Vicious Drawf Gourami In Isolation....

[HornyFlower]

I got tired of always seeing my dwarf gourami torture my turquoise severum and my paradise fish. Yesterday he had my convict wedged in between the glass and a piece of wood, he was just picking at him, so I moved him to a 20 gallon storage tub container (with mature filter and gravel). My question is will maybe leaving him in isolation for a while and then bringing him back to the main tank calm him down a bit? I'm thinking since he was there before the convict/severum that he sees them as a threat. My biggest parrot will break it up if he sees them fighting, he will get between them or chase them both to separate sides of the tank, but if he's in his cave the dwarf can inflict some damage.

I have...

60 gallon filter Penguin, bio wheel.
150 watt heater
Sand substrate
Anacharis plants
onion bulbs
A few "potted" plants
30 gallon tank

Ammonia- 0
Nitrites- 0.5-.20 ppm
Nitrates- 20-30 ppm
Ph 7.8-8.0
(Recently changed to sand substrate, reason for the nitrites, sent my tank into a mini cycle.)


1 Turquoise Severum
2 Parrot Cichlid Hybrids
1 Convict
1 Paradise Fish
1 Tinfoil Barb (3 inches)
2 Three spot gouramis (one gold on blue)
2 Tiger barbs (one albino one regular)
3 Cory Cats (one albino, one peppered, one green)
1 Cranky Dwarf Gourami

I know a lot of these fish aren't supposed to mix, but I have no problems at all except for the little dwarf. Is their anything I can do about his behavior? I'd hate to move the tank around again, this really seems to stress the parrots out, everytime I try moving they're cave they attack me and they sulk for days if I do.

 

[bobross]

I would think if it were to solve the aggression,it would only be temporary. That's way to many fish for that tank - at least it will be soon. All of the fish may be small right now, but will hopefully live long enough to outgrow that tank. I'm not intending on being rude, but you have a bunch of fish that are known for being aggressive all crammed into 30g. I'm surprised will all of the other aggressive fish, you're only having a prob with A gourami...

...So, to answer your question, I think that if you were to add that dwarf back to the tank, the rest of the fish will have established territory and pick on the new tankmate.

Hopefully you get everything straightened out

BobRoss

 

[HornyFlower]

I would think if it were to solve the aggression,it would only be temporary. That's way to many fish for that tank - at least it will be soon. All of the fish may be small right now, but will hopefully live long enough to outgrow that tank. I'm not intending on being rude, but you have a bunch of fish that are known for being aggressive all crammed into 30g. I'm surprised will all of the other aggressive fish, you're only having a prob with A gourami...

...So, to answer your question, I think that if you were to add that dwarf back to the tank, the rest of the fish will have established territory and pick on the new tankmate.

Hopefully you get everything straightened out

BobRoss

They wouldn't the ONLY aggressive one is the dwarf. THat's my problem, they won't fight back, the parrots and the severum are 4x bigger than the dwarf, it's not a size issue. Parrots can be kept with community fish, they are peaceful, severum same deal. What aggressive fish are you talking about? I've heard of people saying barbs are "fin nippers", haven't seen it once. Aren't the fish I have only territorial during mating season? Because all mine sleep in the same cave, they all swim together etc..

 

[ArauraDiscus]

O and here I was telling people that parrots are very agressive cichlids.

 

[Biulu]

I think what Bob is trying to say is that you have too many fish that are territorial, and as such potentially agressive. They all need their own space, and your tank is too small to provide this. The gourami is defending its territory, and that is what is causing the problem. For the gouramis you should count on 10 gallons/fish for the 3 spots and paradise fish, and at least 5 gallons for the dwarf.

I see you have a 60 gallon with only plants..... Why don't you use that one? In this set-up, I would not put the gourami back in. Maybe you could separate the gouramis from the cichlids?

I agree with Bob, that this stocking is very likely to cause you more problems in the future, but hopefully you're lucky!