Gourami Does Not Like New Gourami's Added To Tank?

[cjc75]

I have a Marineland Eclipse 37 Gallon Tank.

Inside this tank, I currently have a pair of Angel's; and 1 Blue Gourami.

The Angels are roughly 3 - 4 inches, tail to nose. The Gourami is about the same...

Anyway, I am adding 4 new Blue Gourami; inch barely an inch in length... I got them on some store credit from my local fish store.

I have them still in the bag, floating at the top of the aquarium to give them some time to adjust before letting them out.

Almost immediately, my large Gourami went right after them! He's been at the bag for the past hour now, and just wont leave it alone, and he seems to be getting a bit agressive. I am not sure if he is trying to threaten the new fish inside the bag, or if he's just really.. .really happy, to see more of his own kind.

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/6161/qpa.mp4


Honestly, I'm a little nervous as it seems to me he's getting a bit agressive; pecking at the bag and trying to chase them.

Any opinions on this behavior would be appreciated before I open the bag and loose the new fish.

 

[SamLovesCorys]

I'd let them out, but be prepared to swiftly net them out should anything happen, and watch closely for a couple of minutes before you go and do something else.

 

[ZephyrStarPlaties]

Did you get females? Male gouramis are aggressive with each other like bettas.

 

[cjc75]

I don't think they're females.

They look and appear quite identical to the existing one; and they can be clearly seen in the video I linked to in my first post.

I will probably let them out in a bit, maybe they ALL, just need a little more time to adjust

 

[cjc75]

Well now I don't quite understand what the heck is going on...

I .. used to have... two Blue Grourami in my tank, both came from the same fish store, and from the same tank. They both grew to about 3 - 4 inches but one day about a month ago, the smaller of the two vanished and I never saw it again. I presumed it swam into a log or hollow rock and died there.

So I went and bought 4 more new Blue Gourami; the 4 new ones mentioned above.

I finally let them out of the bag.

Suddenly, the missing Gourami has reappeared, as healthy as ever!

He also seems to be getting along fine with the 4 new ones.

But the aggressive one who was pecking at their bag, is now chasing and being very aggressive towards ALL the others... including the one who had been missing for weeks and is now out and active.

As far as I can tell, they're all the same sex; their fins are all the same and spots are all the same. So why would this one, be getting aggressive towards all the others; including one who came from the same fish shop tank that he came from?

I think I know why that one had been missing for the past month now...

It was hiding from the other one...

I may have to net the aggressive one out from the tank and keep him in a bucket over night and see what happens with the others...

Heck .. my luck, the fish shop probably had them all mislabeled and they're all males and this ones just got a serious testosterone problem... I've never had a school of Gourami from the same tank in the same shop act like this towards each other though.

 

[creeker]

Yep. That's a pretty aggressive looking male Blue Gourami there. Judging from what I can see in your video, there are at least a couple of males in the bag. I would think about re-homing that big, aggressive male. His behavior won't get any better.

 

[Ruskull]

I'm a bit of a pro with Gouramis. I've had many different types & the Three Spot Blues are one of the more aggressive varieties. I would suggest getting only females to compliment your male. He is a beautiful specimen and his aggression would be far less if it was spread out amongst many females. Females can be quite striking looking themsleves. A 37 gallon tank isn't enough room for 2 males let alone six! I have a 36 gallon with a single female Opaline Three Spot & the balance of power between her & my Pearl Gourami pair is just about perfect. In a 55 gallon you might have enough room for 2 males & 4 females but a 37 gallon doesn't have enough room for the males to stake out their own territories.

I would return the new fish & try to pick out females. They have a rounded dorsal fin so they're pretty easy to pick out. The store should take them back since you just got them. The spots don't determine the sex at all. In fact you could add Gold Three Spots or Opaline Three Spots since they're all the same fish just different colors.

Even if you got rid of your big male eventually the others will turn on each other. It's what they do. The one that was in hiding was probably a male that was being dominated and that is no way to live. It creates more ammonia in the water & that fish's immune system will be lowered leaving it suseptible to Ich & other nasties.

 

[creeker]

All good advice from Ruskull! I forgot about the multiple smaller males. They will be a problem.

 

[Ruskull]

Thanks Creeker, even if the males start off with no problems they will go after each other when they mature. Better off just keeping a single male with many females.