Blue Gourami Male to Female agression

[paul0804]

I am relatively new to keeping gourami, I’ve had my pair of blue gourami in my community tank for about 6 months now. Both make and female look healthy, colours are bright and they both come out to eat eagerly at feeding times. However, when they’re not feeding the female goes to the back of the tank behind the plants and lies on the substrate (upright). When ever she comes out of hiding, the male will instantly spot her and dash for her, pecking at her body in the same spot (just in front of the tail) until she’s goes back into hiding. He will also flare up his fins putting his body in front of hers. My guess is that he’s trying to ‘get her interested’. Although this is a constant thing now, and looks quite violent, the female shows no signs of damage or weakness. I was wondering whether this is something to look over, as the female is doing fine, or something that’s going to need action. Thank you in advance.

 

[Essjay]

Are these the blue variant of dwarf gourami or the blue variant of three spot gourami? If you don't know, can you post a photo.

Both these species are on the more aggressive end of the gourami spectrum, and a male can hound a female to death. The usual recommendation is to have at least 2 females so each one gets time out while the male pesters another. But before you do this we need to know which of the two gourami species you have and how big the tank is, both volume and dimensions.
Being kept in a tank that's too small can make some fish more aggressive, another reason we need to know the tank size.

 

[paul0804]

Thanks for your reply, they are blue variants of the three spot gourami. I have them in a tank of around 130 litres (81*50*36cm). This is quite a small space for the pair of them I am aware, but was told they’d do fine in the space provided. However, this almost certainly means I can not get another female in there to disperse agression. I would think that this bullying would bring the female to death but it’s been ongoing for months and she’s shown no sign of damage. Thanks again.

 

[Byron]

You need to separate them immediately. The female is seriously harmed by this, internally, through severe stress, all of which weakens her further and she is going to die when she can no longer deal with it. For their size, this species is very aggressive; other members have even had a lone female kill off other fish (not gouramis) in the tank.

 

[Back in the fold]

I have kept Blue Gouramis. I like them but they are feisty.

 

[paul0804]

Thank you for the advice. I unfortunately have no other suitable aquarium for the male, so I fear the only option would be to return him. Would this leave the female lonely or will she be happy to become the only and therefore dominant gourami in the community? Thank you again.

 

[Byron]

Thank you for the advice. I unfortunately have no other suitable aquarium for the male, so I fear the only option would be to return him. Would this leave the female lonely or will she be happy to become the only and therefore dominant gourami in the community? Thank you again.

Impossible to say. Fish that are under this sort of harassment/bullying sometimes never recover even if the aggressor is removed, and sometimes it can turn opposite and become a real terror.

 

[paul0804]

Goodness, in that case I don’t know what to do. Would replacing the male with a female help at all?? If anyone has any suggestions whatsoever I’d be extremely grateful.