# Aggressive gourami question



## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I want to bounce an idea out and see what responses it gets. It's about aggression in dwarf gouramis. 
There are two main true species of dwarf gouramis, Colisa lalia, the 'dwarf gourami' and Colisa chuna, the "honey gourami'. C lalia always was known as an aggressive character, and honeys were known to be honeys. I bred chuna for years and never had any chippiness or fighting.
Over the past couple of decades, the fish farms have done intensive 'work' on both species, to the point it is rare to see a dwarf gourami that looks anything like the real thing. The fish are larger, with less color pattern and more flashy colors - the reds, sunsets, neon blues, etc.
The downside of the fancy coloration is change in their behavior - they seem to have transformed into nasty characters - aggressive and territorial. 

So here's my question to people keeping these things (and it's curiosity- nothing practical). Do you find that the aggression level of dwarf gouramis gets less as the fish get older, and does this go with any loss of color? Rumors are the fish farms hit these fish with hormones prior to shipping, to get their colors to the max, and that they fade with time. I'm wondering if the new nastiness is a hormonal thing, or if it is a result of the hybridization. Any thoughts?


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## clep.berry (Mar 4, 2012)

Just to add to the curiosity factor - pumping fish with hormones will certainly change their behavioural pattern.
I'm interested in Gouramis simply because I've managed to kill 3 now and I honestly can't think what I'm doing wrong.
My honeys lasted about a month whereas the dwarf seemed to cope for about 2.
I honestly can't tell if this was food or disease related but having survived ich and finrot without any deaths that can be explained through infection - these seem to be very weak and certainly not the hardy fish they are made out to be.
cb


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

I'm afraid I don't have anything useful to add but it is an interesting question, I hope someone has input.



clep.berry said:


> I'm interested in Gouramis simply because I've managed to kill 3 now and I honestly can't think what I'm doing wrong.
> I honestly can't tell if this was food or disease related but having survived ich and finrot without any deaths that can be explained through infection - these seem to be very weak and certainly not the hardy fish they are made out to be.
> cb


Did you medicate the tank? Some fish are sensitive to medication and in my opinion their long term health can sometimes be effected, leading to deaths later on.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I know that C lalia is on the Canadian government list of fish needing quarantine as carriers of disease - I believe there is a viral problem that is being looked at. It is so hard to tell what is wrong when a previously hardy species suddenly becomes short-lived and sickly, more or less across the board. There are issues of selection of colour maybe selecting against health, by accident. There are questions of hybridization, viral transmission, overuse of antibiotics, inbreeding from small populations in captivity...
Over the past ten years or so, the nature of gouramis as aquarium fish seems to have changed very quickly, as their appearance and shape has also been changed.
I did really heavy duty research into aquarium gouramis a few years ago for a project, after having kept gouramis off and on for most of my life. Even in 2002, these issues weren't on the radar. It's as if we are talking about different fish now. The change has been a fast one.


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

ive got one pearl and two yellow (i know there not dwarfs) but the reason i add my comment is because i read and was told there peaceful fish but there all ways nipping at each other and some of the smaller cichlids....maybe its a thing with the larger sized gouramis too?


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

navigator black said:


> I did really heavy duty research into aquarium gouramis a few years ago for a project, after having kept gouramis off and on for most of my life. Even in 2002, these issues weren't on the radar. It's as if we are talking about different fish now. The change has been a fast one.


Out of interest how many were you keeping in a tank? I believe keeping larger groups makes them much less aggressive.


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## luananeko (Aug 27, 2010)

zero said:


> ive got one pearl and two yellow (i know there not dwarfs) but the reason i add my comment is because i read and was told there peaceful fish but there all ways nipping at each other and some of the smaller cichlids....maybe its a thing with the larger sized gouramis too?


I haven't had gourami myself, but I've read that most gourami are strongly recommended to be either single or in a 5+ group to limit aggression. The yellow gourami supposedly are much more aggressive than the pearls too. Pearls supposedly can be kept in any number with no issues as they tend to be the most peaceful.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I used to keep six or more honey gouramis in a 15, and then, once they bred, a lot of them in a 50. They were my surface fish in dwarf cichlid tanks, and never fought. I had two or three males per tank for several tanks, at one point. But these were smaller, natural form honeys, half the size of the manmade fish under that name in the trade now. Most of the time, they were all greyish, but in breeding colour, they were beautiful.

But even in breeding colour, they were extremely peaceful. That's not what I'm seeing in peoples' postings in the forum!

Pearls and the larger gouramis have always been chippy creatures - they hold their own or dominate a lot of tanks. There is no change in the behavior there. Three-spots are downright nasty creatures. They always have been.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

The only aggression I saw from my Dwarf was toward another Dwarf. He seemed to leave all the other fish alone. What I thought was interesting was that the 3 other Dwarfs that died in that tank, never showed any physical sign of an attack and I didn't even witness much chasing. They died from pure stress.


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