Archived message board.
Gourami Question
Badmans Tropical Fish Message Center: Beginner
freshwater : Gourami Question
|
Chris R.
|
Thursday,
February 07, 2002 - 02:31 pm
Recently added a honey gourami (red flame) and a
blue neon dwarf gourami to my 30g long tank. There is plenty
of cover (plants, rock caves, drift wood) for them
an places to stake out territory. My question is this, how
can I tell when their political negotiations (displaying
for each other, short chases, light nips, etc.) is getting
dangerous. I recently noticed that a pectoral fin on the
dwarf appears to be damaged (only about half the fin
is still there). He may well have arrived from my local
fish store in this shape, but I am worried about the territorial
negotiations. Also, even though he seems to be doing fine,
acting and swimming in pretty much the same fashion as the
honey gourami, I am concerned about the poor guy's fin.
I added stress coat to the tank but am not sure what else
I can do. Also, will the fin grow back? thanks in advance
for the good advice.
|
|
joycedonley
|
Thursday,
February 07, 2002 - 04:37 pm
Fins normally grow back if infection doesn't set in.
If you are worried or if you notice any whitish areas around
the tear you could treat with Kanamycin. I have used this
for my angels fins when they looked really ragged.
|
|
Chris R.
|
Friday,
February 08, 2002 - 09:26 am
Thanks Joyce, that is good news but what about the aggressive
behavior? How can I tell when political negotiations about
territory have reached a critical mass where the honey gourami
(the more aggressive of the two) is going to do
damage to the dwarf and is there anything I can do to placate
them? More plants maybe? At what point do I need to keep
them in seperate tanks?
|
|
joycedonley
|
Friday,
February 08, 2002 - 09:35 pm
I had this problem with my two festivum. They continually
fought in the 29 gallon tank. I moved them to a 55 gallon
tanks and the fighting decreased significantly! Occasionally
the big one still will chase the little one, but it's
only on rare occassions. Just the extra room made all the
difference. I could not find any other solution and I tried
everything! If one of the two starts to hide in the corner
and hestitates to feed you will have to resolve the issue
by either separating them or getting a larger tank. If you
already have plants I doubt if more will make a difference.
|
|
Chris R.
|
Monday,
February 18, 2002 - 10:22 am
I isolated the aggressive gourami in another tank for a
4 days. Upon returning him to the 30g, he seems to have
become a more peaceful fish, or at least the two quarrelling
fish seem to meet each other on more equal grounds ... fish
politics seems a very complex affair.
|
|
Lori
|
Friday,
March 01, 2002 - 11:01 am
Okay, I've read through these other posts and hope you
don't mind me jumping in.... I have a 30 gallon long.
I have 4 small white skirt tetras, 1 small otto cat, and
a small rainbow shark. I was given 2 dwarf gourami's
(red flame). For the first two days they only hid.
Now the larger one is slowly coming out a bit, but is real
shy. The other one never comes out. I supplement my otto
with algea tablets to make sure he's getting enough
to eat (My tank was a transfer from an old tank to a
new one- and I had to move the otto). The gourami's
love those tablets, and occasionally fight over them! I
thought they'd get along better. They stay on opposit
sids of the tank and chase each other away (no nipping
though) if they get near each other. My roommate is
wanting to add a "girl" gourami or a third one to
see if that would make them all get along better, but I
don't think my tank is big enough for another fish do
you ? And I believe that these are males, so wouldn't
that cause them to fight over a female? What is your advice?
|
|
joycedonley
|
Friday,
March 01, 2002 - 11:17 am
If you add one female to a mix of two males you may end
up with more aggression. Usually the best ratio is 2 or
3 females to 1 male and your tank is too small for that!
|
|
Lori
|
Friday,
March 01, 2002 - 11:25 am
Thanks Joyce, I think so too. I'm wondering if I actually
do have a male and a female. The one I think is a male is
very bright red with a bright blue top fin. The other smaller
one is "slightly" red and the rest of it's fins
an body is kinda grey. As long as I see that they are not
beating each other up, I'm okay with them hiding. I
just didn't want them to get too lonely. I've heard
of fish dying becuase they're depressed. But these guys
are eating fine, and are healthy looking- just shy and don't
want to hang out together- I didn't want them to get
flushed so I agreed to take them in! Thanks again.
|
|
|
