Aggressive Gourami

[Rob 28]

Hi,

My tank is only 2 weeks old and have added a pair of 3spot marbled gouramis. They seemed happy enough for the first 2 days swimming together - now the smaller one is chasing the larger one like crazy all day. The water is ok apart from the nitrite being about 0.5 which im trying to bring down with water changes. I originally thought that the larger darker one was the male and the smaller lighter one the female but as the smaller one has been doing all the chasing im wondering if its the other way round ? Can't tell from the dorsal fin - both look as pointed as each other to me. Are they preparing to breed or is it terratorial ? Should I be concerned ? Thought they were meant to be placid.

Thks for any advice.

Rob

 

[Morrgan]

Three-spot gouramis are anything but placid. They are one of the more aggressive gourami available in my experience. Since they grow big too, a couple needs quite a bit of space. A 55 gal and up would be suitable for a couple, in my opinion.

This is probably territorial. If the tank is small, you had better give one away. If it's large enough for two, plant the tank heavily so that the gouramis aren't always within sight of each other. The less they see each other, the better. Note that it's best to only have one male per tank, even if the tank is big. I hope you can find out what sex yours are as soon as possible.

Note that gouramis can be nasty bullies that may even stress the weaker ones to death if they can't get away. Dense vegetation and lots of hiding places will prevent this.

 

[Rob 28]

Thanks for that. My tank is about 50 gallons so should be ok to keep both. Have plenty of hiding places too for them but have just bought some wood for some extra coverage.

If you do have to lose a fish do the local shops take any ? I asked one well know chain and they said no incase they brought in disease.

One more thing - I got these because i read they could tolerate low levels of nitrite. Is my level of 0.50 too high ?

 

[Morrgan]

I have been able to give away fish to my fish store (sometimes even get credits for them to use on fish food and such), but it really depends on each store's policy. Is there another store in your area where you could ask?

As for the nitrite, I measure mine in mg/l; does your test use that or is it ppm or something else? If it's 0.5mg/l then it's already at a dangerous level. Maybe not lethal, but still dangerous, because even if that level doesn't kill them, it can still damage/poison the fish. That's why the water changes are so important, and you need to do water changes regularly for as long as the levels are above 0 (as you said you are doing). As far as I know, three-spot gouramis are quite tough fish, so they handle a little nitrite temporarily.

Good luck.

 

[Rob 28]

I measure in ppm. Is that better ?

 

[Morrgan]

Heh, I'm afraid I have no idea what that corresponds to in mg/l, so I really can't say. I'm sure someone else can help you with that though.

 

[Rob 28]

Ok, thanks for your replies anyway.

 

[modernhamlet]

I measure in ppm. Is that better ?

Yes. .5ppm is much better, though still not ideal of course.

Any amount of ammonia or nitrite is bad for the fish, but .5ppm is within a reasonable zone, especially for your gourami, which are hardy fish. IMHO, if either ammonia or nitrite go above 1ppm, you should consider a water change. There's a lot of debate in this area though, so do some reading and decide for yourself what your threshhold will be.

As far as the aggression goes, just make sure they have plenty of places to retreat/hide and that it doesn't lead to too much stress on the subordinate fish. Assuming it's a male being agressive, you might consider adding a second female to spread the aggression out. If it's two males, take one back. Sounds like you've got a pair though. Here's an illustrated article on sexing gourami.

Also, once there are more fish in the tank, aggression tends to spread out as well. I wouldn't keep timid shoalers with Opaline Gourami. My Pearl (a MUCH more laid back gourami) definitely throws his weight around the tank, especially now that he's gone into spawn mode...

That's my limited experience/knowledge at least...

 

[Rob 28]

Ok, I went out and bought a second female today in the hope that my original female wouldn't get all the chasing from the male and put some bogwood in as a couple of hiding places. Half success as now the male chases both the females around like crazy instead of just the one. So now my next question is - what fish can i put in next with this little crazed male. I am wondering If he's going to terrorize all the other fish to death. Shall I give the little bugger away ?

 

[modernhamlet]

I'd give it another week before adding anymore fish. That will give you the time to watch the current trio. You'll have to be the judge of how much aggression is too much. If the females spend all their time in a corner day after day, you may want to consider returning the male. But give them a chance to work out their territories first.

Good luck! Sounds like a feisty bunch...