Swordtail And Dwarf Gourami Fighting

[baz100]

Hi All

In our tank we used to have (along with others) 2 x swordtails and a male/female pair of gouramis.

One morning I noticed a swordtail dead in the tank, half eaten (seemed 100% fine the night before).

Separate occasion, the female gourami was very weak, so I separated her and not long after that they died.

A few questions:

The Male used to chase the female gourami a lot - is this normal, or was he attacking her?

Now there is 1x male swordtail and 1 x male gourami, who seem to fight a lot of the time (can never tell who provokes who - seems equal). Is this normal, or is there a way to stop this?

I was wondering if it is wise to get a friend for either of the male swordtail or gourami? (and if so, do I get a male, or female for each?) of will this cause more trouble? Will they see the new fish as entering their territory?

thanks in advance!

 

[modaz]

These are 2 species that are known for their aggression at times, most of the time they are ok but having 2 males is the problem, I would say that the sword prob tried to mate with the gourami as livebearers do tend to try and breed with anything that stays still long enough and it could be the case that the gourami is having no part of it.
I would get a couple of female swords or platy for the swordtail male, and to be honest I never recommend gourami with swords together as it usually turns into this issue, but having a female gourami might solve the issue as you wouldnt want the male gourami to be attacked by the female swords (coz they can be worse than males) or for him to attack the swords again, A hard one to decided what to do but this is what you could do.

 

[baz100]

Thanks for your reply! We have 2 platys, although I am not sure if they are male or female. Whats the way to tell them apart?

Ive been watching the sword and gourami closer, it seems like the swordtail is 'kissing' the side of the gourami, and the gourami is moving fast to get out of the way.

If we get a female gourami, how likely is it to get on with the male? The last one didnt want to be friends....

With thanks

These are 2 species that are known for their aggression at times, most of the time they are ok but having 2 males is the problem, I would say that the sword prob tried to mate with the gourami as livebearers do tend to try and breed with anything that stays still long enough and it could be the case that the gourami is having no part of it.
I would get a couple of female swords or platy for the swordtail male, and to be honest I never recommend gourami with swords together as it usually turns into this issue, but having a female gourami might solve the issue as you wouldnt want the male gourami to be attacked by the female swords (coz they can be worse than males) or for him to attack the swords again, A hard one to decided what to do but this is what you could do.