Gourami Still Being Aggressive

[ChilliPepper]

I bought a larger tank mainly because one of my Opalines keeps chasing the other one. I posted on here for advice and was told, quite rightly, that my 60L was too small for them. It seemed clear that the dominant one was 'defending' his territory and would chase the other one away if he dared to enter it.
I put all my fish into my 190L today, and for the first hour or so all was fine. Now Grumpy is chasing the other one something chronic - almost worse than before. I feel so sorry for Gordon!
I have plants and bogwood in there but the plants need to grow a lot, so they're not offering much shelter/boundaries at the moment.

Any suggestions what I can do? I think I may have to sell one or the other as it's getting silly now. Gordon is permanently stressed.

 

[kubora666]

get more, 2 gourami in a 190l tank will attack eachover if they arent a propper pair. just get a group of them, and they can aggress eachother so not just 1 fish is getting it. gourami's can be spiteful fish
when i did it it worked for me

 

[ChilliPepper]

Hmm... Don't want to get more as I want to get other different types of fish in the future.... I thought I had a male and female but pretty sure they're definitely both male. Grumpy is much bigger than Gordon and has lovely colours, whilst Gordon is washed out

 

[Nick16]

also, i agree with kubora, but gouramis 'pair off' naturally, so having two of them is lyk sticking you in a room with a minger and expecting you to 'pair' with them. so if you get more then they can pair properly and not be force to be with each other. (get an even number of males and females in total) or have 1 or 2 more females.

 

[WILDER]

so having two of them is lyk sticking you in a room with a minger and expecting you to 'pair' with them.
ROFL

 

[ChilliPepper]

What about if I got two female Opalines, waited for a pair, the sold the other two? Suppose I could for a 'temporary' fix. Ideally want to keep more than the Gouramis. He doesn't bother my tetras or pleco at all.

 

[Nick16]

yeah may work. yeah sorry bowt the example but t'is all i could think of!

 

[kubora666]

all of the gourami species can be kept together.
only difference is size.
opaline, blue and gold are all the same fish
just different colour forms.
moonlights get 6"
and snakeskins can get 8"
and the dwarfs are tiny.

so as long as you stick to the opaline, gold, blue, pearl, moonlights maybe, and have sufficient space i see no problems

 

[ChilliPepper]

Gah - might see if the LFS would take them Don't like seeing unhappy fish.

I really want to get some Cichlids so don't want to use all space up with Gouramis.

I thought getting a bigger tank would sort the problem out

 

[murphyk32]

in a small tank, 2 male gouramis will alwyas cause problems, well with most types, opaline included. this is personal experience, i learned the hard way whne about 2 weeks later my weaker male finally past from the stress.

 

[ChilliPepper]

Would you say 190L is a 'small' tank?

 

[murphyk32]

personally i wouldnt, no, i dont know Litres well and didnt bother to convert when answering, sorry. it is a decent size and you would think that htey might be okay, but either more hiding spots is going to be required, or it just is going to continue to be a problemm either way. 2 male gouramis in a large tank can be pulled off, just doesnt always work.

goodluck

 

[ChilliPepper]

190L is 50USG

I'm going to get two females and see if it sorts things out... Got to wait a couple of weeks though for my filter to mature first.

 

[ChilliPepper]

Could I get two female Gold or Pearl Gouramis? Would my Opalines pair with them? Would they serve as a distraction still as they're female?

 

[puppyjess123]

Just saying i have a male and female opaline goruamis and they're fine.