Honey Gourami Problem

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice from all you fish experts out there!

About 4 weeks ago, I decided to get a pair of honey gourami for my 180 litre juwel rio.
I went to out new branch of Maidenhead aquatics and the staff picked out a pair for me. One of them was yellow with the blue chin that denotes breeding colours. The other was also yellow, with a lateral stripe running along the body.
Everything was fine for a few days, but then the male with the blue chin (which is a lot smaller than the other one) stopped blowing bubbles, lost his colour and started to hide in the plants at the bottom of the tank.
It soon became obvious that he was being bullied and the other honey gourami was the culprit  I watched  it happening. I now think that the bigger fish is an non-nuptial male (looks exactly like the picture and description on Seriously Fish).
I was very worried and the little male looked in a very bad way, so I separated them. The little male went into my shrimpery, which is the only other suitable tank i have. At first things looked very bad. He also got a fungal infection, which i successfully treated with ESHA 2000.

This little gourami has completely recovered and has been very well behaved with the shrimp and I'm now looking to get him a girlfriend. I would also like to get a girlfriend for the non-nuptial male in the 180 litre.
Should I go ahead and get 2 females (one for each tank) and if the male in the 180 litre still bullies, will two females be OK with the male in my other tank (which is 60 litres).
Also, if the non-nuptial male in my 180 turns out to be female after all, will 2 females be OK in this tank?

Hmmm,

Thanks Sue. I wonder if this is an overly aggressive female then – though it is definitely yellow and not brown or silver in colour.
I think I'll take your advice and get 2 females and if bossy boots doesn't calm down, I'll just keep the trio in the 60 litre.
Thanks again

Diz

Hi Sue,

The definite male is the same as the picture in the fish profiles on this site, except he's now lost the blue chin colour.
The other is a lighter yellow, but with deeper tan fins. It has a dark lateral stripe as well. it is just like the description on Seriously fish:

"Non-nuptial males possess a similar lateral stripe but the base body colour is slightly orangish, and the anterior portion of the dorsal and anal fins have yellowish margins. In nuptial individuals the body and opercular region become bright orange with the head, anterioventral portion of the body, and spiny rays of the anal-fin coloured dark blue to black."

But then again, it is much larger than the male, so I just don't know

The bossy one does look just like the second picture, so maybe a female after all?

Yep, definitley a female going by your picture and description.
Would she be best just left on her own in the 180 litre, while I get another female for the male in the 60 litre?
I'm thinking that if she is just very aggressive, she won't accept any other honey gourami in with her. She's very peaceful with the other fish though

OK, I'll just get one female for the 60 litre tank. I was hoping that the ones in the 60 litre might breed, though it's probably a bit unlikely.
Bossy boots will just have to live in the 180 litre without a partner. She's a lovely looking fish though and very healthy, so I'm pleased with her.

Another update,

As mentioned above, I added a definite female honey gourami to my 60 litre tank containing the previously bullied male from my main tank (which left bossy boots original female on her own in there!).
It took less than an hour for the bullying to start in the 60 litre – this time, the male nipping the female.
I left them overnight to get acquainted, fully expecting to come down to a dead female the next morning.
Thankfully, she was still alive, but resting on the bottom and looking very stressed.

This meant that my options were extremely limited, as the female in the main tank had already proved how bossy she is, but I really hate seeing my fish suffer.

After a couple of hours I decided that the only thing to do was to try the 2 from the 60 litre in the big 180 litre to see if more space would make them behave better. I put the female in first and left the male for a couple of hours then added him as well.

Fingers crossed, they seem to have settled much better. There's been no more chasing or nipping and I feel that if the male does get amorous, then the female will have enough space to get away (I hope so anyway).

So, I now have one very bossy female in the 60 litre. She's not happy. If a fish could look outraged, then that's what she looks like!!

As I said, I hate seeing my fish suffer, so I'm now wondering if I could get another female in a week or so and add it (plus bossy boots) to my 180 litre. That would give me one male honey with a harem of three. Would that work?

As ever, thanks for any advice

Oh dear!
Thanks Sue. I do feel very sorry for her. She's fine with the other tank inhabitants, but she's zooming up and down looking furious! She's actually spending most of her time at the corner of the tank nearest where I sit and she's wiggling up and down in front of me as if to say "Oi, do something!"

I love having my fish, but sometimes they do my head in !!!

Thanks Sue,


She'll have to get used to it I suppose, there's nowhere else for her to go. I don't like the thoughts of giving her away and not knowing if she'll be looked after properly.

Sounds like you've made the best choice for her long-term well-being.

You'd only feel guilty seeing her unhappy every day.