Suddenly Agressive Pearl Gourami

[FanOFish]

I have this beautiful male pearl gourami that is by far the biggest fish in my tank as you can see from my signature. I have a couple clown loaches and 4 corys that all occupy the bottom of the tank. 2 small schools of tetras have the middle and I have 2 dwarfs gouramis and 1 pearl gourami that favor the top.

When I first got these gouramis the smallest of the bunch which is the flame dwarf was the agressive one, chasing the other dwarf and occasionaly taking a run at the pearl.

Well not any more. Mr. Pearl has suddenly realized his size and is doing a pretty good job at keeping all the other fish at the bottom of the tank. I notice he is most agressive right after feeding...

Any suggestions?

Do you think a female pearl might calm him down a bit?

thanks

 

[ryan]

gouramis get alot more aggressive with age in my experience the bigger they are the meaner they are.

 

[sheloare]

FanOFish,
I have 4 Perl Gouramis, and four Dwarf Gouramis all of which are male. Gouramis can be an agressive fish as you now know. However, I have found that if you add another Perl Gourami of the same size as your agressor, it helps to solve the problem.

My Dwarf Gouramis were literally killing the other fish with fear (and otherwise) and when on the advice of the fish supply, I added the Perl Gouramis (which as you know are twice the size of the Dwarf Gouramis) the terror stopped. My Perl Gouramis generally stay at the bottom of the tank hiding amongst the plants, or sitting inside of stones I have there. The Dwarf Gouramis now swim peacably amongst the other smaller fish in the tank, and usually cause no harm.

Make sure that your Gouramis have hiding places to rest in, and also that none of them are protecting a bubble nest. They can all be real nasty when mating or nesting.

Good Luck
Sheloare

 

[Colisa lalia]

I would suggest two or three more Pearls in the comany of others you're rogue may calm down, or he may ust be a rogue. However of all the gourami I have found pearls to be the least aggressive.

 

[FanOFish]

Thanks for the advice.....would you recommend males or females if I can find them?

 

[pebbles]

if i were you i would try and find a female,as colisa said earlier the pearl gouramis are the least aggressive of them all and you will find if he has a friend he may not bother with the smaller fish.good luck ...pebbles: