Hiding Gourami

[Catfishlover]

My male powder blue gourami is apperently really good at hide-&-seek. Any idea why he's hiding?

 

[fluttermoth]

How big is the tank and what other fish are in it?

 

[attibones]

Do you have two other female gourami? Or are all three of them male? You've got a lot of active fish in this tank, several are nippy, and I'm very much convinced you've got an ammonia issue. 
 
Hiding is a symptom of stress. That stress can be from water quality, from tank mates, from not having enough hiding spaces... 

 

[Catfishlover]

I've got two spaces for him, and yes, the other two are male. No one is bullying him, in fact, he's best friends with one of my black fin tetras. The tank is 37 gal with a filter and heater

 

[attibones]

Usually, males are quite aggressive to one another, which is why I asked. Are there only two spaces in the tank? Maybe adding some plants would help out. 

 

[DreamertK]

I would put my money on that he's intimidated by the other gourami. When I had even 2 in my 30g, one would always hide as much as possible to avoid getting into view of the other, even if it meant tangling himself in some hornwort.

 

[Meeresstille]

Adding lots of plants and decor will help for each of them to establish their own territory in the tank. Placing these strategically, so they can't easily see each other!
 
I've got three male honey gouramies in my 40 gallon long tank, and they get along splendidly, they often can be seen as a group only to split up again to go into their own "territories". It happens sometimes that one is bothered by another being too close to their territory, but after a short lived chase everything is peaceful again. 

 

[Catfishlover]

I have plenty plants, and my water qualities are fine. Most of my plants haven't grown to full size, but are going to almost reach the to of the tank. I'll just wait for them to grow.

 

[DreamertK]

What about adding a little tank barrier like for bettas. Segregate that one gourami from the other two. Those little plastic walls work best with the standard sized width tanks, don't work too well with square/bow/other shaped tanks. Then you can give the gourami some more confidence in himself where he cant be harassed.

 

[Catfishlover]

What about adding a little tank barrier like for bettas. Segregate that one gourami from the other two. Those little plastic walls work best with the standard sized width tanks, don't work too well with square/bow/other shaped tanks. Then you can give the gourami some more confidence in himself where he cant be harassed.

I like that idea, but doing so will lessen the space for my other fish. I don't just have gouramis.

 

[DreamertK]

What I did was I cut some spaces in the barrier so that other fish could get through it (tetras) but not large enough so that the gourami could get through. Worked pretty well considering I have 15 tetras so there was always some on either side.

 

[Catfishlover]

Bad news. Blueberry has died(along with some others). Sorry to disappoint you all.

 

[Meeresstille]

Maybe you had some sort of infection in the tank? It's weird though that it progressed so slowly...
Did they have any signs at all? Bloating, clamped fins, laboured breathing, cloudy eye, any spots?

 

[evan47]

i was naive enough to put a pair of male dwarf red flame gourami in my 90 litre.
for the first 5 weeks or so they got along fine, then the aggression between them started.
a single male is said to bee the best option in a small tank. they can even harass  females if you only have one of each.