mooshoo1982

hi my name is lisa...im a new member.
okay, so i buy these two blue gouramis, and put them with my rosey barbs...well the gouramis seemed to be mating, but then things start to get wierd. everytime i come home, i go look at the tank, and there is the abused gourami...still and listless up in the corner in the plants vertically. it looks very dark, and like in a trance.
so i take the aggressive one out, and put it with my chiclids. eveything seems to be okay...but i know they are aggressive, so im not sure if they will be okay.i put plenty of hiding places in there...the gourami is about 3 inches long...the chiclids are: two small lemons, two medium orange ones, and one big blue one...about 5 inches. any thoughts?

vin

Well, for starters, the cichlids may wind up fighting with the gourami, so watch them closely. Even though they are small, they may not like the gourami's company. They are both very territorial species and the gourami may wind up being abused in that tank as they can become timid when around other aggressive fish.

As for the two gourami, they just might butt heads as they too are territorial. They should have their own space to retreat to, which just might be the area you found the battered one in. They may also become aggressive after spawning...Did they actually mate? (build the bubble nest, lay eggs, etc)

If they did indeed mate and spawn then the female should be removed while the male tends to the eggs and the fry hatch.

mooshoo1982

they did look like they were mating...but how am i to be certain?
the male....if this is true...was nipping the female, and she was turning on her side...and they were kindof hugging...this would seem like mating to me....but no bubble nest....just typical bubbles like any other tank.
-thank you*
-the chiclids are kinda fiesty towards eachother...but it doesn't get past just chasing

vin

The male Gourami will build a nest of bubbles prior to mating. It looks similar to a patch of foam. Then the male will do a little dance...swimming back and forth flaring his fins and raising his tale to entice the female. They will intertwine when they mate.....They also like to mate in shallow water.....about 6" deep.

Are you sure you have a male and a female? The female's dorsal fin is shorter and rounded at the back while the male's is long and comes to a point.

mooshoo1982

thank you so much. yesterday i found out that i have two males...and they were indeed competing for space...but it looks as if the gourami will get along okay in the big tank with the chiclids...you should see how small he looks in there....and he's always trying to reach out to the others with those feelers!

vin

You might want to see if the store will allow you to swap the male for a female.....The cichlids may be fine with him for now, but it may not stay that way. Make sure you keep an eye on them as some species are not compatible.

mooshoo1982

:ahhhh...well my friend is always there to check up on them...i hope they'll be cool.
...thanks again...hopefully i'll do well with this new hobby!

rileyrk190

I have a similar question. I originally separated my blue gourami because the appeared to be butting heads, however after i placed them into my 55g, the did the most fascinating mating ritual (or so it appeared) one would turn vertically, and both would wave around those feeler like fins, then one would curl up and the other would face the other way. they would both almost bite each others tails, and swim around, then repeat the dance and do it again. Is this mating or fighting? There wasnt a bubble nest at all, and one gourami appears to have battle scars.