My Fish Are Fighting

[TenaciousG_]

Hi, I have a male and female Pearl Gourami and the male always seems to chase the female around and attacking her What should I do? I fear my tank is too small for them and this is because I was told at the LFS they were opaline so didn't think they would grow too big. I have since changed LFS because they were crap.

It doesnt attack any other fish, even though there have been cases where people say don't put them with guppies but mine are fine.

Thanks

 

[bristlenoseitplecoman]

It may be mating behavior.

 

[TenaciousG_]

It may be mating behavior.

Well she swims away and he doesnt chase her so i don't think so

 

[metalmayhem4]

Happened to me a while back. Bought 1 male, 1 female (were only sold as a pair). The male kept attacking the female. And eventually she died

 

[alihar]

Male gourami are notorious for beating up on females.
I was lucky enough to have a pair that got along but my friends male killed two females.
Try to provide lots of cover and hiding places.
If your tank is large enough try adding another female to spread aggression.

 

[Ruskull]

Male gourami are notorious for beating up on females.
I was lucky enough to have a pair that got along but my friends male killed two females.
Try to provide lots of cover and hiding places.
If your tank is large enough try adding another female to spread aggression.

Adding another female or even 2 helps best in these situations. If there's enough room of course.

What size tank do you have OP? Also, what other fish are in the tank?

EDIT:

I went to your profile & it seems you have a 15 gallon tank, which is too small for a pair of Pearls I'm afraid. If you want to keep both and add another female you'll have to upgrade your tank size. Maybe it would just be easier to rehome the male. Female Pearl Gouramis are usually very easy going and a 15 gallon tank should be okay for a single female.

 

[TenaciousG_]

Adding another female or even 2 helps best in these situations. If there's enough room of course.

What size tank do you have OP? Also, what other fish are in the tank?

EDIT:

I went to your profile & it seems you have a 15 gallon tank, which is too small for a pair of Pearls I'm afraid. If you want to keep both and add another female you'll have to upgrade your tank size. Maybe it would just be easier to rehome the male. Female Pearl Gouramis are usually very easy going and a 15 gallon tank should be okay for a single female.
[/quote]

Yeah i think it was too small also but i was told they were opaline when i bought them from my LFS [Mod edit] so i've changed now. So i researched and I thought they would be fine I have now since realised they are too big especially because he is fully grown, i'll have a scan to see what I can do, maybe a friend will want him

thanks everyone

 

[Ruskull]

Yeah i think it was too small also but i was told they were opaline when i bought them from my LFS [Mod edit] so i've changed now. So i researched and I thought they would be fine I have now since realised they are too big especially because he is fully grown, i'll have a scan to see what I can do, maybe a friend will want him

thanks everyone

Opaline Gouramis are much more aggressive than Pearl Gouramis. You'll have the same problem but worse if you try that mix in your tank. Opaline, Cosby, Blue, Gold, Lavender, and Three Spot Gouramis are all the same species, just different color variants. I've found the Gold & Opaline variants to be the most aggressive in my experience. All these Three Spot Gouramis grow to be roughly the same size as the Pearl Gouramis but the Three Spot's get "thicker" if that makes sense? Three Spot G's get to be around 4-5 inches in captivity and up to 6 inches long in the wild supposedly. The female OPaline in my signature is about 4.5 inches from nose to tip of tail for reference.

You should consider a Dwarf Gourami or Honey Gourami and I wouldn't get 2 males either or they will fight & stress out your other fish.

BTW, aren't you one of the posters that voted in my thread about whether I should add fish or if I was overstocked? I decided not to add any fish to the 36 gallon but I still might move a Honey Gourami from one of the 20 gallon tanks due to aggression. I'm going to add (2) more Threelined Corys to that 20 galloon & I'll leave the other 20 gallon as is. Thanks for your input on that topic.

 

[TenaciousG_]

Thank you very much for your help Ruskull and yeah i think i did vote but i may be a bit over stocked myself with these opalines do you think i could take them or just the male back to my lfs? I'm sure they wouldn't mind reselling it xD haha

 

[Ruskull]

Thank you very much for your help Ruskull and yeah i think i did vote but i may be a bit over stocked myself with these opalines do you think i could take them or just the male back to my lfs? I'm sure they wouldn't mind reselling it xD haha

I'd see if you can return all of the Opalines since your tank is only 15 gallons. I once tried to keep a single Gold Gourami male in my son's 20 gallon & he terrorized the Sailfin Molly male & any other fish that came anywhere near him.