# Gourami's fighting. Help Please!



## pellale123 (Oct 5, 2011)

Hey guys, Firstly, soz for the long explanation. I've been having this problem for a while now which is that one of my gourami's keeps nipping the other (the one doing the nipping and chasing is clearly dominant) Anyway, so i phoned my lfs and they said they're probably both males and thats why one is aggressive towards the other. They were. So i swapped the aggressive male for a female. This worked, until yesterday i watched them when they couldn't see me and i was pretty shocked to find that the male that was the victim before was now nipping and chasing the new female. This is obviously because it has been traumatised by the previous male or because it thinks the female is the male that was attacking it before (unlikely). WHAT SHOULD I DO!?!?!? Should i leave them and see what happens, or should i swap the male for another female and have two females. 

Thanks, Alex


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## aidey07 (Nov 16, 2008)

I had gouramis and one allways used to bully the other one, so we got some more plants and hiding spaces for them and that solved it as the one getting bullied could hide.

Hope this helped!

Aiden


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

ive always kept gouramis as singles in a tank because of this reason, the only type ive ever managed to successfully house as a pair are pearl gourami. i would rehome one and keep just a single in the tank unless its possible to add a ton of plants etc to break line of sight for them.


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## pellale123 (Oct 5, 2011)

Thanks for your replies. I too have kept gourami's for years, and in numbers too! But i've never seen this before. The "victim" fish (lol) has lots of places to hide, AND SHE DOES! Its only when she comes out that she gets a right telling off. Tbh i think i'll leave them for a while cos its not like 'fight to the death' or anything.

Thanks again, Alex


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## JurassicParking (Nov 20, 2010)

what species are they


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## azz0703 (Jan 7, 2012)

Guys i have 2 blue paradise fish one male one femalecand noticedclast nite the male (longer tail) has chunks missing out of him. 1 near mouthm 1 almost at the neck and the other on side of his body behind gillsm now theres no redness soreness mould ect so is this because another fish has bitten him up fins are all perfect tho so no fin rot? Its a temperate set up with temperare species inc 2 large goldfish and 4 male plattys and few barbs thn mostly corys ive not seen anyone fightin as im out most of the day and this week beencworkin in garage on my bike. soooo should i take back to my lfs and see wht they say as it doesnt look like fungus or anything else ive ever seen. Every other fish is perfect health ni marks no spots no bad fins


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

azz0703 said:


> Guys i have 2 blue paradise fish one male one femalecand noticedclast nite the male (longer tail) has chunks missing out of him. 1 near mouthm 1 almost at the neck and the other on side of his body behind gillsm now theres no redness soreness mould ect so is this because another fish has bitten him up fins are all perfect tho so no fin rot? Its a temperate set up with temperare species inc 2 large goldfish and 4 male plattys and few barbs thn mostly corys ive not seen anyone fightin as im out most of the day and this week beencworkin in garage on my bike. soooo should i take back to my lfs and see wht they say as it doesnt look like fungus or anything else ive ever seen. Every other fish is perfect health ni marks no spots no bad fins


having all male platies can turn them vicious- you need females with them. also, what barbs have you got & how many? tiger barbs are nasty unless you keep around a dozen- & even then, anything slow or long-finned can get mullered.


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## pellale123 (Oct 5, 2011)

Very true. Oh and just saying, (this may be irrelevant), but i swapped my aggressive male for a female and now there is two femals and they're absolutely fine  

Alex :2thumb:


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

pellale123 said:


> Very true. Oh and just saying, (this may be irrelevant), but i swapped my aggressive male for a female and now there is two femals and they're absolutely fine
> 
> Alex :2thumb:


what species are they? btw, if you keep more than one female, a male will be ok- the male will be less aggressive to them as he can't focus on one individual.


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## pellale123 (Oct 5, 2011)

Cool thnx 4 the info, i will definately use that in future  And they're Gold Gourami's btw :2thumb:

Thanks alot, Alex


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