First Time Gourami Owner

[shade]

Recently I was given two dwarf gouramis, both males I believe, and I've fallen in love with them. Except for the fact that I only have one tank (80 litres or 20-ish gallons) and cannot separate the two of them. I only have two other fish currently a barb (I think?) of some kind (fishy pic) and a tiny bristlenose catfish.
The two gouramis don't get along and originally I was thinking I would replace one with a female (if I could find one) and was wondering if it'd be better to replace the aggressor or the victim... but... I've been reading this forum and any other info I can get on dwarf gouramis and now I'm really nervous. I'm thinking of getting another kind - are there any suggestions? I'm open to other types of fish too, not just gouramis. So far I've mainly kept guppies, swordtails and neon tetras in the past but I'd like something a bit bigger than the guppies/swordtails.

Thanks for your help!

 

[f1sh1275]

i would replace the bully as fish that have this mentallity usually turn on other tank mates too. remeber even if you get a female there may be some aggression but this is just the nature of the beast

 

[Ace Of Spades]

This is just a stab in the dark, but when one of the female betta's bully another one isnt it better to get a few more to spread the agression, Maybe this will help with your gouramis?#

My OPaline Gourami's are very active and friendly

 

[Colin_T]

that's an interesting looking barb. Not sure what it is, almost looks like a tiny goldfish

To sex gouramis look at their dorsal (top) fin. If it is long and pointed then it is male. Short and rounded is female.
If the fish are dwarf gouramis then the males are colourful (bright blue or red, or blue with red stripes) and the females are silver.

 

[overboard]

i would replace the bully as fish that have this mentallity usually turn on other tank mates too. remeber even if you get a female there may be some aggression but this is just the nature of the beast

I had the same prob a few years ago. I ended up with 2 males , who fought. I retuned the mean one and got a female. He fought with her. I then returned the male and the female was aggressive with other fish so I ended up with a tank of agressive fish and a peacful tank. The agressive fish ended up all getting along.

 

[shade]

Thanks for the help. They are both coloured, one is striped with red and the other is blue. They seemed to be getting along better last night and this morning but I will vist my LFS ASAP.

By the way, how small a hole can a fish fit through? That "barb" got out of the tank sometime last night and I can't work out how he fit through the small gap where the corner has been cut off

Oh, and I was wondering if fish vary between countries at all? I'm in Australia...

 

[Colin_T]

They are both coloured, one is striped with red and the other is blue.

Oh, and I was wondering if fish vary between countries at all? I'm in Australia...

If they are similar size then they sound like two male dwarf gouramis.

Not sure what you mean by vary between countries. Australia gets the same fish as everyone else with the exception of the fish that on the restricted list. These fish are not allowed into the country. Fish do get called different names in different parts of the world.

 

[shade]

Just wanted to pop in and say that a few things happened so that I still have the two males and they are doing fine together. Only a bit of assertion now and then during feed time. I've added 3 long finned serpae tetras (which weren't planned!) and I've ordered some black skirt tetras from the LFS which I can hopefully pick up over the weekend.

 

[stang1]

Serpae Tetras can be very nippy and are best ket in groups of 6+ as they are a shoaling fish.
Black Skirt (widow) Tetras are also extremely nippy and should also be kept in groups of 6+.
Keep an eye on both lots of fish, especially with your Gouramies.

 

[Sofia]

I had two male gouramis in a tank and one of them killed the other within two hours of being in the same tank!!!! It was horrible

You can never get male gouramis to get along.

The only way they are going to tolerate eachother is if you have a really massive tank so they can establish territories on each side or get a large group of males to spread the agression.

As has been suggested I would replace the agressive gourami and get two females so that the remaining males 'affections' are spread between the two females. I did this and it worked, he even made bubble nests and things...it's wonderful seeing gouramis 'court' eachother hee hee

Good luck!!!


Edit: for terrible spelling

 

[shade]

I've never had a problem with the serpae, and there were orginally 6 of them. A friend came over the other day, after I posted the previous post and she took the aggressive gourami home. I had a talk to the LFS and they're looking for some females.

I brought home 6 black skirts the day before yesterday. At first the remaining gourami chased them around the tank if they got too close to him but everybody has settle down and things are going 'swimmingly'.