why gourami chasing this new fish

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professorjimjam

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May 26, 2021
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I got this new fish Wild ram cichlids and pet store told me that it is compatible with my existing gourami fish.

for entire one hour this gourami was chasing this male ram cichlids, until I removed it from this tank and moved it to the tank where amazon puffers and fig8 live. puffers did not show any interest to ram. so it is peaceful there. I was under impression that puffers must be the most aggressive fish that do not tolerate other fishes, but I was wrong, gourami is the most aggressive fish, even though puffers have teeth and gourami do not have teeth.

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On average, puffers are far meaner than gourami. Gourami are much more territorial though. Like Rocksor Rocksor said, the cichlid was a competitor that the gourami did not want there.
 
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Rocksor said:
Opaline gouramis can be territorial, and it didn't want the ram as a competitor for resources.
Click to expand...
Agree, certain gouramis fill the niche in their habit, in the same way cichlids (notoriously territorial) do in their areas.
You may notice where gouramis are endemic, there are no (few (except India)) cichlids.
Your gourami (has already claimed its tank as its own) sees the Ram as a territorial usurper.
To me cichlids do not belong in the same tank as gouramis.
Especially if the tank is small (under 6 ft)
 
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True that . Gouramies are one of the most aggressive so called beginner friendly community fish, except for the dwarf gourami ( which can also have some mean exceptions) most of the mid to large gouramis are aggressive. Their niche must not be disturbed.
 
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Thanks to all of you ! so how long this feud is going to continue if I let the ram stay in this same tank? wouldn't they eventually become more accepting to coexist with each other? I have hiding places in the tank for the ram, but ram had seem to enjoy being chased. he did not want to hide on the hiding places.
 
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How big is the tank? Anything less than around 30 and I doubt it’s willing to share.
 
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