I recently got a pair of juvenile three-spot gourami, one is around 5 cm long while the other is 7 cm long. I'm not sure if they can be sexed yet, as they all lack the long pointed dorsal fin seen in adult males. They live in a 45x30x30 community aquarium setup.
The larger gourami has become a real terror, bullying the smaller one and chasing it all over the tank all the time. Right now, the bully has free rein of the entire tank, while the other gourami is reduced to hiding amongst the plants and popping out only occasionally, before fleeing once again as the bully decides to chase it.
I thought I could help relieve some of the pressure on the bullied gourami by buying a 3rd gourami that was similar in size to the bully, but it turns out that the bully now has another target to terrorise and chase instead!
This is the first time I've ever encountered a 3-spot gourami that was so aggressive. Even the tiger barbs get chased once in a while. Is there ever any occasion in which such behaviour might be considered "normal" for a juvenile three-spot gourami?
I'm about to separate the bully from the other 2 gouramis, so as to give them some peace of mind. However, is there any way I can put a stop to the bullying without having to remove the bully? I'm wondering if adding a fully adult three-spot gourami will put the bully in its place, although I wonder if the adult might then become the ultimate bully instead. And on the other hand, if I remove the bully, leaving behind the 2 bullied gouramis, what are the odds that the larger one will end up becoming the new bully?
Small is beautiful.
It's difficult because these gourami seem to have a zonal territorial system. Perhaps you can remove the bully for a few hours, then return it back to the tank, away from its original territory. If that fails then you might have to consider partitioning the tank.
45 cm seems small for them. I kept these in a 2 ft tank, about 6 of them if I recall correctly. Never had much issues except during mealtime. Some shoving every now and then but nothing serious.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
You can't do anything but to seperate them to diff tanks. Predator class. attack nature.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_fish
For some strange reason, the three-spot gouramis seem to have settled their differences and the bullying has lessened. There's still a bit of chasing around during feeding time, but at least the bully has stopped terrorising the others constantly.
Small is beautiful.
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