blue opaline gourami troubles

[prawn]

hello everyone,

i started out fish keeping 2 years ago with a way to small 5 gallon tank i was given by a friend who didn't want it anymore. it was way over stocked already when the aquarium man told me to add an opaline gourami to eat some tiny polyps that were growing on the glass. water chemistry was always good as it had a large filtration unit and it was heavily planted. at its peak it had two rosy barbs, bn pleco and the opaline gourami. i felt mostly bad for the barbs as i felt they didn't have enough swimming space. the opaline gourami was extremely tame and was social etcetera... after one barb started bullying the other and killed it i upgraded to a 20 gallon long tank as i knew what i was doing was wrong. i tried adding more barbs as it is a schooling fish but the original became extremely dominant and aggressive towards other barbs and killed them! Anyway my biggest problem is since i have upgraded my opaline gourami has become extremely shy and scared and always hides. if it ever comes out when i walk into the room i hear a loud audible BANG! as it hits the glass while trying to escape! I've heard this can be normal at first as it gets used to its new tank but its been 7 months. i don't know what to do, if i should return it or if there is something to do. any help is appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
Prawn.

 

[Linus_Cello]

Maybe some floating plants will help it feel more secure. Or maybe put in a floating plastic or pvc pipe?

 

[prawn]

What kind of plants do you think? Banana lillies don't seem to cope (as my pleco eats it!) and the only other floater I know is the tiger lilly which seems to be too pricey! ($30-$45)

 

[Linus_Cello]

Water Hawthorne, cabomba, guppy grass, bacopa
Oxygenator plants

 

[Linus_Cello]

Water Hawthorne,

I mean water hornwort (I always mix the two up)

 

[DutchMuch]

Your tank is to small for all those fish anyway, you should have at least a fifty gallon for all those with the proper schools they require. Also some of those fish require completely different water parameters...
yes I know this thread is old, but you never know when they will come looking back