[ToonMissy]

A week ago I had purchased a few fish to start up my 30 gallon tank that has been running for a month with a good amount of good bacteria in it as the tank was given to me by a friend who was upgrading to a 75 gallon tank so the filter and gravel all came with the 30 gallon tank with some water in it all to keep the bacteria alive.
Which means I now have a Rainbow Shark, a Kissing Gourami, and two Gold Gouramis. The shark and kissing gourami have no issues and the golds don't bother them.
The problem is with the larger of the two golds continually chasing the smaller and at first I thought it was merely territory issues, however the other day I began to notice tears in the smaller gourami's tail so I know it's not just chasing going on. Both are males so I was wondering if adding a female would help matters or make no difference in the aggressive behaviour.
In case the fin nipping gets really bad, I do have my old 10 gallon tank setting up again as a quick isolation tank if it comes to that.

 

[Chesh]

Welcome to the forum!!!

Your problem stems from the fact that there isn't enough room your tank for any of these fish to be happy for long, much less two male gourami. Gourami can be very territorial, so they need their space. In a situation where they can't get away from each-other (as in your 30g tank) it can get bad very quickly.

If the tank were large enough, you *might* be able to get away with having two males, along with a 'harem' of females to distract them, but it's still iffy. Adding one female will only make things worse in this situation, I think. The poor girl would be harassed to death between both boys, and if they're being rude now, imagine how much worse it will potentially get when these fish come into breeding condition. . .! Unfortunately, a tank this size is simply not big enough for two males, even if they were the only fish in the tank.

That aside, I think you need a MUCH bigger tank before bringing any more (soon to be) large fish home. . . and to seriously consider returning or re-homing many of your current fish. . . A bit more research is required on your part, I suspect. Kissing Gourami can get massive - up to a foot long, while the other fish can max out around the 6 inch mark. There is just no way that you'll be able to keep most of these fish happy for long in a 30g tank. Too bad your friend didn't give you her 75!

If you'd like some help with suggestions for fish that would be happier in a 30 gallon tank, feel free to put up a thread! Everyone around here loves helping out with new set ups - and to keep tabs on the inhabitants of the happy, thriving tanks that our friends create!

Hope this helped, and again - WELCOME to TFK!

 

[SeaHorse]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
I would say that my experience is to only have one Gourami in a tank. Especially the Gold/Blue as I think they are the same species. In my opinion... Increasing the numbers by adding ONE female will make both males compete even more for that female's attention and will likely end in the death of the smaller male. Even one male and one female in a tank can fight.
I've always kept to one gourami for that reason. Even the most docile Pearl Gourami fought in my tank and I had to remove one.
If it were my tank and I had the option, I would remove/sell/trade/take back one male at the very least otherwise the decision will be made for you by the dominant male.

 

[Snappyarcher]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
I would say that my experience is to only have one Gourami in a tank. Especially the Gold/Blue as I think they are the same species. In my opinion... Increasing the numbers by adding ONE female will make both males compete even more for that female's attention and will likely end in the death of the smaller male. Even one male and one female in a tank can fight.
I've always kept to one gourami for that reason. Even the most docile Pearl Gourami fought in my tank and I had to remove one.
If it were my tank and I had the option, I would remove/sell/trade/take back one male at the very least otherwise the decision will be made for you by the dominant male.

This is superb advice and right on all counts...

 

[Byron]

Welcome to Tropical Fish Keeping forum, ToonMissy.:wave:

I agree with what other members have posted on the need to remove most of these fish fairly soon due to the tank limitations on potentially large (and very large) fish.

For you help, we have fish profiles, second heading from the left in the blue bar across the top. If the name is used identically in a post it will shade, as some did earlier, and you can click that link to the species' profile. Blue Gourami for example (and Jackiebabie was correct, this is the same species as the Gold; these are just colour variants).

Byron.

 

[ToonMissy]

Well tomorrow I will be returning the larger gold gourami and the kissing gourami, however the rainbow shark and smaller gold gourami will be remaining in the tank.

As much as I would like my friend's 75 gallon tank, he was needing the larger tank due to the amount of fish he had and for having a bala shark that was growing.

It would be helpful if I could be given an idea of fish that would compliment the rainbow shark and remaining gold gourami. If you can refrain from mentioning live bearers such as mollies and platies, and tetras; that would be helpful as I've only ever had problems with those fish and have gained a major dislike for them in any size of tank.
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[Byron]

Well tomorrow I will be returning the larger gold gourami and the kissing gourami, however the rainbow shark and smaller gold gourami will be remaining in the tank.

As much as I would like my friend's 75 gallon tank, he was needing the larger tank due to the amount of fish he had and for having a bala shark that was growing.

It would be helpful if I could be given an idea of fish that would compliment the rainbow shark and remaining gold gourami. If you can refrain from mentioning live bearers such as mollies and platies, and tetras; that would be helpful as I've only ever had problems with those fish and have gained a major dislike for them in any size of tank.
Posted via Mobile Device

Given the tank size (30 g) I would look at the rasbora species under Cyprinids in the profiles.