gourami pairs

[sushi]

I've got a gourami, which i think is a female (i've been looking on the net) and I want to get a male. I've read that the males can be aggressive. What do they do to the female? do they hurt her? will they hurt my other little fish( barbs, tetras etc) in my community tank. Is it wise to put them both in a community tank or would you reccommend against it?
Advice would be greatly appreciated.

PS. Will a gold gourami breed with a blue one?

 

[Gourami Lover88]

Male's will chase the female/s, it might apear to be aggresive to you but it is normal and he wont hurt her. mostGourami are great community fish and you shouldnt have any trouble with them hurting other fish. But some fish will have different personalities, when you go to buy look for active but peaceful acting specimens.

And iam not sure if Gold and Blue's will breed, they are both sup species of Thricogaster Tricopterus.

 

[patchwork_python]

A male constantly harrassing, ie chasing, nipping, etc, a single female will be detrimental to the females health. She will be forever stressed out with it and a stressed fish has a lower immune system and therefore more susceptible disease, so you are best to get at least another female if not two if your tank space will allow, if you really do want to get a male. A single male could also steal food from a single female.

In my experience even introducing a new female to the existing one can be problematic as the resident may see the new one as an intruder and a challenge to her territory, resulting in fights, fin-nipping, chasing and all of the above. I've found the Tricogaster gouramis to pretty headstrong with their own kind, altho they are generally very peaceful with other fish.

 

[sushi]

have any of you bred these gouramis (gold) successfully. Can it be done in a community tank. IF I bought a sep tank for them to breed in , would it have to be large for them to spawn or will they spawn in a temperary smaller tank? How do I know if they're going to spawn?

 

[patchwork_python]

I had pearl gouramis build a bubble nest and attempt to spawn in a community tank, but of course it didn't last very long with other fish around and water movement from the powerheads.

If I'd had the tank space then I would probably have removed the other fish from the tank and allowed the spawning pair to get on with it. You'd really need to watch out for broody behaviour from the pair and then house them on their own, but there's a fine line between whats the male being amourous and whats being aggressive. I don't remember witnessing much courtship, just remember looking in the tank one day andd seeing the male building a nest. Maybe other members have bred Triogasters before and might have other ideas to add?

You really need to give your female as much space as possible to get away from the male if he gets too violent. In your case where you're attempting to add an extra male and female to your exisiting tank, I think a better option would be to set up a species tank just for the 3 of them with plenty cover for the females. You will need to either spawn them in a breeding tank or remove the other fish from a community tank if they spawn there anyway and also dissipate your filter returns so that the eggs don't get eaten and water turbulence doesn't break up the nest.

 

[sushi]

IF I got a pair and did leave them in the community tank to breed (I don't have money or space for another tank just yet) can the other community fish get to the eggs when they are in their bubbles. Would they eat them.
I've got my filter so that the water flow coming out is hitting rocks in front of it. It was making the fish miserable cause they were doing summersaults all over the tank. therefore, i don't think it would push away the bubble nest. Just wondering if it'd get eaten. Does the male eat the eggs. OR does he guard them?

Most interested. I'd love to do it, just seeing if I can or if it's just going to be a silly idea

 

[Loopyness]

i thought that it would be like breeding betta's. you would need calm water and i think that he'd guard them just like the betta. i think any fish that builds bubblenest would be better in an individual tank where you can set everything up right for them, if i was you, i would wait until you had room/space.
Hth

 

[Gourami Lover88]

The chance of them sucsessfully breeding in a community tank is very slim, if you want them to breed you will need a different tank.If you plan on making a pair e:i geting a male you should watch him and make sure he doesnt hurt the female. With Gourami chasing is very normal between mates.Males will not eat their own eggs, he will guard them and will try and kill any thing that gets near them.