Is this normal? (Kissing Gourami)

[Dennis]

I have a pair of Kissing Gourami. I have had them for about 2 years and before then, my nieghbor had them for like 1 year. Well they used to kiss all the time but stopped. It has been quiet for almost a year, and then just a few days they started to kiss again, but now they are very aggressive. They are starting to bite each other on the sides. Then the larger one gets carried away and starts biting the other fish in my fish tank. I think this cause two of my fish to die, because they had bite marks on the side. Right now, I have the larger Kissing Gourami separted from the others by a divider. Any suggestions of a better thing to do?

Thanks,
Dennis

 

[mamba]

taken from the mft fish database


These fish are often purchased for their novel kissing action, which is fact is not a sign of affection but a trial of strength between males and a part of a courtship ritual. One of the larger gouramis, this species needs space, but is not belligerent and can be kept with similar sized fish.

i had mine with blackskirts ,red eyes, cherry barbs, and tiger barbs. mine kissed all the time. but depending on this fish you got they might just be protecting themselfs. and the tank you got them in to i had mine in a 55 gal but i had to get rid of them because they got to big . as far as your other fish dying . im not to sure i never seen a pink kisser kill a fish though by their size they probably could . probably got 2 males or 2 females or something, its odd though mine were about 6-8 inches couldnt really measure them so i got as best as i could ... but not once did they attack any of my other fish . maybe i got lucky . give us some details of your tank like size and other fish ... but im just guessing right now... as said above i think the other fish maybe picking on the kisser and they are just defending themselfs or the size of the tank is just too small and they want more room

 

[kool_sk8a]

how big is your tank? and how big are the gouramis? they might be getting agressive because they are outgrowing their tank

 

[Dennis]

I got a 50 Gallon fish tank, and in it I have the 2 Kissing Gourami (one is about 6 inches long, and the other is about 5in.) , 2 Blue Gourami (both about 5 inches long), and then i got a 13 in. long Pleco.
All got along very happily until a few days ago.


Thanks,
Dennis

 

[Velvet AciD]

WOW.. those fishes are rather huge. I agree with cool_sk8a, it's probably because of overlapping territories.

I would suggest you put some sort of anti-biotic to heal the wounds your other fishes are dealing with. Remember to take out your carbon from your filter.

 

[Zoidfarb]

I have heard that kissing gouramis are fairly notorious for killing tankmates. This is from books though, not experience, so I defer to those on the forum who have kept this species. I believe adult kissers can reach 1 foot.

 

[Igor The Cat]

Zoid ive seen ones that where 15in. easy

-Java

 

[catfishmike]

well i'd just like to agree with all the statements above.kissing gouramis aren't the best choice for a tank as small as 55 gallons.public aquariums often keep kissing gouramis in tanks 200 gallons and larger,and even then they often have scars and injurys from tankmates.

 

[Dennis]

Problem solved....

I put the tank divider in such a way that the fish can get through. They still fight but they have there own "rooms" to go into. It's more peaceful in the fishtank right now. When I saw this I decided to take the devider out, and they started to fight again, so I just put it back in and it became peaceful again. I guess fish need to be alone once in a while.