Blue Dwarf Gourami bullying

[Oli]

Hi guys, I recently added a pair of blue dwarf gouramis to my 60 litre tank. They seem to be doing great but there is definitely some chasing going on. The female doesn’t seem to bothered, she doesn’t really hide and instead ends up returning to the Male pretty quickly. I’m wandering if it would be appropriate to add another female to the tank but worried about overstocking. Currently 5 Cherry barbs and the 2 gouramis,
Thanks!

 

[Avel1896]

Hi
Clear pics or better video, you host on Youtube then post its link here.

 

[Oli]

I just want to know if an additional female Gourami would be a good idea?

 

[Avel1896]

We need to know if there are 1 male 1 female or, 2 males. In case of 2 males, one will need to be rehoused.
So please, clear pics or better video, you host on Youtube then post its link here.

 

[Oli]

I did state in the post that it is 1 male and 1 female. I was simply asking whether an additional female would be suitable for my sized tank.

 

[Avel1896]

So if you are sure, adding another female could help, or not, as DG are notoriously unpleasant towards their own species, even in male/female pairs.

 

[Oli]

I really need some help guys, have posted before but didn’t get any useful information.

Added a male and female blue dwarf gourami to my tank and the male has been pestering and attacking the female none stop. She spends most of her time hiding in the bottom corner. I feel I have a t and need to sort it today before I go back to work.

-take the female back to the store
-buy another female to add to tank

I have 5 Cherry barbs and the 2 gouramis in a 60 litre tank so am worried about over stocking. If I were to take the female back, could I add some neon tetras?

 

[Essjay]

What you are seeing is common behaviour form a male dwarf gourami. If he wants to breed and she doesn't, he will pester her and males have been known to kill females. For this reason it is often suggested to keep one male, two females so that each female gets time out while he pesters the other.

Avel1896 is concerned that the shop may have sold you two males. Some shops cannot tell the difference. I was once told that a male powder blue dwarf was a female.

 

[Oli]

I’m fairly confident it is a male and a female.(have added a picture) If this is the case, do I have room to add another female to my tank or should I simply return her?

 

[Oli]

Btw my camera is very poor, they are not discoloured/grey in anyway

 

[Essjay]

That does look like a male and female. He is trying to 'persuade' a reluctant female.

There is the risk that he could pester a new female as well if he is so insistent with the current female. I think you do have room for another female, but that would be the limit of fish for this tank, with 3 gouramis and the cherry barbs.

 

[Oli]

Okay thanks for the help. If I were to remove the female, would it be possible to add anything else to the tank? Maybe a school of tetras or a few mollies etc?

 

[Essjay]

A shoal of tetras would be OK but not mollies as they are big fish which need a bigger tank. Mollies also need hard water, and without knowing how hard your water is they may or may not be suitable even with a bigger tank.

If you do decide to return the female, watch the male. These gouramis are at the more aggressive end of the gourami behaviour spectrum and although unlikely it is still perhaps possible he'll turn his attentions to the other fish in the tank.

 

[Oli]

Thanks for the replies and apologies for all the questions but I’m even more torn now. If you were in my situation would you return the female and add some tetras or would you simply add another female? Thanks for the help

 

[Essjay]

I would be inclined to try another female but make sure the shop will take any combination of the three back if necessary.

Can you post a photo of the full tank, please? If you don't have a lot of tall decor to break up line of sight, getting something tall would help. Ideally live plants, though they won't be instantly tall so maybe a plastic/silk plant and some live plants with a view to removing the fake ones after the live ones have grown.