Help With Golden Gouramis And Platies

[cgarcia81uk]

Hi, i'm new here but joined up to get some advice on my golden gourami.

Had the golden gourami (not sure if male or female, sorry) for good few months now and has been happy enough in tank. Brought some platies and 2 mollies today and for some reason the golden gourami has decided to chase n harass the platies. It hasn't chased anyone else n is in fact letting the mollies into the plant it normally stays by. The platies are now all up in opposite corner of tank n look pretty stressed. Whenever they come out the gourami chases them round n round the tank till they hide again.

Is it just cos they are new....in which case why is it just the platies it is chasing??? Or do the two types of fish just not get on??? What should i do?? I dont want it chasing them all time. stressing them out n then killing them. I dont have another tank to separate them.

If anyone could offer some advice i would be very gratefull. Thanks. x x

 

[pippoodle]

what size is the tank ?
is it very well planted ?
total amount of fish ?

the golden gouramis can be very aggressive especially towards smaller fish , they are not good in community tanks and need heavilly planted tanks of at least 30 gallons
they are very territorial and will chase a fish that comes into its territory near to if not actual death

 

[Colin_T]

It’s probably a male gourami that is chasing away the new intruders (the platies) that are in its territory. You can add some floating plants (real or plastic) and that will provide more hiding places, which should help alleviate the problem.
If the harassment gets worse you might need to move the gourami or platies. But give it a week or so and see if things settle down. Obviously if it gets real bad in the meantime, separate them.

 

[crazychris]

Can you post a pic OP then we may be able to tell you it's sex? Males have longer pointed dorsal fins and females short rounded ones. Probably a male as they seem to be more aggressive. Blue gouramis are the same.