Gouramis Behaviour

[FishLuvr]

Lately (last week or so) ive noticed that my biggest gourami likes to chase the other gouramis around the tank and when he gets them sideways he likes to ram them, why is he being so aggressive all of a sudden, and/or is this normal.

he is a 3 spot gourami, the other 3 are all opaline

Ive read a little bit about thier spawning behavior which seems similar to what im seeing, all though i see no bubble nest throughout the tank, no where at all

 

[sylvia]

With three-spots (both opalines and blues are the same species - trichogaster trichopterus), it isn't always aggerssion derived from territoriality brought on by spawning. With males especialy, it's often just plain territoriality. It can also be a status issue amongst all sexes and usualy occurs through-out the fish' lives either when new fish are introduced or when the fish change in size and the hierarchy needs to be re-shuffled. It sounds like your blue just happens to be the dominant fish in a slightly over-crowded tank. What size tank is it and how many other fish do you have and of what types? This is usualy the root of gourami aggression. Even fish that are spawning won't react too aggressively if kept in the proper environment. Also, how big are each fo the fish in question?

 

[sylvia]

Please excuse the double post, I forgot to mention that the side-ways ramming is perfectly normal fighting behaviour. The fish will usualy approach each other head on, then one turns to the side and then they proceed to ram each other. If it gets more violent, you'll see them spinning around each other with flared fins trying to get the gills of their oponent. Usualy, with small hierarchical confrontations, the fight only lasts a couple of seconds and then the loser flees. If it's territorial, they may spend much longer. Male three-spots will even fight over territory for hours until one backs down, is injured, or, in extreme cases, even killed. If you see this happening, remove the winning/more aggressive one. Youc an try re-introducing it later, possibly re-aranging the tank at the same time, and then hoping things settle but, more than likely, you'll eventualy need to re-home it.

 

[@ombomb]

I have seen exactly the behaviour you describe most of the afternoon after adding a paiir of rams to my community tank. I thought for about 5 minutes the gourami was being friendly, but oh no, how wrong i was. He followed them around the tank, displaying and snapping at them. I've had to put him in a net for the night and will propbably have to take him to the fish shop tomorrow to be rehomed. Oddly it's only the dwarf behaving like this, the honeys, which i thought were the more territorial of the two species are completely oblivious to the new additions.

It'll be horrible to part with him as he's a lovely fish, but hopefully my lfs will find a good home for him.

 

[sylvia]

@ombomb - just wanted to say, don't give up on the dwarf just yet - try putting him back in the tank later tomorrow and re-arange the tank while you're at it. The aggressive behaviour, if it is towards a different type of fish (like in your case where a gourami is attacking a cichlid), the gourami will usualy give up after a while and they'll settle down and all the aggression will subside (mind you, not always - so still watch closely).

 

[FishLuvr]

My blue is only doing this to the other gouramis, he leaves every one else along and i only noticed this behaviour changed after i introduced 3 clown loaches into the tank (they will be moved to my 75gallon tank once i get it cycled). The Gouramis are the ones i have had the longest 3 months now

 

[@ombomb]

I tried that Sylvia, overnight I kept the Gourami seperated in a large net and re-arranged the tank first thing the following morning. After releasing the Gourami, he pottered around for about 30 mins before going back to harrassing the rams. I kept an eye on this for most of the day, but he didn't give up.

Unfortunately I had to take him to my LFS where they have given him a home in one of their display tanks. Shame I couldn't keep them together, but I can still give him a wave when I'm there.