Honey gourami introduced to each other.

[Karen B.]

I have a 1 year old honey gourami that lives in a community tank with chili rasboras and false julii corydoras.

I know they are social fish so I decided to buy him 2 girlfriends… but I am not quite sure if it’s what the fish store sold me (either 2 males or 1f/1m I think?)

I quarantine them for 2-3 weeks. One started developing a brown line in the middle of its body (female?) the other not. And the other is much more agressive: he always sends back the female (?) to her side of the tank and it gets worst at feeding time. I was feeding them in 2 different spot to solve the problem but soon I will be gone for 10 days and will be using an automatic feeder so the behavior was bothering me - didn’t want the fish to fight or one to starve to death. However I must say the female wasn’t fazed by the male - she would swim right back.

I wanted to wait after Christmas to introduce the bunch but decided to try to add only the non agressive female with my old male. She couldn’t care less about him, she is swimming around eating/picking at plants, sometimes swimming toward him in curiosity but not chasing him.

But I can’t quite decipher his behavior. He started swimming erratically at first, now he just stays around her - doesn’t chase her, but he is skittish, swims up/ram (ish) into the glass, he watches her, his mouth/front area became much darker for a while. He swims a lot with his head up.

So anyone know what is this behavior? Is it too soon to tell?

With her darker line, am I right to think she’s a female?

Should I still try to introduce the more agressive/territorial male?

Here is what is currently happening 

… and by the yime I was done writing this post, he has started violently chasing her. Even heard one fish ram in the glass. She seems more scared/submissive to him so he now has stopped chasing her as if satisfied. She, on the other hand, seems more wary of him now…

Should I put her back in the other aquarium? So confused as to what to do!

[Fish Folk]

On 12/10/2021 at 5:39 PM, Karen B. said:

I have a 1 year old honey gourami that lives in a community tank with chili rasboras and false julii corydoras.

I know they are social fish so I decided to buy him 2 girlfriends… but I am not quite sure if it’s what the fish store sold me (either 2 males or 1f/1m I think?)

I quarantine them for 2-3 weeks. One started developing a brown line in the middle of its body (female?) the other not. And the other is much more agressive: he always sends back the female (?) to her side of the tank and it gets worst at feeding time. I was feeding them in 2 different spot to solve the problem but soon I will be gone for 10 days and will be using an automatic feeder so the behavior was bothering me - didn’t want the fish to fight or one to starve to death. However I must say the female wasn’t fazed by the male - she would swim right back.

I wanted to wait after Christmas to introduce the bunch but decided to try to add only the non agressive female with my old male. She couldn’t care less about him, she is swimming around eating/picking at plants, sometimes swimming toward him in curiosity but not chasing him.

But I can’t quite decipher his behavior. He started swimming erratically at first, now he just stays around her - doesn’t chase her, but he is skittish, swims up/ram (ish) into the glass, he watches her, his mouth/front area became much darker for a while. He swims a lot with his head up.

So anyone know what is this behavior? Is it too soon to tell?

With her darker line, am I right to think she’s a female?

Should I still try to introduce the more agressive/territorial male?

Here is what is currently happening 

… and by the yime I was done writing this post, he has started violently chasing her. Even heard one fish ram in the glass. She seems more scared/submissive to him so he now has stopped chasing her as if satisfied. She, on the other hand, seems more wary of him now…

Should I put her back in the other aquarium? So confused as to what to do!

This appears to be normal courting behavior between dwarf gouramis. I agree, it looks like you've got yourself a nice pair. xThe male is in need of a floating plant to start to build up a bubble nest around. He will try in the corner, but something circular or floating / structural is best.

In this video, our male dwarf gourami had built a bubble nest in the back of the tank. He was trying to get the female to come back to his lair to mate with him...

 

[Karen B.]

On 12/10/2021 at 10:00 PM, Fish Folk said:

This appears to be normal courting behavior between dwarf gouramis. I agree, it looks like you've got yourself a nice pair. xThe male is in need of a floating plant to start to build up a bubble nest around. He will try in the corner, but something circular or floating / structural is best.

In this video, our male dwarf gourami had built a bubble nest in the back of the tank. He was trying to get the female to come back to his lair to mate with him...

 

I love yours! They are so peaceful.

Mine are chasing each other. Well, the male is! My female is still a baby, not quite sure she is sexually mature yet even.

Is the chasing a dangerous behavior? Stressful for my female?

What should I do with the other baby honey gourami? I am not sure of its sex, I just know he is territorial. Should I add him in the tank with the two others?

btw, your male is stunning!

[Fish Folk]

On 12/10/2021 at 10:05 PM, Karen B. said:

I love yours! They are so peaceful.

Mine are chasing each other. Well, the male is! My female is still a baby, not quite sure she is sexually mature yet even.

Is the chasing a dangerous behavior? Stressful for my female?

What should I do with the other baby honey gourami? I am not sure of its sex, I just know he is territorial. Should I add him in the tank with the two others?

btw, your male is stunning!

Judging by her size, I think your female just needs a boost of high quality foods to develop roe.

Dwarf Gouramis can cohabitate very peacefully together so long as it is clear who the boss is.

If your other one is a male, there will be drama.

I like keeping 3-4 females per male to spread out aggression. 

[Fish Folk]

Here’s a rambling video of our drawerful Gourami tank. I learned that the one I misidentified in the video as “an odd-looking honey Gourami” was some other subspecies.

 

[laritheloud]

Hi, Karen!

