Aggressive male dwarf gourami

[MrsShrimp]

Hi,
I have a 10 gallon tank with a female honey gourami and on the advice of the pet shop, I added a male dwarf gourami a week ago. I think the tank is too small for them. Other tank inhabitants are cardinal and black phantom tetra, x2 Corys and a male sparkling gourami that leaves everyone alone and I love him! Because I can't find another one, I ended up getting this male dwarf. I am regretting this .. as soon as he went in he has spent the whole time aggressively chasing off the female honey gourami. Can I take it back to the shop? I have no other tank to separate him into.
Thanks.

 

[Essjay]

The general rule with gouramis is that species should not be mixed in the same tank.
In this case you have a gourami at the more peaceful end of the behaviour spectrum (the honey gourami) and a male of one of the more aggressive species (dwarf gourami). I would return the dwarf to the store as soon as possible. 10 gallons is really too small for a territorial fish like a dwarf gourami.

I know you are intending a larger tank from your other posts - with those fish in a 10 gallon, the sooner the better. Then look round all your local stores to find a male honey gourami. If honeys breed, the male will become more aggressive defending his eggs, though he usually just chases other fish rather than attacking them. This is why I suggest waiting till you have that bigger tank, more room for the other fish to get away.


One last thing - never take advice from a fish store worker. Many of them are trained only in how to make a sale and few actually know anything about fish. Ask on here; between us we've kept most fish sold in stores.