Playing, mating, fighting or all of the above?

[Mel]

I have recently added a golden gourami (male) to my communal tank. The blue spotted gourami (female) that existed has decided to take a particular intereest in him. At first she barely even noticed him but now is constantlu nudging him and trying to get his attention. He has not responded to well and usually swims off which angers the female and she chases him consequently biting him a little i think! BUT WAIT THERE IS MORE... yesterday i walk in and check on them and they are both snuggling together in a cave. However generally he is usually hiding from her and pretty scared i think. Will she learn that he isnt as interested in mating as she is and back off or is there a problem here?

Existing fish include: 2 silver dollars and 2 platty's.. all of which get along and dont fight or even notice the gouramis antics!

 

[bluefire]

I'd say if there is no physical damage that you don't need to worry

 

[Mel]

update: the male has some back fin damage... do i worry now?
The poor little guy isnt he suppose to be the grumpy dominant one?

So worried...

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

Oh my. Is it possible she's bullying him? Since a newbie to the tank she may feel he's encroaching on her territory, especially since he's not currently interested in her.
I'd seperate for a while. Try taking her out and putting her in atemp home for, say a week. Give him some melafix for those bites, then put her back having done a w/c and move some ornaments around. That way neight has a set territory.
Best of luck.
I shall just add, I have 4 golden gouramies living together and they all tend to chase on occasion. Had no actual damage on anyone so far but will move one if there's problems, of course.
Not had mating behaviour either yet, but they are still young so....
Hugs,
P.

 

[Ferris]

Gourami's are well known for their dislike of their own kind, very often regardless of gender or species. The fact that they were in the cave together is a good sign but keep an eye on things, I have had to seperate gourami's in the past.

 

[Barracuda518]

Gourami's are well known for their dislike of their own kind, very often regardless of gender or species. The fact that they were in the cave together is a good sign but keep an eye on things, I have had to seperate gourami's in the past.

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I have also had that problem. I had 4 three spots and 2 Golden Gouramis and they were constantly chasing each other. There was one area of the tank, where there were lots of plants and castle, where it all started. I guess they all liked that one spot. Ive heard that the three spot gouramis are the more aggressive of the gouramis. The gold ones were actually calm except for when a three spot would chase them

I had to end up taking them out because I was afraid one would get hurt and I couldnt allow that too happen. Its kinda strange whats happening to you, usually its the male doing the bulling isnt it?

 

[sylvia]

Hi

Three-spot gouramies (trichogaster trichopterus) come in several color morphs. Gold and blue are just two of the more common ones. I just wanted to make this clear as some of the colors have been reffered to as different species here. They are the exact same fish with the same behaviours. The only difference is color. Anyway, it's normal for you to see aggression between these fish. They get worse as they mature and I guarantee the male will eventualy become the dominant one as soon as he is mature and the same size as the female. Right now, he is a newcomer and younger than her so it's natural for her to be bullying him. I would suggest removing both (into seperate quarantine tanks) for a little while. Give the male a chance to heal, re-arange the tank and then return both at the same time. You'll see some aggression at first while the male establishes a territory and the hierarchy is settled but then, provided the tank is large enough and the difference in size between the two fish isn't vast, they should settle down - at least until the male decides it's time to breed. You'll still see some chasing so make sure there are plenty of hiding places. This is unavoidable with three-spots.

 

[Grouchy]

I just noticed a problem with my two pearl gouramis. I recently added another to the tank a couple of weeks ago. The new pearl is an inch smaller in length than the original inhabitant. Last night I noticed the smaller one attacking the other one and chasing it into the back. That gouramis hides inside a sword plant or in the dense growth of cobomba.

It's strange. I would have figured the much large gourami would be either the aggressor or at least not put up with a smaller invader.

I think the larger is a female, the smaller a male; although it is hard to tell because the "male" does not have the coloring, a long dorsal fin, or extended anal finnage.

 

[Clairel]

I have 1 (dwarf) blue (m) Gourami, and also had a dwarf (f) gold Gourami, they got along just fine, but i did buy them together, however i am sad to report my (f) died, due to a sudden change of Ammonia in the water, which i would just like to say is NOW under control....

I have had some great advice from hear, and dont know if i will ever get anymore Gourami's but if i do, i have been advised to get 2 females to go with my 1 male, ...

Claire x

 

[Grouchy]

i have been advised to get 2 females to go with my 1 male, ...

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I was given the same advice for platys. I might have to do that for the pearls as well.

 

[Stiffmeisterflex]

I just noticed a problem with my two pearl gouramis. I recently added another to the tank a couple of weeks ago. The new pearl is an inch smaller in length than the original inhabitant. Last night I noticed the smaller one attacking the other one and chasing it into the back. That gouramis hides inside a sword plant or in the dense growth of cobomba.

