Aggressive Gourami

[scorpio]

Ive always been fairly inexperienced when keeping fish and other aquaria, so when it comes to putting them in my aqua-terrarium, I rely on the pet shops advice on communal, aggressive and compatability with all my other animals. My first fish I ever bought for it was a gourami that by now is pretty huge. The petshop said it was a non aggressive fish, but now whenever I put new fish in, they are dead in a few minutes from his constant attacks. Now the only fish I can keep are plecos, dwarf frogs, and fiddler crabs. No "normal" fish.

Anybody know what could have turned on his aggressive behavior??

 

[Jakob]

#1) What kind of gourami is it? The dwarf species are usually non-aggressive. All others including "pink kissing" gouramis, which btw. get around 12 inches in size, tend to be aggressive towards smaller tank mates and sometimes even each other, esp. when you have two or more males who they might be fighting over the female(s).

#2) Has the gourami been by itself for a long time before you introduced other tankmates? If so, then it most likely established the whole tank as its own territory and will not welcome any newcomers.

#3) How big is your tank? A too crowded tank will only make matters worse. The fish will constantly be stressed and therefore contract disease a lot easier.

Let me know and I'll help you out...most importantly I need to know what kind of gourami (labyrinth fish they call them also) this is.

Jake

 

[scorpio]

The tank is only 7 or so gallons. Im not sure what kind of gourami it is, and its difficult to get a picture. In the tank at the pet store, it was only labeled with 100 other gouramis as "gourami mix". Its kinda a pearly color, about 3 inches long, and has two black dots. One in the center, and one on the end of the body, before the back fin.

He is my favorite fish in the tank now that my old 5 inch pleco died. He was so cool. I got two more smaller plecos to replace it. The plecos stick to the wall, and dont bug the gourami, and the dwarf frogs are typically just dozing at the bottom of the tank. I used to have neon tetras....which mysteriously disappeared a few weeks ago. (probably eaten by the anoles, ever since that, my big male sits on his log peering into the water.

So im not sure when he is the only normal fish in the tank, and ive spent lots of money attempting to introduce new fish. After he killed another fish last night, I had this itty bitty danio (i think that was what it was called) and he immediately started to attack the danio. And eventually pushed it out of the water. I caught it in time to put the danio back in, and like the tetras, it mysteriuosly disappeared. It was a freebie though, so no financial losses there.

And I did think my gourami had become territorial. But even when I only had 2 other fish in the tank, he killed them off. And those were together from the time I brought them back from the pet store.

 

[Jakob]

Does your gourami also have an orange coloration on the ventral fin? And do te two dots sort of connect with a black dotted line? Is there a black, horizontal line across the eye? If yes, then what you have is a pearl gourami (Trichogaster leeri), which would match the coloration you described. They're usually not aggressive though...

If it didnt have the two dots like you said it would most likely be either a pink kissing gourami or a moon gourami.

Most gouramis will eat anything that fits in their mouth, includig other fish so with your 3 incher the nean tetras and danio should be left out of the tank, even at full grown size.

A 7 gallon is too small for most types of gouramis. Dwarf species are en exception and the most dwarfs you coud put in a 7 gallon tank would be 2-3. The gourami and the two plecos are enough in that tank. If you get any more fish you'll have to do a lot more tank cleaning, filter changing etc.

Also (and this has nothing to do with your gourami being aggressive), have you tested your water for pH, ammonia, and most importantly, for nitrites? If not, I highly recommend you get a test kit. Some pet stores will test your water free of charge if you just bring it into the store.

I highly recomment signing up at fishgeeks.com. It's a forum just like this one except it's all about fish and other aquatic residents of the tank.

Jake

 

[Spiderguided]

Originally posted by scorpio
Its kinda a pearly color, about 3 inches long, and has two black dots. One in the center, and one on the end of the body, before the back fin.

Dead ringer for a Pearl Gourami. They get fairly big, and are quite aggressive. I had some, in my tank a few years back, and ended up giving them away, as I was tired of having my fish end up maimed or, dead.
Want a suggestion? Trade the Pearl in, for some smaller, mellower Gouramis. Neon Blue Dwarfs are very striking, as are the Red Blush Dwarf Gouramis. Very peacable in nature, as well.
Lori

 

[scorpio]

I dont really want to test my water, as it is just a small tank within my terrarium. I assumed my fish might get crowded, so I guess I will leave it as it is. Its impossible to get a pic of it through glass. There is no line connecting the black dots and there is no line across the eye. And I dont think it was a pearl gourami because they had a few others like that for 6 bucks, and mine was only 2.50, so id assume they might separate them.

Thanks for all your help guys. I appreciate it. Maybe I could find a pic that looks like him on google.

 

[scorpio]

Here we go. This looks EXACTLY like my gourami

http://www.theaquariumexchange.com/gourami.jpg

This one too. This says its territorial

www.aquahobby.com/tricho.html

This one

http://www.theaquarians.net/FishPhotos/Blue Gourami.jpg

And this one. THis one is a good pic

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/anabantids/blue_gourami1.jpg

 

[Jakob]

Oh ok thats just a plain blue gourami..I used to have a trio of them and they didnt always get along either.

They are one of the more aggressive species indeed...reaching a max of 4+ inches.

Jake

 

[Spiderguided]

Originally posted by JakeRocks
Oh ok thats just a plain blue gourami..I used to have a trio of them and they didnt always get along either.

They are one of the more aggressive species indeed...reaching a max of 4+ inches.

Jake

agreed. Now that I see a pic, its a Blue. REAL aggressive. Is a shame, as its a very beauitiful fish.
Lori
p.s., you're welcome Scorpio..