Gourami Problems!

[sarahsop]

Hi everyone

I'm new to this forum, registered this morning so be gentle with me!

I bought a pair of dwarf gourami's about a fortnight ago. They struggled to settle well (hiding, swimming badly) and my Mollies pecked and pestered them. So I dimmed the lights and re-homed two of the mollies and all seems to calm down. Unfortunatly the female died.

During the usual water change I tested the water and found;

ammonia 0
nitrate 5 mg/l
PH 7.6

So this weekend set off to search for a female for him. Apparently these fish can only be sold in pairs at my usual aquarium, so I brought home a male and a female. Obviously they can be territorial so fingers crossed I settled them in. Hurrah, the males liked each other and in an hour were happily swimming together. Then last night we noticed that the new male was being chased by the mollies and my swordtails. The poor fish was beeing terrorised! I also noticed that he has lots of white/discoloured patched on his body so I fished him out and placed him in a breeding/fighter trap for some peace.

Any advice???

Should I try and re-intergrate him today and hope for the best?

Thanks in advance!

sarah x

 

[doresy]

Hi, so as I see it you have 2 males and one female. It is generally considered to be best to have 1 male and 2 females. The 2 males will first take a dislike to each other unless you have a large tank so they can stake their territory. They will also probably both pester the female to death....literally! Most lfs do in fact sell them in pairs but I bet they will swap a male for a female if you ask nicely.

You did not state your nitrite level

Also, take time to read the pinned post under Gourami