Boisterous Male Dwarf

[Tom499]

After many upsets and problems I finally get a couple of fish for my tank.

After speaking to the lfs people, who seemed to know their stuff, I settled on 3 dwarf gourami's; 1 male, 2 females.

Web research had seemed okay with the keep (for my tank size) of a single male with females, as the females aren't so aggressive.

I had set up a good planted section on one side with floating plants for the male which he inhabits, and also piled up some bogwood which makes for some good hiding spots in the middle, with grass plants at the front, and a few other plants to the other side.

The problem though is that the male still will charge the females when they venture into the middle and top waters, even on the other side of the tank from his spot. They can get food okay but at other times he will always scare them off.

my tank is 11 gallon, no other fish.

I purchased a few more plants anyway to fill a gap, and I hope this may give the females some extra cover.

The lfs guy said if the male was being overly aggressive he would take him back, but the male is, despite being nasty, a very nice strong fish, and it would be a shame to take him back.

I can guess that adding more gourami's will probably not be good, as 4+ would look cramped.

Any advice would be greatful.

Thanks

 

[MrNiceGuy]

After many upsets and problems I finally get a couple of fish for my tank.

After speaking to the lfs people, who seemed to know their stuff, I settled on 3 dwarf gourami's; 1 male, 2 females.

Web research had seemed okay with the keep (for my tank size) of a single male with females, as the females aren't so aggressive.

I had set up a good planted section on one side with floating plants for the male which he inhabits, and also piled up some bogwood which makes for some good hiding spots in the middle, with grass plants at the front, and a few other plants to the other side.

The problem though is that the male still will charge the females when they venture into the middle and top waters, even on the other side of the tank from his spot. They can get food okay but at other times he will always scare them off.

my tank is 11 gallon, no other fish.

I purchased a few more plants anyway to fill a gap, and I hope this may give the females some extra cover.

The lfs guy said if the male was being overly aggressive he would take him back, but the male is, despite being nasty, a very nice strong fish, and it would be a shame to take him back.

I can guess that adding more gourami's will probably not be good, as 4+ would look cramped.

Any advice would be greatful.

Thanks

i hate to say it but you might just want to start over. in my experience dwarf gouramis are best kept singly with smaller fish as tankmates. but now that your male has already become aggressive he might just become aggressive towards any fish you put in there. how long has this aggression been going on? if its only been a short time you might want to give it a month or so to see if it improves at all. good luck

 

[Tom499]

Thanks for replying!

Its been a couple of weeks now since they've been, It does look like hes calmed down abit since i posted this.

I've added some amazon swords, and moved the bog wood around abit so now theres good cover on both sides of the tank. I think having floating plants on both sides helped too, as it meant the females felt safer going to the surface for air while the male was on the otherside.

He seems to have calmed down abit now, still likes to charge at the other 2 sometimes, but now there is more cover for them to get away he doesn't feel he has to harass them so much (maybe?).