PugsAndKitties

My pair of pearl gouramis continually bite at each other, but never do damage. I guess bite isnt the right word. They both do it, so it isnt domanance. They are opposite sex, if that helps. What on Earth are they doing?

agabr123

since there is only one male and one female, the male is going to constantly chase after her unless she's strong enough to beat him up. if you have the room in your tank, you should get one or two more pearls, but i don't think you do so my best suggestion would be to either A. get another tank or B. return the girl . I had the same problem with dwarf gouramis when i was first starting to keep fish and didn't know anything. I had one male and one female in a 10 gallon (yikes!) and the male harassed the female, she struck back every once in a while, but they needed WAY more space and i should have had more than one female, or just the one male. I ended up giving them to a friend with a 55 thankfully

PugsAndKitties

The female does it more then the male. Wow, thats ironic!

agabr123

lol, that's a little odd but not really. my female betta is more aggressive and bigger than ANY of the males!

PugsAndKitties

So, should I just watch and make sure no injury occurs, or seperate them? They're really pretty and add a nice size difference to my tank. All of my other fish are small and schooling. I'd like to keep them both if I can, but if one kills another, I'll feel so guilty...

pinkfloydpuffer

One thing to remember is that the constant nipping leads to constant stress which in turn leads to disease

agabr123

i'd keep an eye on them, maybe redecorate the tank, move things around, that should keep the aggression down a bit

PugsAndKitties

It was really bad when I first put them in, but not really any more. They must have been establishing territories. The left side is Carlisle's(male) and the right side is Esme's(female). Now it only seems to be when they intrude another's territory. Is that still enough to stress them enough to cause disease?(I have alot of questions, but i'm new to keeping pearls, and gouramis in general)

agabr123

yeah, i'd just keep an eye, if the nipping is consistent then i'd return one orrrrr....you could always get more tanks

pinkfloydpuffer

I think it depends. Although I know next to nothing about gouramis.
I guess all I can give you is an example of my puffers. I have 2 green spotted puffers. They will nip at each other on occasion, particularly when there's food in the tank but it's nothing that causes undue stress. (They will sleep by each other and hang out together when frightened)
So, I think you'll be able to tell if your fish are really stressed out.

agabr123

yeah, if your fish are really stressed, they will start probably looking paler and less active, and probably be "breathing" very rapidly

PugsAndKitties

More tanks would sound good, but my dad buys the tanks and my sister has a saltwater aquarium. They tend to be on the expensive side.

agabr123

believe me i understand *raises hand as a broke college student*

pinkfloydpuffer

I second that!