Fishies Fighting

[limelight]

Hi All,

I wonder if anyone can tell me why my siamese fighter is chasing mollies all day long? He does not seem to hurt them but does look rather mean!

Secondly my Dwarf Gourami is not looking very happy... and I think that it to is feeling stressed about the Blue and Paradise Gourami that is chasing him!! The Dwarf Gourami is the gentlest fish in the tank and I am sure he is going to die soon, as he is now breathing heavily at the bottom of the tank leaning against a rock. Anything I can do? And are Blue Gourami's known as being a bit vicious?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[gadazobe]

That's what a lot of bettas (siamese fighting fish) do. They tend to chase any fish that they think is competition for them - brightly coloured fish or fish with flowing fins, in fact any fish that they take a dislike to. Because of this a lot of people like to keep them in small tanks with no other fish.

Unless you have a really big tank, gouramis really should be just one pair (male and female of the same kind) per tank. They to, have a tendency to bicker/fight amongst themselves.

Is there any possibility of separating them? If not, make sure that there's lots of plants and hiding places for the fish to escape to. Try to arrange the tank so that there can be a break in the eye contact between them.

 

[Tenko]

I had 2 male/female pairs of dwarf gouramis in my tank once, they would be fine most of the time, but now and then they'd pick on one. I had to buy a breeding trap to isolate the victim until it recovered.

Unfortunately they must have been at it at night too, I only have 1 left now. Also, when the gouramis were not annoying each other, they started on my guppies.

One thing I found that influenced their aggressive behaviour was temperature. I reduced it from 25 to 24 c and it made a bit of a difference.

 

[limelight]

Ok, swopped out the dwarf gourami for an angel fish with a friend. The Gourami is looking much happier in its new home and the angel fish is not having any problems with its new tank mates.

The tank is 4 foot long and the mollies can easily escape the siamese fighter and they dont look to bothered with the occasional chase... so all is looking happy again for the time being.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Tenko]

Is the angelfish small? I ask because a lot of people here will advise you that angels will eat your neons.

If your angel is small, it might get used to them by the time it's mouth is neon size, otherwise you might have some trouble there in future.

I've got angels with cardinals, but cardinals are a bit bigger than neons.

I'm pleased the gourami is doing well. Mine were lovely peaceful fish, really colourful and friendly, apart from the occasions they were chasing each other and mauling the guppies.