Excessive fin nipping

Sorry if this has been answered before, didn't see anything specific.

I introduced 2 male dwarf gouramis into my 25 gallon show tank about 3 weeks ago. It has quite a few hiding places, although it is not densely planted. Anyway, the transition seemed to go smoothly, with the only "problem" being one of the gouramis would tend to hide behind the heater. However, recently the 2 gouramis have been engaging in chasing eachother, swimming in circles, that kind of thing. I didn't really pay it much attention, until after a few days I noticed the "shy" gouramis tail and pelvic fins had been damaged. On both fins there are now very clean rips. Is one of the gouramis getting overly territorial, or is it harmless. Any advice would be appreciated, Thanks!

 

You might need to separate those boys. Like all fish of their type (labyrinth fishes) they can be aggressive between males. Sometimes you can keep them in larger groups from when young and they will tolerate one another but one on one can be a bad combination.

 

I think I could have this problem with my DG's, I have two and I think that they are both males. I have had them since adding fish to my tank about 5-6 weeks ago but I was having problem with fish dying and I now think that one of the DG's is attacking the other fish.

Is there any way that I can solve this problem without moving one to other tank because at the moment I only have one. I am thinking of returning it to the pet store but would like to know if there is anything that I could do first? ???

 

If both of your fish look like males then yes it will be hard to keep them together. If you can return one you are probably better off as the other option would be to get them some females to keep their attention. However, it would require at least 3 females to divide their attention properly and unless you have a tank that has room for another 6" total of fish then you are better off getting rid of one of the males rather then overcrowding the tank.

 

Yes looking at the pictures they are both males because mine look identical. A number of my fish have died and I have to get rid of a couple of my Chinese algae eaters because I have read that they are not good for community tanks once mature, so I would have enough room of the 6" but I did want a range of fish not all the same type. I will have a think on what to do.

Do you think a tank with mostly the same type of fish in it will be better than trying to get a compatible range of fish together? ???

 

Id see if you could swap one male for a female and add some additional cover for them....

 

Id see if you could swap one male for a female and add some additional cover for them....

So is one female and one male OK? I thought you had to have more than 1 female with a male in the tank.

And sorry for sounding stupid but what do you mean by "additional cover for them" (sorry I must sound so stupid)

 

Generally gourami will do better alone or with one of each sex in pairs....As for cover, I mean places for them to hide at or near the surface of the tank....They're a top dwelling fish and like to have floating plants for cover...It's a security thing with gouramis....The plants can be real or fake as long as they don't move all about the tank with the current.

 

Thanks for that

I will try and get some floating plants at the weekend, is there any way you can stop them floating all around the tank with the current? Would prefer real plants it I can get them

 

I think they make some sort of plastic clip that is safe for aquarium use. I have very tall plants so mine likes to hide in them or in between the heater and filter tube.

 

People have had mixed luck with only one female to one male. Generally you want 2 females to 1 male because the male will go after the 1 female so much it stresses them out and quite often they die. With 2 females the males attention is divided enough to give one a break while the other gets bothered. The reason I said you could get away with 3 females to 2 males is that there will always be a break for one of the females which should be enough. As for getting all of the same fish in the tank, to each their own. I like seeing a lot of one fish in a tank rather then 1 of this and 2 of that, etc. but that's my preference. Go with what you like.

 

That's interesting because all that I have read suggests mixed pairs.....I have but one male, but a friend has a mixed pair and his are inseperable...Occasionally they'll quarrel and she'll go hide, but no major issues...I also recall reading that you'd have more success with mixed pairs if you bring them home at the same time not allowing one to establish a territory.

I think I'd be more wary of odd numbers because of the territory thing.....

 

Is it possible... sure. Anything is possible. I've even heard of someone that has 3 males in a tank and hasn't had a single problem for over 2 years (not sure if I believe him though ) However, on that page that I linked above, even it says to use a few males to several females which is pretty much what I have always read when speaking of Gouramis. There are several posts on this forum talking about the problem people have had with just a pair and it usually went to the tune of the male chasing the female around non-stop until the female died. Then they got another female and had the same problem until they got 2 females. But yes if the fish have been in the same tank together for a long time, there is a much better chance of them getting along as only a pair. But everyone has mixed results, so I just mention it with caution. If you see a problem have a backup plan to separate them for a bit until you can get another female.

 

Cool, thanks for the info!