Gourami killing my molly?

[nssmith]

Hello,

I am relatively green with the whole aquarium game but have come across an issue requiring immediate attention. We set up our first tank (20gallon) about a month ago with 1 dwarf gourami, 1 guppy and 2 danios. They have been extremely pleasant and entertaining ever since. Yesterday we returned to the local pj pets to enlist a couple of new little buddies for a community. We dealt with the same fish guy who helped us set up the tank and pick out our fish on the first two visits who seemed quite knowledgeable. We decided to purchase two mollies (1 black male and 1 white female). We inquired as to whether they would get along with our existing four to which he explained there would not be a problem.

Unfortunately shortly after introducing the two new mollies to the community the gourami became very aggressive towards the white female molly - chasing her around the tank. I arrived home from work today and found the white molly in poor shape with a number of red (presumably bite marks) along the sides of her body. As a result i have removed her from the tank and am concerned she is dying. Is there anything i can do to help her recover? Any thoughts or suggestions as to why this is occurring? Any advice would be muchly appreciated, I feel absolutely awful. thanks

 

[Bakerman]

Sorry

I am sorry to hear of your issue. Gouramis can be bullies, especially with new inhabitants until territories are established.

I have 2 Gold Gouramis, and 1 of them is really not a very friendly fish.

I will never have another Gourami of any kind because of the way he has behaved.

I hope your problem resolves itself when territories are established.

 

[nssmith]

Thanks for your sympathy. Unfortunately i don't think the molly is going to survive - its has been on its back 4 times in the past hour. Im curious if it would be more humane to let it pass naturally or if it would be better to utilize some method (any suggestions) to expediate the process?

 

[mistercoffee]

Yeah I have 2 gold gourami's and I had to separate them. The big bully seems to get along with my molly, although they are equal size and now they have plenty of space. My other little gourami gets along great with my red tail.

 

[nssmith]

its too bad because i was really impressed with the appearance of the gourami and was planning on getting a second. Im rethinking this now as im worried that it may harass the other 4.

 

[brian1973]

Sorry to hear this...there are numerous posts here about dwarf gouramis...but to save you the time of going through and searching I will give you the condensed version.

Dwarf Gouramis are related to bettas, 2 males in a tank is a recipe for disaster in most cases, Dwarf Gouramis can be unpredictable towards other fish especially new arrivals. Most websites say to keep DG's in pairs or 3's..from further research I have done and my own experience they mean a M/F pair. Females are hard to find due to rather drab colors so not a big seller at most LFS.

My personal experience was always one DG would become the dominant and kill the other, I even had one that constantly harassed 2 small blood parrots, they ended up killing the DG. DG's are very sensitive to harassment it kills them quickly, they can dish it out but not take it.

Know with that said you have another recipe for disaster as well, your male molly will constantly harass the female..he is allows ready to mate and will harass her possibly until she is dead. Mollies are livebearers and can and usually do end up giving birth to alot of babies over the course of 3 months...the typical rule is 1m to 3f or all females.. My recommendation is do some more research...Live bearers (guppies,mollies,swords,platies) are the rabbits of the fish world. I found all this out the hard way.

I have also had a female molly that I had to remove from a community tank due to her aggressivness.

Welcome to the tank..and remember research research research, it is easy for someone to seem knowledable when your unarmed with the facts, always go to the LFS with a plan and be well armed with knowledge...luckily you have come to a place full of friendly knowledable people that are happy to share there experiences both good and bad.

 

[unwritten law]

Thanks for your sympathy. Unfortunately i don't think the molly is going to survive - its has been on its back 4 times in the past hour. Im curious if it would be more humane to let it pass naturally or if it would be better to utilize some method (any suggestions) to expediate the process?

Ive heard someone use clove oil in a vodka solution. Its like OD-ing on an anesthetic because they just go to sleep. Next time try to rearrange the decor in teh tank before adding a new fish so the gourami is confused and isn't as territorial. THen again he might be territorial of the whole tank.

 

[fishgirl120]

Poor fishy

Yeah I have 2 gold gourami's and I had to separate them. The big bully seems to get along with my molly, although they are equal size and now they have plenty of space. My other little gourami gets along great with my red tail.

I have 2 gourami a molly and a red tailed shark as well. 1 one of my gourami is super agressive andmean to anything that moves except the red ttailed shark. and the oter is genlte, but for some reason he snips at ym snails all the time. I find that with the less agressive gourami as long as he is well fed he wont snip the snails so much and my baby fish, (which i didint even know were there because they hide inthe tank decorations) the gourami arent attcking them either he sseems uninterested my fish are kind wierd..the mother mollie is ery protective of her fry vs tryignt o eat them but they mayb have eaten the others because i know there had to be mroe than three babies but im afriad to bother the tank im rather inexperienced and dont want to hurt the babies ..Sorry your mollie isnt feeling well i hope she gets better Poor fishy.