I watched the video and it looks to me like your male is extremely excited to have a lady with him. The 'swimming with his head up' is a male courtship/dominance display, depending on the context. He's tilting upward to show off his black beard and entice the lady. 🙂

Males do chase ladies away from 'their' nesting corner, and they do it vigorously. This is also normal and nothing to worry about. They should never actually hurt one another and eventually, he'll try to entice the lady to come to him while she gives him a look like, "Mmmmm nope" and continue nibbling at plants and decorations.

On 12/11/2021 at 4:51 AM, Fish Folk said:

Judging by her size, I think your female just needs a boost of high quality foods to develop roe.

Dwarf Gouramis can cohabitate very peacefully together so long as it is clear who the boss is.

If your other one is a male, there will be drama.

I like keeping 3-4 females per male to spread out aggression. 

Honey gouramis can cohabitate with multiple males without true violence or drama. The extra male becomes more reserved and doesn't show his colors as much, and might look a bit mopey/act shyer. As long as there is enough space, honey gouramis are the only gouramis I can think of where you won't have real drama with multiple males.

[Fish Folk]

On 12/11/2021 at 9:07 AM, laritheloud said:

Hi, Karen!

I watched the video and it looks to me like your male is extremely excited to have a lady with him. The 'swimming with his head up' is a male courtship/dominance display, depending on the context. He's tilting upward to show off his black beard and entice the lady. 🙂

Males do chase ladies away from 'their' nesting corner, and they do it vigorously. This is also normal and nothing to worry about. They should never actually hurt one another and eventually, he'll try to entice the lady to come to him while she gives him a look like, "Mmmmm nope" and continue nibbling at plants and decorations.

Honey gouramis can cohabitate with multiple males without true violence or drama. The extra male becomes more reserved and doesn't show his colors as much, and might look a bit mopey/act shyer. As long as there is enough space, honey gouramis are the only gouramis I can think of where you won't have real drama with multiple males.

Love it! I was going recommend asking @laritheloud for advice on gouramis!

[Karen B.]

@Fish Folk

@laritheloud

Here the aquarium. You can’t see it very well but on the front right corner, I DIY something to hold most of my floating plants (duck weed. Floating plants and I don’t get along). But a friend of mine did give me some other floating plants (red floating roots 😍), I am quarantining them and will add them.

I will also squeeze another hide on the left corner, behind the tree branch. Do you see/think of any other thing I should do/change to make it better? My male srill chase the females. Kinda makes me sad, I was hoping they would all swim along peaceful, enjoying each other’s company. But there is no agression so far - sometimes Pikachu will corner a female were she has no where else to go and he will just stop and swim away. Fingers crossed they don’t hurt each other on the rock/woods either.

It’s kinda funny how the gourami couldn’t care less about my false julii cory. But sometimes Pikachu will bulldozer through my school of chili Rasboras. 🤪

[Fish Folk]

On 12/12/2021 at 9:18 PM, Karen B. said:

@Fish Folk

@laritheloud

Here the aquarium. You can’t see it very well but on the front right corner, I DIY something to hold most of my floating plants (duck weed. Floating plants and I don’t get along). But a friend of mine did give me some other floating plants (red floating roots 😍), I am quarantining them and will add them.

I will also squeeze another hide on the left corner, behind the tree branch. Do you see/think of any other thing I should do/change to make it better? My male srill chase the females. Kinda makes me sad, I was hoping they would all swim along peaceful, enjoying each other’s company. But there is no agression so far - sometimes Pikachu will corner a female were she has no where else to go and he will just stop and swim away. Fingers crossed they don’t hurt each other on the rock/woods either.

It’s kinda funny how the gourami couldn’t care less about my false julii cory. But sometimes Pikachu will bulldozer through my school of chili Rasboras. 🤪

This is a beautiful tank. Are you trying to breed your Gourami? Or do you jut want to see if they'll give it a go?

If you really want to breed them, you'll do well to think that through carefully. You need a dedicated grow-out space for fry, lots of special fry foods, etc.

But perhaps you're more into just enjoying a community? In that case, I'd commend you: project accomplished!

To breed them, you might need to lessen the surface agitation so that a bubble nest is easier to build. Also, I've found that lowering the water to about 6-7 inches is helpful. They'll benefit from lots of live foods to trigger spawning . . . 

[laritheloud]

Male/Female gourami dynamics are just kind of like that. The male will sometimes chase the females around. Getting more females means he'll only sometimes chase each one. Getting a larger group could help to alleviate this; I have two males and two females, my one male chases, my second male is subdominant and only chases when he's guarding a little bit of food he wants, and my two females show no real signs of stress when they're being chased. They go right back to nibbling on plants and overall enjoying life. 🙂 Sometimes, especially during feeding time, they'll hang out together and eat together, but mostly you'll see the fish doing their own thing unless they want to breed. I see this in my Honey Gouramis, and I see this with my thicklip gouramis.

The difference between my honeys and thicklips is that my thicklips tend to be more interactive and more outgoing. I actually witness my group of thicklips swimming in a group together during water changes and at random times throughout the week much more often than honeys, who mostly do their own thing unless they're eating together. BUT I've had my group of 4 thicklips together for a bit longer than my 4 honeys. I just added my fourth one to the honey tank a few days ago. They might end up with a similar dynamic once she settles.

I just want to reassure you that this is all very normal behavior so you can set your expectations right. Your male with the black on his throat means he's in a breeding/courting mood, but it won't necessarily result in a successful mating. It'll depend on if he can build a successful nest and coax a female over. I hope this helps!

EDIT to add: Your tank is beautiful and I'm sure they appreciate all those plants very well!

Edited December 13, 2021 by laritheloud