What Are My Pearl Gouramis Up To

[BFG]

Hi I've got 3 pearl gouramis (1 male, 2 female) approaching adulthood (the male is a gorgeous red colour) and they've been in the tank for about a week. They are much more confident than they were when I first got them (very inquisitive and happy to explore the tank).

Tank stats:

180L (47 US gallon) with 6 neon tetras, 6 peppered corys, 3 gourami and 2 extremely small bristlenose. Ammonia 0, NitrIte 0, Nitrate 20ish, pH, 7 ish

There's loads of hiding places in my tank, but they seem to occasionally be nipping one another and chasing occasionally. The one being nipped will go almost vertical (almost deferring to the 1 doing the nipping), but they will then swap roles and the nippee will become the nipper, and the same thing will happen

No sign of any ich, velvet or anything, so I don't think one of them is in a weakened state.

I seem to be psychoanalysing my fish here but are they setting up a pecking order amongst themselves, and 1 doesn't like it so fights back? If so, how long can I expect this to go on for??

Thanks for anyone who's had similar issues!

 

[sylvia]

This is normal behaviour in gouramies - particularly within a group that's just settling in. It shouldn't normaly last long as, eventualy, they'll establish who's boss and stop bothering each other at all. Having said that, you can occasionaly come across individuals who simply cannot ever get along. If this proves to be the case, as long as the aggression isn't serious, you can still keep them together but try to feed at opposite ends and add more hiding places - just to minimize the liklihood of conflict as much as possible. Adding a couple more females would also help but this depends on how much more bioload your tank can handle. But like I said, give it a couple more weeks befor you take any drastic action. They'll probably sort things out by themselves and be fine. As is the case with most pearls, aggression shouldn't last long - they preffer to flirt and breed