Gourami Benevolence?

[misspopanoche]

I have a 2 and a half year old male Opaline Gourami - He's been a lonely soul for the last few months due to me not wanting to add new fish until a recent slime algae problem was under control.

I added 3 new Gourami's (1 male red Dwarf, 1 female Dwarf & 1 female Opaline) a week ago today. For the first few days the established Male showed them who was boss and chased them about a bit. Within a day the female Opaline was welcomed but the other 2 seemed to hide away quite a bit and was regular chased away when they decided to make an appearance.

Anyway.. I noticed the male dwarf looking rather ill 2 days ago, thought it may be the sign of Fin Rot so did a water test which tested fine, a water change & treated the tank to be safe. Yesterday I gave them some brine shrimp and whilst watching them noticed the Male Dwarf slumped at the back of the tank looking dreadful. The other male kept going over to him and gentley 'nudged' him, he showed no sign of aggression and almost guided him to the food. It was very strange to watch as he tried several times to spur the sick male in to action, using his feelers and nudging quiet tentatively.
It really did seem he was showing signs of 'pack leader benevolence' Incouraging the sick to eat.

The Dwarf was isolated and has since died.. Think he may have come with illness, very sad but some ya win, some ya lose.

Has anyone else had experiences like this with their fish ? If so I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks in Advance.

 

[Scotty001]

I have both a pair of Dwarf Guamri M&F and a male Opaline but there not in the same tank, the 2 dwarfs are in a smaller tank and were the 2nd last to be introduced, they have been in they're 112L tank for 2 months now and the male does like to stay well out of the way and is often hiding.

He has came out a bit more recently but again it is just to pop out for a min then back behind the plants, The female was the same for the first week but she has adapted and spends allot more time out in the open now and isn't as shy.

I have had other Guamri in the past and kept them in pairs but have had to separate them due to non stop squabbling and harassment. i have found that some can be very territorial and wouldn't accept a newcomer Guamri.

As for the dwarfs i think that some of the males can be a little shy as there is nothing in my smaller tank that would be a threat to him nor chases him off, and like yourself all water stats are fine, yet he stays hidden away. What are the other fish in the tank is it possible that one of them was a threat to him ??

 

[misspopanoche]

My male Gourami was the 'soul'-survivor of a tank melt down last year and I had a few problems getting the tank back to a stable state to add new fish.

It's a 10g tank and at the moment homes

1 Male Opaline Gourami,
1 Female Opaline Gourami
1 Female Dwarf Gourami
5 Glowlight Tetra
5 Silvertip Tetra

Everything except Senior Gourami have been added over the last 4 weeks.

I was just surpised how gentle he was when Mr Dwarf was so sick and not feeding. There was no sign of any aggression but he was insistent on moving the Dwarf towards food. I have kept Dwarfs before and the female always seem a little braver than they males, which is a shame since the Males are the most attractive of the two. I've never really experienced serious aggression from any i've kept before (the usually new fish nudging usually finishes after a day or so) but no long term bullying.

 

[Faythee]

Dwarf Gouramis are prone to bacterial disease. He likely had it before you added him to the tank. For this reason I do not buy them although they are so very cute. I added 2 to my tank. One died within a few days (he never ate and appeared ill). The other one came down with mouth rot about 3-4 weeks later. I treated him but it didn't work. My Opaline Gourami did the nudging to him like you explained when he was on his last day and floating around up top