Squabbling Dwarf Gouramis

[sumocopter]

Hi folks,

A friend who is new to fishkeeping came to me today asking me to have a look at his tank. He has an overstocked 60l tank. Over the last few days his two dwarf gouramis have built bubble nests in opposite corners of his tank and are chasing each other, sqabbling and detroying each other's nests. Now I'm more of a cichlid man and don't know much by the way of detailed advice about gouramis. I gave some basic, what I thought 'common sense' advice - lots of plants to create visual barriers, watch out for any signs of damage to the fish, etc, etc.

Off the top of my head the tank has 2 male dwarf gouramis (the two in question), 2 male honey gouramis, 2 pearl gouramis, 2 panda cories, 1 plec (not sure what sort but apparently only grows to 4"). Please don't start by telling me that the tank is overstocked and that some of the fish are unsuitable for a 60cm 60 litre tank. I know and have told the tank owner who is reluctant to do anything about it.

What advice would you give to lead to a happy future for this tank (apart from take some fish out)?

Cheers

 

[Zante]

The only sensible advice is to reduce the stock or seriously upgrade the tank. Other solutions are just palliatives and will not make any significant difference.

Also, only 2 panda corys? They should be in a shoal of at least 5.

 

[ZoddyZod]

2 male DGs will not tolerate each other - fighting will occur, usually leading to ones death. There's probably nothing the owner can do to prevent it happening, bar removing one of them.