Can 2 opaline gourami females be kept together?

[Adellefrost]

I have a gold female gourami with two moonlight female gouramis, one adult snakeskin and two sub adult (not really juvis as they are the same size as the gold) gouramis, a banded fake gourami along with seven pearl gouramis in my 125 and they all get along fine. My adult snakeskin is the matriarch of the tank and will fix any agression before it gets out of hand. She had to with Iron the gold gourami when she was younger and is working on the younger snakeskins. When we had the wild blue acara she also thought him she was the boss and fixed any issues with territory. I also have a school of 15ish Australian rainbowfish, five pavo eels, six (three giant adults, three thumb length juvies), seven Yo-Yo loaches (three young adult, four juvies), a royal watermelon pleco/panaque and armbursteri pleco/panaque.

The gouramis should be ok with angels, I had five sub adult angels in the 125 as well before we got the 120 set up for them. They had no issues with any other fish in the tank.

Also if I remember correctly, rainbow sharks are social where red tailed sharks become territorial as adults.

If they are both females you shouldn't have issues with keeping the with your other fish.

Do you think some nipping is fine? I notice them chase each other a lot

 

[PlasticGalaxy]

I’m not exactly certain but a few years old at least, they’re maybe 5 inches long or so? I’m not sure how much bigger they’d get

and yeah I love the little pleco haha ?

They get up to ~6" but there's an exception to everything, lol.

 

[Byron]

Do you think some nipping is fine? I notice them chase each other a lot

Depending upon what is meant here by "some nipping," and "chase each other a lot." Any fish that fin-nips another fish is a problem, regardless of the extent. The targeted fish is being severely stressed if this is anything beyond the normal species-restricted hierarchy playout. Same holds for chasing.

For example, a group of 10-12 angelfish in a huge tank will have a clear hierarchy, and this will be challenged by individual fish, but the only physical interaction is a bit of bumping. This is normal expected behaviour. But if one fish becomes the target of other fish, and if a fish has its fins being nipped, that is trouble and should be resolved. This is why it is so important to research the species so you know what they do naturally, and it will be easier to spot trouble before it becomes deadly.

The aggressor fish is/are sending out pheromones proclaiming this, and the other fish in that species read and understand those chemical signals. Even if no physical interaction occurs, it is stressful to the targeted fish and this means weakening that fish, and the pheromones it releases may only make this worse. And when we confine such fish in a very small space (even an 8-foot tank is a confinement to these fish) it only increases the stress.

 

[Boundava]

Do you think some nipping is fine? I notice them chase each other a lot

Are they both females? Sometimes you can stop/fix a bully by chasing it around with a net. Had a juvi angelfish in my 75 gallon (before they went to the 120) that liked to pick on other angels/honey gouramis. Chased him around the tank with a net a couple times when I noticed him being a bad dorito and it stopped. Just rambunctious juvi hormones, lol. The other fish would just watch the chase of shame, knowing I wasn't looking to get them.

 

[Byron]

Are they both females? Sometimes you can stop/fix a bully by chasing it around with a net. Had a juvi angelfish in my 75 gallon (before they went to the 120) that liked to pick on other angels/honey gouramis. Chased him around the tank with a net a couple times when I noticed him being a bad dorito and it stopped. Just rambunctious juvi hormones, lol. The other fish would just watch the chase of shame, knowing I wasn't looking to get them.

This is not going to change a behaviour that is programmed into the fish's DNA. It will stop him for the moment, but as you seem to be saying this behaviour re-occurs.

Aside from that, this is highly stressful to this fish, and to the others as well. The netting of a fish (chasing it with the net whether or not you actually net it out) evokes the highest stress response a fish has--escape from a predator. Over time this is going to frankly destroy this fish--it may become even more aggressive, or it may withdraw to the point of starvation and death in time--the only real response the fish has to severe cont5inual stress. Please don't do this, it is not going to help any fish.

 

[Adellefrost]

Got another female and found out one was a male! Returned him and got another female. The tank is peaceful now and there doesn’t seem to be aggression anymore

 

[Boundava]

This is not going to change a behaviour that is programmed into the fish's DNA. It will stop him for the moment, but as you seem to be saying this behaviour re-occurs.

Aside from that, this is highly stressful to this fish, and to the others as well. The netting of a fish (chasing it with the net whether or not you actually net it out) evokes the highest stress response a fish has--escape from a predator. Over time this is going to frankly destroy this fish--it may become even more aggressive, or it may withdraw to the point of starvation and death in time--the only real response the fish has to severe cont5inual stress. Please don't do this, it is not going to help any fish.

I did not say that the behavior continued. The behavior resolved itself as a fish grew older and established the hierarchy in the tank.