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I have a 10 gallon tank that has been running for about 3 months. In it I have 2 opaline gouramis and an algae eater. All three of them have been in the tank for about 5 days.

One of the gouramis has started to act weird today. He is floating near the top corner, and his body seems kind of stiff. The other gourami is displaying aggression toward him, but I don't see any damage to body, fins, or feelers. Anyone know what is going on? A while back I had a silver molly that started acting like this in the same tank and he later died suddenly.

Tank info:
10 gallon
Penguin Mini filter
50 Watt heater set at 76 F
pH: 7.8
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0

The fish came from a LFS that maintained a higher pH, so I acclimated the fish by slowly adding my tank water to their bags over a period of several hours, using the standard procedure.

Well, first, if these are two male Gourami's there may be a bit of aggression going on and the Gourami that appears to be hiding is the submissive one. How you describe the Gourami as behaving is typical of this kind of behavior. Do you or can you provide alot of plants in the tank so that the Gourami can hide? If they can't see each other sometimes the situation will improve.

Is he eating?

Ten gallons really isn't enough space for the two of them. Not so much because of size but because of temperment.

This is why stores annoy me. I specifically told them I had a 10 gallon tank, and they had no problem selling me two gouramis. I do have three plants, so the submissive one COULD hide, but he doesn't. He stays in the top corner in full view.

Should I let them work it out, or return one of the gouramis? Both gouramis? It seems like this tank is not big enough for either of them. Will the other one be okay by himself? Buying a larger tank isn't an option right now.


Last edited by andy_guerriero at 17-Feb-2005 09:57