Gourami Aggression! How can I stop it?

Question

Ive' just introduced three juvenile Gouramis into my tank; a male gold, female Opaline and a female three spot. I already have a gaint female 3 and a half inch platinum Gourami and as soon as the other fish were introduced the platinum Gourami began chasing all of them around.

I have three other guppies and the platinum Gourami behaves well with them but, the platinum finds it entertaining to chase the little Gouramis around. There are alot of hiding spots but the large female seems to spot them out when the go to breathe or eat and abuses them.

For the moment i have separated the platinum in another tank but, how and when will I be able to let the giant back in? Please Help!

Answer 1

It is a territory issue. I have had to deal with these a lot.  When introducing new fish it is important to remove any established territories. This mean moving around decorations or plants; basically re arranging the tank so every fish is equally unfamiliar with the surroundings.

So when you put the platinum back in i would do a little rearranging, but really since the platinum is the biggest I wouldn't worry about it too much, only the other three. Try and create as many hides as possible.

It is good that you added three new one's as this will limit the aggression towards only one.

oh yeah also a nice big feeding afterward can help too.  

good luck