It's strange. I would have figured the much large gourami would be either the aggressor or at least not put up with a smaller invader.

I think the larger is a female, the smaller a male; although it is hard to tell because the "male" does not have the coloring, a long dorsal fin, or extended anal finnage.

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I just added a new Opaline gourami to my tank and a fairly large one at that (3 1/2" to 4"), but I've also had a gold gourami for about 5 months who is just shy of 3". The opaline is very peaceful and does not bother any of the 7 other fish in the tank, but the gold gourami is constantly harassing her. The gold gourami is a male, so I thought it was a territorial thing, but I seperated them for a few hours and rearranged the tank and the gold gourami is still being extremely agressive. What do you all suggest, keep the Gold Gourami separated from the rest of the tank for a few days or weeks? I'd try letting them settle it themselves, but I'm afraid I'd end up with a dead opaline.

 

[gouramiman]

IME I have noticed that the most aggresive of gourami is the gold gourami. I have had many different gourami over the years and of all of them the gold was the worst, always chasing my full grown red tail shark(RIP) and nipping at him. So be carefull because once he gets cumfy, you could have a few problems on your hands.

 

[Stiffmeisterflex]

IME I have noticed that the most aggresive of gourami is the gold gourami. I have had many different gourami over the years and of all of them the gold was the worst, always chasing my full grown red tail shark(RIP) and nipping at him. So be carefull because once he gets cumfy, you could have a few problems on your hands.

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That's what I figured. I had him in a much smaller tank before with 3 white cloud mountain minnows. One of the minnows turned up missing... no body or trace thereof, so the only conclusion I could draw was that the gourami ate him. So I replaced the missing white cloud with a rainbow shark and the gourami started to keep to himself and it stayed that way for 4 months. Now that I've quintupled the size of the tank and added a couple more fish, the gold gourami is getting agressive toward the new Opaline. I'm going to try separating them for a few days and if he's still being agressive after that I'll probably just donate him to a pet store and get another Opaline.

 

[sylvia]

Opaline and gold gouramies are exactly the same species - trichogaster trichopterus. You'll also find them called three-spots, blue, platinum, cosby and lavender gouramies. The only difference between all of these is color. Their temperament is identical. Having said that, I'm sure it's clear to see that your problem is NOT that your fish is a gold gourami but that you have 2 three-spots. This species is one of the more aggressive and they tend to not get along with each other or with other gouramies. Two males, regardless of color, will often fight to the death. If you add a new three-spot toa tankw here one already lived, it usualy gets attacked and chased for the first week. If it survives this period, usualy the bigegr fish (or the male if they aren't both the same sex) will become more dominant and the tables may turn. Then the ifnerior fish is chased, attacked and harassed constantly until it either dies or something is done to fix the situation. What I'm trying to explain is that replacing the gold gourami with another opaline willa chieve absolutely nothing. What you need to do is begin by sexing the fish you have. Males have a longer, more pointed dorsal fin. Females are wider and deeper-bodied (something best seen from above). If you have 2 males, return one and then get 2 females (color is of no relevance as long as they are both three-spots). Re-arange the tank before adding the new fish and make sure they are of a similar (if not slightly larger) size. If you have a male and female, return the male and get a couple more females of the same size. Again, re-aranging the tank may be a good idea. If you have 2 females, either just add lots more hiding places OR return one and replace with 2 more females OR return one and replace with one male and one female OR try adding just one male of a similar size to see if he solves the problem. In all cases, re-aranging the tank just before adding the new fish and making sure new additions are of a similar size will help. You didn't mention your tank's size so I'll add that each three-spot should have a minnimum of 10 gallons to itself and keep in mind that they can get to 6" so do take up quite a bit as far as bio-load is concerned. Watch that, combined with your other fish, you won't end up over-stocked.

 

[Stiffmeisterflex]

Thanks for the info Sylvia, that was helpful. However, I ended up having to replace the Gold Gourami. I found the opaline was missing some peices off of her fins and even though she wasn't fighting back, the gold gourami kept pestering her. So rather than having a severely mangled fish, I decided I'd rather root out the problem at the source. I replaced the Gold Gourami with a young angel fish. The opaline was a little hostile to the new addition at first (she tore up the angel's dorsal a little bit), but the angel recovered and there hasn't been a problem since the first night.

You're right though, I forgot to mention the size of the tank. I have a 25 gallon with the following fish:

2 white cloud mountain minnows (suprisingly, they're surviving very well)
2 albino corey cats
1 Rainbow Shark
1 Blue Channel Cat (3"-4")
1 Gourami
1 Angel fish

The tank is in pretty decent harmony right now, even with those 4 notoriously agressive fish in there. So hopefully it stays that way for a while.