Honey Gourami Territorial

Has anyone every had a honey gourami turn aggressive? Just lately mine has started to chase everything in the tank. He's not nipping, but more like bullying them. Seems like dejavu since my betta used to do the same thing. I've swapped him into the 7.5 gallon tank and moved the guppies to his old tank for now to see if he's just getting bothered by all of the activity in the 20 gallon. This fall my husband plans to buy me a larger tank, so I'm hoping at that time I can combine everyone again since there will be more room to spread out.

Do honeys get more aggressive as they age? This one used to "play" with my tiny rasboras, so I'm a bit confused by the turn around in behavior.

 

Are you sure you've actually got a honey? Dwarfs come in the same color as Honeys do sometimes.

 

That's what I started wondering about the other day. Above is the picture I took when I first bought him. He's much larger now but he's a food hog so part of it's just that he's a bit fat.

I was told initially that he was a honey, but now I'm not so sure. He's less than 2 inches. I'll try to take a current picture later. He's hiding right now in his new temporary home.

 

Yeah, that's a honey. I think all the activity is bothering him, it sounds like.

 

Yeah that's a honey. I got mine from Petsmart too. But it's funny that yours is really aggressive. Mine is very, very peaceful. Maybe it depends on the fish.

EDIT:

 

Hmmm...this might seriously mess with my plans to combine all my tanks this fall.

He never used to be aggressive. This is pretty new. I tried adding more hiding spots for him in the 20, but he still seemed edgy.

 

If it were up to me, I would keep the betta in his own tank.

 

I don't have a betta in this tank. I was referring to an earlier instance when my betta turned agressive. All of my bettas have their own 5 gallon tanks.

 

Honeys on rare occasion can be like this. Normally they are sweet little guys, but once in a while you get a bully. The "playing" may have been an early warning sign, honeys don't really Play, but they will interact, closer observation may reveal alternative intentions which many people misread, not a big issue though. It could be due to breeding habits, if a male gourami, of any species, makes breeding plans then they can get quite the attitude.

 

Yeah, I've been watching him for about a week now wondering what this new behavior was all about. I've had him probably about 6 mths. He might end up being happier on his own. When I get the larger tank and the activity gets spread out some, he might be able to relax, but in the end I'll do what's best for him and the others.

 

Get him a lady friend.

 

You think?

 

Wait, we are talking about the 20gal right? I mean, if there is atleast 10gals and enough room, get him a lady friend. Honeys tend to be group oriented anyways.

 

Yes, he'll be back in the 20 at least or in the bigger tank soon. I'll have to start looking for a female. All I ever see are males.

 

Easy to ID. Females tend to have a dark lateral stripe, duller colors and a rounded dorsal fin.

 

Thanks! That will help me locate one.

 

Not all female honeys look the same, since there are a few different colour varieties out there, there are differences in female colours. For example the golden honey females are a nice yellow colour without a dark stripe. The rounded dorsal fin is probably the easiest way to sex them, other than that the females are rounder in appearance and get along with eachother better than the males do.

 

I found my gourami's tank with little white balls floating all over the place this morning. What in the world is it?! I'll try to take a picture.

Is my "he" a "she"?? And these eggs have got to be infertile, right because I don't have another gourami.

 

Most of these are already fuzzing over. Do I need to do a big water change to remove them or will that upset her? They're all over my java moss.

 

It would be a good idea to remove them.

 

He is a she 0.0. Maybe the tantrum was due to the eggs. Did you notice any bloating of the fish through out the past week or so? Also, what are the other fish in with her right now?

Its kinda cool that your honey put out eggs, I could understand some irritation from her during this time. A gourami is a gourami after all, and they all have that tendency to defend their young/nests. I would give her a few weeks to recoup and then try integrating her back into the usual community. Out of curiosity, what do you feed your fish?

 

Right now she's in the 7.5 by herself. Usually she is with a few albino cory's and some otos. I did think she was looking "fat" the past week or so before I moved her. I assumed she was hogging the food. She's looking much slimmer now and is being friendly again by coming up to the glass when I walk by instead of hiding.

I feed my fish nls, repashy solient green, and frozen bloodworms/brineshrimp, and kens catfish sticks.

 

Well, there's the reason she got gravid, your giving a great diet. On that diet it would be expected that she would egg up regularly. Not bad my friend, not bad at all.

 

Thanks!

 

Ok, this is just getting odd....I went to feed my gourami this morning and the tank was fine. I went back to make sure she ate the food and she had released more eggs everywhere including what looks like white stringy things that are floating at the top. What is going on? She's still in the 7.5 alone. I'll see if I can get a photo.

 

Anyone seen anything like this before?

 

Geez girly, shes really egging. The white thing could be a blank poop or possibly part of the egg laying(like the after birth in mammals). She looks OK. If shes egging then let her egg I suppose. Id drop her diet down to just whatever pellet/flake food you have. Take out the extras, should slow down her egg production.

 

I'll try that. It really surprised me to see that again this morning. Since she's been in that tank, I've only been giving NLS pellets and the occasional veggie stick. It makes me wonder if she wasn't getting egg bound or something since she did look "chubby" back in the other tank. She's much calmer now...almost a bit on the skittish side in this tank by herself.

 

Tis the season I suppose. I just got female Banded gourami earlier this week and she dropped eggs today.

 

Ok, I'm having issues. My husband wants to get me a bigger tank to get rid of my numerous smaller tanks. He has high hopes I can combine several of them into one big community tank. Problem might be that my honey gourami is still acting out. I've been playing musical tanks lately, so I put her back into the 20 because she'd been relatively calm in the 7.5 with my "mama" endler. However, she's back to chasing cory's again in the 20. All I can assume is that their constant motion is getting to her.

My question is, if I get a 3ft or 4ft tank like planned, do you think the additional space will lessen her "aggression" with the more active fish or should I just abandon the idea of the gourami in the communitiy tank altogether? My plan was either a 46 gallon bowfront (my husband's fave) or a 55 gallon (my fave) that would include my cory cats (filling out their schools finally), my otos, my male endlers and my honey gourami. I had initially wanted to reintroduce my rasboras to this tank as well since they used to be in with honey gourami, but I'm a bit nervous to do so now with her behavior.

Would adding a male calm her down or just cause more aggression? I want to find the best solution. Once I get the bigger tank, I'll have many options for the honey gourami if I need to keep her separate, so I'm willing to do whatever is best, even if that means housing her alone.

 

I think the space will help. With a 55g, she'll have her own area to claim.