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Should I add this fish or not…


Karen B.
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Greetings!

I currently have a 20 gallons planted community tank slightly overstocked : 1 honey gourami, 10 chili rasboras, 7ish corydoras (I sometimes see fry), maybe 5 otocinclus (haven’t seen them in a while, I have been away for 2 weeks).

Few weeks ago I changed my filter and the behavior of my fishes changed. I don’t know if it’s the bubbles that the filter produced that enabled reproductive behavior in my honey gourami (bubble nest) and I never saw him actively harass my chili rasboras, but for weeks they stayed in a corner of the tank, swimming in place. It was also where the honey gourami would hang out and I rarely saw them swim away when he was coming. They don’t care about him/are not scared to come out and eat.

Now, things seem to be back to normal, with my chili swimming pretty much all over the tank. I know honey gourami are social fish so I wanted to get him a girlfriend but I am afraid it will trigger aggression if they get into breeding mode and my chili rasboras will be back in a corner…

What do you think? I don’t have much of a back up plan if things don’t work out with the femake - only place I could move her is a 10 gallons that has 7 green neon tetras.

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On 8/25/2021 at 10:36 PM, TankofFish said:

 slightly overstocked, you said it not us so I guess the answer to your question is up to you

My question doesn’t concern the stocking but the possible behavior of my honey gourami if I add a female.

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On 8/25/2021 at 10:50 PM, Karen B. said:

My question doesn’t concern the stocking but the possible behavior of my honey gourami if I add a female.

my thoughts are it may are could effect the whole tank, maybe not but why risk the others for one more wet pet when you know its already overstocked.

 

I would put some real thought in getting another tank for your  gouramis if you want more thn one or want to bred them.

 

Thats just my .02 but heck who am I 

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I have heard over and over and over that gouramis (all gouramis) do best in a group, with a balance of more females to males. I think the ideal 'minimum' for a group is 1 male to 3 females, though I keep them in a 1 male to 2 female ratio at the moment. This is so that the male will not harass just one female all the time; I know my honey male tends to 'claim' a piece of the tank as his and chase away the ladies when he's not ready for them. 

A group wouldn't work in your 20 gallon, and I would suggest a bigger, separate tank if you wanted to try something like that. I'd probably keep him alone for now, as he is likely to chase away both the single female and the rest of the fish in the tank when he's preparing to nest.

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I agree that it’s pretty risky to add another honey to that tank because of exactly what you fear—mating behavior aggression. If you keep your flow up and the top of your tank clear, you can prevent mating behavior in honeys simply by preventing them from being able to build bubble nests. That said, they’re pretty good at finding the corner with the least flow and making a nest anyway, especially (from what I’ve seen) when they’re young and have a lot of flirtatious energy. 😄

I kept a pair very happily in my 55g for about a year. The female wasn’t harassed—in fact, she was more flirtatious than the male! I wouldn’t be surprised if honeys have different personalities between individual fish. My male fish is very polite except when he’s actually guarding eggs, and then he aggressively chases everyone away, including his mate. 

Honey gourami mating behavior “aggression” is a lot less aggressive than many fish, but it can still be stressful on the other fish if they don’t have enough space to get out of his way and line of sight. Lots of plants or decorations are a must.

That said, I wouldn’t blame you for trying! You’re clearly keeping a close eye on everyone’s behavior, and if your LFS is willing to let you bring her back if things don’t work out, then it could be worth a try. You could end up with two very peaceful, platonic gouramis. 😁 Still, I’d feel much better about it if you were talking about a 30 or 40 gallon. Your male honey will be happier in a peaceful tank with no girlfriend than in a tank where he’s always on alert and feels like he can’t defend his nest.

In terms of your backup plan: I think as a temporary solution, a single honey would be fine in a 10 gallon even with the green neon tetras. 

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On 8/27/2021 at 10:18 AM, Hobbit said:

I agree that it’s pretty risky to add another honey to that tank because of exactly what you fear—mating behavior aggression. If you keep your flow up and the top of your tank clear, you can prevent mating behavior in honeys simply by preventing them from being able to build bubble nests. That said, they’re pretty good at finding the corner with the least flow and making a nest anyway, especially (from what I’ve seen) when they’re young and have a lot of flirtatious energy. 😄

I kept a pair very happily in my 55g for about a year. The female wasn’t harassed—in fact, she was more flirtatious than the male! I wouldn’t be surprised if honeys have different personalities between individual fish. My male fish is very polite except when he’s actually guarding eggs, and then he aggressively chases everyone away, including his mate. 

Honey gourami mating behavior “aggression” is a lot less aggressive than many fish, but it can still be stressful on the other fish if they don’t have enough space to get out of his way and line of sight. Lots of plants or decorations are a must.

That said, I wouldn’t blame you for trying! You’re clearly keeping a close eye on everyone’s behavior, and if your LFS is willing to let you bring her back if things don’t work out, then it could be worth a try. You could end up with two very peaceful, platonic gouramis. 😁 Still, I’d feel much better about it if you were talking about a 30 or 40 gallon. Your male honey will be happier in a peaceful tank with no girlfriend than in a tank where he’s always on alert and feels like he can’t defend his nest.

In terms of your backup plan: I think as a temporary solution, a single honey would be fine in a 10 gallon even with the green neon tetras. 

Thank you very much for your detailed answer. I will leave the aquarium as it is… isn’t there a saying that goes : if it aint broken, dont fix it!

I just hope my Gourami won’t be bored

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On 8/27/2021 at 1:22 PM, Karen B. said:

Thank you very much for your detailed answer. I will leave the aquarium as it is… isn’t there a saying that goes : if it aint broken, dont fix it!

I just hope my Gourami won’t be bored

You quoted that wrong, it's "go bigger", not "don't fix it".

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A little late here, but I wanted to say that I successfully keep a single male/female honey gourami pair. I call them Lady and the Tramp haha. Anyways, I started out with 2 girls and a boy, but one of the females passed within a few days of bringing them home. I never got around to getting a second female, but luckily he's a super chill boy and doesn't seem to bother her at all. 

I truly believe that all fish (especially gouramis) have their own personalities. For example, I have seen some super sassy opaline gouramis, but I have one blue gourami in particular who has never harassed a single tank mate, even though he's the biggest in the aquarium! 

I would say if you don't have a good backup option, leave him be alone for now. 

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On 8/27/2021 at 3:22 PM, Karen B. said:

I just hope my Gourami won’t be bored

I think your gourami will be fine as long as he has some other fish in the tank. I’m sure he’d enjoy the occasional live food to chase and maybe a new or re-arranged plant every once in a while. Mine seem to like exploring new objects and munching on the algae that grows on the edges of leaves.

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On 8/28/2021 at 11:51 PM, Hobbit said:

I think your gourami will be fine as long as he has some other fish in the tank. I’m sure he’d enjoy the occasional live food to chase and maybe a new or re-arranged plant every once in a while. Mine seem to like exploring new objects and munching on the algae that grows on the edges of leaves.

Ah! I wish mine would eat algea, but it’s beneath him. Unless he is frustrated. Then he bites and shake it like dog do with toys!

Right now, his favorite hobby is to hunt my little corycat fry. They are too big for him to eat them, but he keeps chasing them whenever he sees them. I feel bad for the fry but it’s quite something to see my gourami hunt!

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