What to do with a bully??

[sarahbella]

I picked up a pair of opaline gouramis this weekend and they are magnificent!!!  Especially the male.  HOWEVER he seems to be a big bully.  im pretty sure he killed one of my fish altho i didnt see him do it and he is constantly chasing and biting the female and her fins are all chewed up.   I had to put her in a breeding trap for her own safety.  I have lots of places for the other few fish to hide so im not worried about them but since the male and female gourami are the same size there is nowhere for her to hide where he wont follow her.

I dont want to get rid of him and I don't want to have to keep the female caged....  is there ANYTHING i can do to get him to behave?   Maybe adding another female would help keep him in line???

[pegasus]

First why not put the bully in the breeding trap?
Adding more female will probably be the solution.
With Africans, we just crowded our tank and a bully can turn into a lamb within a few days.

[mseguin]

Blue gouramis are one of the more agressive "community" fish out there. Like pegasus said, adding a couple more females ight help (unfortuantely they can be a pain to sex), but only by diffusing the agression.

[sarahbella]

I knew i could count on you guys for some sound advice ..

pegasus, i don't know why i didnt think to put HIM in the trap.  i have rightified this situation.

Matt, they seem to be in season and having them together i can very clearly distinguish between the male and female.  The male is a much brighter blue with very pronounced patterning.  The female on the other hand is much paler, no spots and her tummy is pinker.  I can see how it might be a problem sexing tho if they werent in the procreating mood ..  

Think ill add 2 more females and that should just about do it for the tank.  That will make 4 gouramis, 2 bettas, 2 platys, a pleco and what was purchased as a khuli loach but im almost positive it isnt.  I'll have to post a pick of it sometime and get you experts to "name that fish"  

[fishycanuck]

I had a similar scenario with powder blue gourami - except it was the female who went ballistic and killed everything in the tank. I will never house more than one gourami again!