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Okay, while in the temp forum, I asked what kind of dwarf gouramis I should get, and if I could manage to get 2 in my 20 gal tank with my 3 platies and tons of platy frys.

I had differing opinions on kind of course, but mostly everyone adviced against getting two, although a few said they would be okay. And after doing some other research, there was still debate over 1 or 2 (both would be males).

So, because these are some of my favorite fish, I picked the opinion in my favor, and went with 2. The lfs didn't seem to see a problem with it, but did tell me that if they got too agressive, I could bring 1 or both back.

So they have been in the tank over a week now, and for the most part, they behave. But once in a while, one of them (Call him B) will chase after the other (call him A). I haven't seen any marks on the bodies of either of them, but B looks like his tail fin has been nipped, but just a bit. A, (who I think is the Alpha), has barely any tailfin nips, and never goes after B.

So my question, (finally..lol), is this okay, or should I return the more agressive one? Will they settle down or get worse? I'd really rather keep them, but I don't want to make it a bad environment for either of them.

Thanks

ps. The frys are going to be gone soon, and I plan on getting panda cories (6) and probably 8 cardinal tetras to finish out the tank.

I think the general consensus is that the attitude of the fish can vary somewhat, although gouramis tend to be territorial fish.

I have a 2-inch long dwarf gourami that often chases the 5-inch long perl gourami that it shares a tank with (two pearl gouramis didn't get along together), in fact much more so than the pearl chases the dwarf. This is in a 75 gallon tank. I think I'd be distressed if the tank were any smaller for these two fish, before even contemplating how it might affect them!

A little over a month ago, I addes two male dwarf gouramis to my twenty-nine gallon tank. I had originally only meant to get one, but they seemed to get along so well with one another in the tank at the pet store. The lady who sold them to me told me that it would be OK to get two for a twenty-nine gallon.
I have not had any problems with them at all, but now I am a bit worried if I made the right choice getting two. One is powder blue and the other is red. I introduced them to the tank at the same time and they may quite possible have come from the same spawn. They just look at each other and the other fish (danios and cories) and go about their business. I guess it just depends on the fish and where you bought them.
This is my first experience with gouramis, but I sure do like them -- really interesting fish!

I got 2 males in a 26 gal. They were introduced at the same time. They have their own territories now. At first they would look like they were dancing together and it looked like a fight would happen, but I never saw one. If one enters the others territory, the intruder is chased out. My tank is heavily planted so there is hiding places. For the most part they stay out of each others space. I've had them for 6 months now. Once mine established territories they calmed down. One is blue, the other is orange. They are both the same size - 3".

Well guys, I found out what was too much aggressiveness. Unfortunatly, when I looked into the tank last nite, one of the gouramis had some scales missing (Gourami A from above post), while Mr. B, was fine. So, I made the decision to just return the "Sad" one, as my son said...lol. Mr. B went back to the pet store. I feel bad for the one I kept, as I didn't want to put him through it, just to have 2 fish, but, I bought some medafix for his missing scales, and hopefully he will be okay.

Lessons learned I guess....just feel really bad that it is at the expense of a fish....

How is Mr. A doing? I do hope he pulls through for you.

Gouramis are interesting fish and mine seem to have very distinct personalities. Hang on in there..not every one is a Mr. B.

Mr A. is doing good. He is healing up nicely. Doing alot of the 'flashing' where he rubs up against stuff, but I am assuming that is part of the healing. (I know I itch when I have a cut that is healing).

Bad thing now though is that I have a female platy that decided SHE should go after Mr. A. She swims right up beside him, then goes for his tail. He looks back at her like..Hey What the h**LL? and quickly swims off. She sometimes follows him. The male platy is following her the whole time.

Mr. A has not eaten even one of the baby frys (that I can tell), which is one reason I wanted him, and why I would understand if MS. Platy was chasing him, but no luck.

Oh well, he is fun to watch. Now that he has the place to himself, he has been doing laps on the back of the tank, then on the front of the tank. He scares me sometimes because when I am peering into the tank, trying to count my corys, he swims right in front of my face ]

Glad to hear Mr. A is doing better. The gouramis I have like to strut around the tank, until they run into other gouramis

I have 1 neon dwarf, one Moonlight, and 2 female bright orange plattys (as well as cardinals, rasboras, and bottom feeders that never get picked on) I've had the dwarf, and the plattys for about 2 months, and the moonlight for about 3 weeks. In the last week, the dwarf has gotten quite agressive, but not toward the new Moonlight, toward his old friends the plattys! I don't know if it's because of their bright colors, or what, but he chases those little fat fish (their either pregnant, or VERY fat) around constantly! He sometimes shows interest in the moonlight, but at most will take a gental peck at him. It's mot even enough to make the moonlight swim away. But the plattys he will charge from clear across the tank! (60gal) So I'm afraid the dwarf is going to have to go back . I really like him, he even eats out of my hand, but I can't have him picking on the other fish.

I think it's interesting that shortly after adding the Moonlight, the dwarf got more aggresive, but not toward the Moonlight! Weird.

So that's my dwarf story. I haven't decided yet if I should just try a new dwarf, of try something else.

-Dennis