Opaline/ Dwarf Gourami

[catfishblues]

I have a 46 gallon tank with a decent amount of plants and driftwood. I had a dwarf gourami that managed to get an infected cut and died . i decided to get a new one and did research on other possible gouramis. i looked into opaline gouramis and most people said they are peaceful and i saw videos of people having lots of gouramis together in one tank. so i figured i could do it! after a few days he began chasing the little dwarf and its driving me crazy! can i add plats or more hiding spots too reduce this aggression???

 

[MrNiceGuy]

I have a 46 gallon tank with a decent amount of plants and driftwood. I had a dwarf gourami that managed to get an infected cut and died . i decided to get a new one and did research on other possible gouramis. i looked into opaline gouramis and most people said they are peaceful and i saw videos of people having lots of gouramis together in one tank. so i figured i could do it! after a few days he began chasing the little dwarf and its driving me crazy! can i add plats or more hiding spots too reduce this aggression???

thats a bummer. gouramis, in general, are solitary beings. most gouramis don't like to encounter others of the same species (or similar species). the opaline gourami is much tougher fish than the dwarf. its probably best to take one of them out.

if you were to heavily plant the tank you might reduce aggression to an extent, but the dwarf would still get pushed around without a doubt.

 

[catfishblues]

ya i figured thats what it would probably come to. and the opaline is fairly small so id hate to see what he could do when he becomes fully grown!

 

[Lyra0727]

I'm no expert but I do have a oplaine gourami and she is a sweetheart.. never bothers any fish and to be honest can barely even defend herself. But I know for a fact she is a female.. maybe the one you have is a male? I heard they tend to be more agressive.. (dont know for a fact though)

 

[catfishblues]

i never thought of that! I really don't know how to tell the difference though.

 

[MrNiceGuy]

I'm no expert but I do have a oplaine gourami and she is a sweetheart.. never bothers any fish and to be honest can barely even defend herself. But I know for a fact she is a female.. maybe the one you have is a male? I heard they tend to be more agressive.. (dont know for a fact though)

is it the only gourami in the tank? gouramis are generally only aggressive toward other gouramis

 

[Biulu]

In theory you have space for about 4 gouramis in your tank and all would be able to establish their own territory, but it seems that you got the odd guy that wants all the space for itself. Opalines and dwarfs are in general even when it comes to agression, personally I would say that dwarfs are a tat more agressive...

Normally I woulod say change the decor around but in this case the opaline is the one that got in last, so didn't have an advantage. I would bring it back to the lfs and change it for another opaline.

Male opalines have longer dorsal fins and they are pointy whereas the females are round and shorter.