Wolfgang8810

i have this golden gourami and he bullies my entire tank he killed 4 of my smaller barbs and even picks on my blue crayfish. None of the pet stores around me do trades or take backs and i don't have any friends who would take him in but he has got to go. what can i do?

Gozer_1

Gouramis like to have a fairly heavily planted aquarium including floating plants. Yours may be feeling insecure if he doesn't have a good bush to hide out in. Also, what size and stock level is your tank? If the Gourami is feeling crowded he may become aggressive trying to secure his "territory". Has yours just started this behaviour or is he a new addition? If you have had him for awhile and he just started getting mean then he might just be feeling his biological clock. If his colors have gotten darker and he has been cruising around flaring fins and stuff, then he may just be wishing for a female. I'm assuming by the behaviour you have a male. Males can be more aggressive than females.

Beeboy

I once had a gold gourami who was fine until I introduced some swordtails. He killed all three and started being aggressive to the rest of my tank. I have read that they should be introduced last so they don't have an established territory to defend.

Beeboy

Wolfgang8810

it is a male and i have had him for over a month all i have in my tank is 1 small tiger bvarb a blue crayfish and then him. he has always been aggressive. i did have a female blue gourami in with him but he shredded her fins to the point where she was having trouble swimming so i gave her to a friend because she was peaceful but he is just like really aggressive and even steals food out of my crays pinchers. i guess i could add more plants.

Gozer_1

Wow, sounds like you got a monster there. I have had blue and gold gouramis and it does seem to me that the golds tend to be a little more aggressive, but stealing food from a cray is BRAVE. Yours must have a testosterone problem lol. He's just amped up all the time. Don't know what to tell ya. Maybe consider a 20 gal solo or wait it out to see if he calms down. He may just be claiming his territory. I'm suprised the Tigers don't stand up for themselves.

Wolfgang8810

he actually killed 4 of my barbs i went to the LFS today and bought more plants to hide the line of sight and it seems to be working ok. however make sure you check thouse plants thouroughly i found a bunch of snails and no one likes to have an infestation

Gozer_1

Lol I use plastic plants. Every time I try to get live plants they get eaten over night. I too have a cray with my Golds, very small, loves plant material. Oscar in the other tank eats them in minutes so it's plastic all the way.

Wolfgang8810

lol yea Ive only had one plant casualty with Mr. Pinchy but it was just sprouting and was right near his cave entrance its in another tank growing big and strong lol hes only maybe 2.5 inches, still young but i sure hope my gold chills out i cant deal with bullying in my tank as i never stood for it in my life either