i have two opaline gourami's(yes thought they were blue at first but they are not) and i started with one and just got another one to go into the tank.... they are about the same size and everything but the one i already had in the tank wont quit chasing the other one around and looks like when a dog will smell another dogs rear... Is this agressive behavior or what are they doing?

Jon :ph43r:

I've not had that species of gourami myself. I know many of the larger gouramis can be aggressive with each other, especially two males. How big are they? How big is the tank? If they have enough room and are young, it should be ok. If you have two adult males in a contained area, there may be some damage. Keep an eye on them. If they're not actually hurting each other, things should settle down.

I'm sure it's not as bad as roosters attacking each other. My two roosters got in a major fight today, and I was stuck in the chicken house with them. I got coated in dirt and couldn't break it up until the older father passed out at my feet! A week ago, he was attacking me and here he was damaged by his son again. His son is sweet to me but hell on his parents. I keep them separate but they keep changing places.

HAHA roosters are crazy growing up my family had chickens and a rooster and just how they act cracked me up... Anyways well after i wrote that note i took about a 4hr nap then woke up to check on the fish and im looking at the new ones fins thinking man they look a lil tore up and i didnt remember them being like that before so i was just keeping an eye on things and here comes the first one and bites onto the fin on the bottom of the new gouramis belly and proceeds to yank till a lil of the webbing between the spines come off... I had to be to work soon so i didnt have time to make up any great solutions so i rinsed and filled up a bucket with water(treated it) then put the fish in there and put one of my filters on it to keep the water moving... well got back from work and all fish are alive and doing well.. but i guess i will have to get some form of a divider for my tank..... not really sure about what i am going to do yet.... been wanting a bigger tank and filter so maybe this will be the motivation to get another tank.... who knows will deal with that when i get back from tomorrow cause its about midnight and nothing i can do except keep them seperated i think....

Jon :ph43r:

and another few hours later i notice the original gourami that was in the bucket isnt moving or anything so i thought then i realized duh i keep my house about 65 and the water that was once 79 is now probably close to the temp of my room so i am stuck keeping him in the regular tank till the stores open tomorrow now to top it all off he has started chasing the other fish also(3-spotted catfish)... I did put in lots of fake plants that i have though and the original gourami doesent like going through them but the new one has no problem so maybe that will help to keep the peace till i can fix this tomorrow.... anyways im probably more venting than asking for help at this present moment but its very frustrating....

Jon :angry:

I hope you can get a divider or at least a net breeder to temporarily keep them apart. Fish have a mind of their own. You've got one who wants to beat up the others. It's not his fault. That's just who he is. I know all about the need to get a new tank. I got my 40 gallon tank when I put some white cloud mountain minnow and zebra danio fry in a pond outside about 8 years ago. In the fall, I pulled out a few dozen fish. The fish store refused to take them so I had to keep them but I didn't have room. I planned to go through with my plan today and buy a 65 gallon tank but when I got to the store, it was closed. They went out of business but were supposed to re-open two days ago but hadn't. Anyway, it is a good idea to keep a small spare tank and a net breeder around for having to separate fish.

im hoping walmart has something that will work because i just got off work about 15 minutes ago(6:00) and nothing is open besides them i think...... he is still picking on the other gourami but not like he was at first..... mostly just if the other gourami gets by him he chases him off..... ohh well off to the store i go to find something that will work till i get a permanent solution...

Jon :ph43r: