Honey Gourami male aggression

[Manon]

Hi all
I have a male and female honey gourami and 8 ember tetras in a 60 litre, probably medium planted tank - mixture of all sorts of plants, tall and short, some floating. Ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 40, PH 6.8, heated to 79 degrees, almond leaves for tannin (I like the blackwater look), low flow Fluval U2 filter. All was ok until yesterday.

The male gourami has been nest building since day one (a week ago - the tetras were already in) and seemed to be merrily occupied while the female and tetras floated about. Yesterday, the male seemed to get furious and chased the female every time she came out from her resting spot, and even bashed her against the side of the tank. This morning, when I finally got a glimpse of her, I noticed a little chunk missing from her tail fin. Could the male have done this? I got them because they are meant to be docile but he is just furious with her right now. He ignores the tetras. Do you think this is something that will pass? I am tempted to take him back to the LFS if he's going to be hurting the female.

Any advice would be gratefully received. I am out for the morning but will catch up later.

Many thanks

 

[Essjay]

That sounds like male honey gourami behaviour when he want to mate, though a bit more aggressive that usual. When I kept honey gouramis, the females regularly had bits missing from their tails when the males wanted to breed. I have read (though how true it is, I don't know) that the male chasing the female encourages the development of eggs.

I would keep an eye on them for now. With mine, the process went through several stages: male casing female and she swims off; female starts responding to female but swims away before long; female finally 'agrees' to mate and they spawn.
Getting another female may help, though I had more trouble with two females fighting than with male/female problems.



Honey gouramis are at the more peaceful end of the gourami behaviour spectrum, but they are still gouramis. They rarely harm tank mates but as you have seen, the males can be persistent if they want to mate. Even when guarding eggs, male honey gouramis mainly just chase other fish away rather than try to kill them.

 

[Manon]

That sounds like male honey gourami behaviour when he want to mate, though a bit more aggressive that usual. When I kept honey gouramis, the females regularly had bits missing from their tails when the males wanted to breed. I have read (though how true it is, I don't know) that the male chasing the female encourages the development of eggs.

I would keep an eye on them for now. With mine, the process went through several stages: male casing female and she swims off; female starts responding to female but swims away before long; female finally 'agrees' to mate and they spawn.
Getting another female may help, though I had more trouble with two females fighting than with male/female problems.



Honey gouramis are at the more peaceful end of the gourami behaviour spectrum, but they are still gouramis. They rarely harm tank mates but as you have seen, the males can be persistent if they want to mate. Even when guarding eggs, male honey gouramis mainly just chase other fish away rather than try to kill them.

Thank you for the comprehensive reply Essjay. I will keep an eye for the next couple of days and if the newly named Furious Pumpkin doesn't calm down, the shop (a Maidenhead Aquatics branch) are happy to have him back.

 

[Manon]

Just thought i'd update: Furious Pumpkin became even more furious. He stopped the embers and female gourami from eating and started ramming all the fish. His black temper deepened with the black on his belly and throat so I returned him. The lady in the LFS gave him a proper telling off ?. Seriously though, by the time we were back at the shop, all his male colours had completely gone and he looked like a sweet little lady honey gourami.

He has been replaced with two apparent female gouramis and peace has returned to the tank. I say apparent females because who really knows until they really know?!

 

[mark4785]

I am happy that you found a resolution to this. Given that a bit of the tail fin has been nipped i would do a series of large water changes every day as rotting matter (especially from a fish) puts the inhabitants at risk of developing Popeye or other bacterial infections if they ingest any part of it. This is particularly the case for foraging bottom-dwelling fish that may come into contact with it.

 

[Manon]

Thanks for the heads up @mark4785. Will do

 

[Slaphppy7]

Good job returning the male...it may have worked with a bigger tank, but yours is too small for that kind of chasing/aggression

 

[itiwhetu]

What a pity he was just showing off and was obviously very happy. You must have a very good tank. They are great to watch when they spawn.

 

[Manon]

What a pity he was just showing off and was obviously very happy. You must have a very good tank. They are great to watch when they spawn.

Aww, I got the feeling he was happy from the mother of all bubble nests he built. I felt terrible taking him back but I only have a little hospital cube spare and he couldn't live there permanently. Hopefully he'll find a more suitable home soon.