return the temp. to what it was before. lowering the temperature only realy reduces aggression when we are talking about adult males who might be considering spawning (they spawn readily at higher temps.). Females don't usualy respond to the temp. change.

4. I've got a feeling that I'm gonna have to either take back or give away the larger female, will the other two live ok together, or do they prefer to live in threes? Also if they all or just two stay are they gonna just end outgrowing teh tank?

Keeping three-spots in pairs is terribly risky. One will simply bully the other endlessly (typicaly the larger will chase the smaller). This can result in stress-related illness, stunting and death. Removing one won't change matters anyway - the next in line in the hierarchy will simply take her place. Actualy, perhaps counter-intuitively, the most effective way to reduce aggression is to increase the number of fish. This causes the hierarchy to 'branch' and the aggression to be spread out. Unfortunately, there is not enough space in your tank for this measure.

If you like, you can return the larger two females and simply retain the male. I'm suggesting you keep the male because males are more territorial and do better kept alone than single females do. Ultimately, males also grow a little larger than females and have more impressive fins so they make a more aestheticaly pleasing 'centerpiece' fish if they are to be kept alone. You just need to keep in mind that removing two doesn't mean you have room for other gourami species as the three-spot will still be aggressive towards any other gourami species.

 

[Orbit887]

Thanks for the advice Sylvia

The re-shuffle of the tnak and new plants helped the situation, but only for a day or two, when all the fighting kicked off again.

So I've come to the conlusion that all of the 3 spots are gonna gave to go. LFS has agreed to take them back, so off they go.

Was shame really, as you could see they all had different personalities, which were funny and loveable, but the tank I've got at the moment is just too small for them.

Thanks again for your help