aggressive gouramis?

[Tomie]

Hello, just wondering if anybody has had the same experinece or know of any reason as to why this is happening. I've had a pair of male gouramis in my tank now for 5-6 days. Over the last 24 hours i've noticed that they really don't seem to get along. One of the gouramis does his own thing and swims around the tank, going in and out the decor, minding his own business and seems to be quite friendly. Whereas the other male gourami seems to be very territorial and aggressive, not towards any of my schooling fish but the other gourami. He spends a lot of time in the submarine at the bottom of my tank and if the other gourami dare go in, he will chase him out and harass him continously for a while and then they'll go back to normal. It's really hard to watch as you feel for the nicer gourami as he never retaliates, just carries on going about his business. It seems to be when he goes inside the submarine the other gourami gets mad and instantly goes on the defence.

I was told when purchasing the fish it was recommended to buy them in pairs.

 

[DrRob]

They're a fairly territorial group. You don't say what type of gouramis you have, but most of them behave similarly. Males are invariably territorial towards each other and a lack of cover can be an issue even with an opposite sex pair.

 

[Colin_T]

All male labyrinths (gouramis & bettas) are territorial and will chase other males away.

When you buy a pr of fish, you should get a male and female, not 2 males.

If you have lots of plants (including floating plants) in the tank, there won't be as many fights but you are probably better off returning one and getting a female.

The best floating plant for gouramis and Bettas is Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides).

 

[Tomie]

They're a fairly territorial group. You don't say what type of gouramis you have, but most of them behave similarly. Males are invariably territorial towards each other and a lack of cover can be an issue even with an opposite sex pair.

They are Dwarf Gouramis.

What could I do if this behaviour carries on? Wouldn't want to lose any of my fish ideally.

 

[Tomie]

All male labyrinths (gouramis & bettas) are territorial and will chase other males away.

When you buy a pr of fish, you should get a male and female, not 2 males.

If you have lots of plants (including floating plants) in the tank, there won't be as many fights but you are probably better off returning one and getting a female.

The best floating plant for gouramis and Bettas is Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides).

We have 7 live plants in our tank and 5 hiding spots that are covered. They do their own thing most of the time going in and out of the decor but it seems to be when they come face to face the one gouramis chases the other. I don't have any floating plants yet but i'll definitely look into investing in some. Will monitor the behaviour and if nothing changes, i'll take your advice and return for a female. Thanks.

 

[Colin_T]

the fights are simply because they share the tank and each one wants it for himself. When you get some floating plants it should should help a lot

If you can't get water sprite then you can use plastic plants and let them float on the surface