Betta and Dwarf Gourami

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pandaking

Registered Member
Dec 2, 2006
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Hi there :dance2:

So I have had my dwarf gourami for about 6 months now, and I got a betta about 4 months ago.

Recently my betta has started displaying, and sometimes does it to nothing in particular - just fans out his fins and puffs his gills or whatever it is up front :huh:

I also notice he has started to chase all my dwarf gourami a little.
Not consistently but life he is bored. In the last week or so he has been displaying and chasing the male gourami a little.

The final thing is that one of my male dwarf gourami, on one side he has these little patches on him. From a distance they just look like little light patches, but up close it's like the scales are flaking off. I know this is can be a sign of some fish disease, but I was thinking it could be the betta or perhaps the other male gourami taking a nip.

It's hard to say, any opinions? I know betta and gourami are from the same group and there seems to be a large difference in opinion online whether you should keep them together or not.
 
mee-mee

mee-mee

my baby...RUSTY
Mar 2, 2007
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MN..state bird:: mosquito
We had 2 blue gouramis. And the meaner gourami always went after every fish we have in our 29 gallon, even our betta. So we decided to take him to the ma and pa LFS and they took him with no problem..Now the one remaining gourami we have, he just swims around the tank and our betta has been flaring or flashing (whichever one it is supposed to mean) around the gourami only. And the only time he flares or flashes is when the gourami gets in his personal space. Before we had both gouramis, we noticed light spots on the weader gourami also. He also had ripped fins, and the minute we took the meaner gourami back, the nicer one has healed remarkably.
We have had the 29 for almost a month now and the betta and single gourami do just fine...So maybe you should get rid of the meaner gourami and see how things progress. It is totally up to you, since you have had the dwarves for along time now. Or just get a 10 gallon tank for your betta and put in some small fish to keep him company....Good luck..:)

p.s. our betta doesn't nip at the gourami at all. He just flares and the gourami goes away...
 
chaibill

chaibill

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Apr 28, 2006
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Betta's and gouramies are closely related and don't get a long most gouramies don't get along with each other either.
 
Rbishop

Rbishop

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Dec 30, 2005
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I wouldn't mix them. What size tank are you keeping them in?
 
K

kblane

AC Members
Aug 21, 2006
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Bettas can be kept with Gouramis. Call me a former anabantid addict, but they're my area of "specialty." Indeed, the two are related. Indeed, they do occasionally flare for one another. I would be more concerned over a group of Gouramis (mostly talking Trichogaster genus here) being kept together (e.g., war zone) than a betta and similar-sized gourami.

The only time to really have concern is if you see REPRESSION. This is different than aggression. You're liable to see aggression in any tank, out of almost any fish. Repression is where the more timid fish, smaller fish is clearly being bullied. The fish may remain hidden for hours or days. The fish may not come out for eating or the fish may dart for hiding at the sight of the aggressor. Other than that--and please, do monitor to make sure that isn't going on--I would not have a great concern over this. It will become apparent when and if the two cannot reside together.

Can't help you with the scales thing . . . sometimes fish have imperfections in their scales, areas that look a little out of whack from the uniformity of their other scales. This might be a natural variant.

K. Blane
 
Medic~AK

Medic~AK

I thought overstock.com sold fish..
May 11, 2007
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Wasilla, AK
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In my experience tank mates for bettas is very dependent on the individual betta. I’ve had community fish tanks for years and they’ve almost always included a male betta. I’ve only had one that showed aggression to my other fish and had to be moved to a different tank.

I actually have a male and female living together currently in my 55 gallon tank, and they’ve been together now for over a year with my 4 adult platies, 2 dwarf gouramis, clown pleco, plants and driftwood with no problems. I certainly don’t recommend other people attempt it, my husband “surprised” me one afternoon by pointing out his new addition to my tank (a little red female betta). I immediately went to remove her from the tank, but they weren’t displaying any signs of aggression so I decided to watch and see how they did and it’s been perfectly fine ever since.
 
mee-mee

mee-mee

my baby...RUSTY
Mar 2, 2007
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MN..state bird:: mosquito
Yes, in the past I had 2 male bettas (not at the same time) with gouramis and they lived in harmony for 3 years each time..The only fish I will never put with a betta is a black mollie (ooohhhh she made me mad), she tortured my betta until he couldn't take it and he succumbed to the fish god.(I had gotten rid of the mollie even before he died...), too much stress from the black mollie, that is one fish I will not get...but our betta and single gourami do just fine together..just a little flaring from the betta...probably because he thinks he owns the tank...that is okay..and everyone else gets along.....so betta and gourami anytime....
 
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pandaking

Registered Member
Dec 2, 2006
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Well my betta started chasing any of the dwarf gourami's the other day whilst flared up, and would nip the dwarf gourami. I never saw any damage from his nips, but he focus's most of his attention on a male i have which has bright blue and red metallic stripes. The other male I have has the more common orange stripes and doesn't get noticed so much.

I took out the male betta and put him in my other tank which is bigger and I thought would make a nice home for him.
But - I have two kribs in there. And I put him in last night and this morning he was getting nipped every few minutes by one of the kribs. In fact he has actually sustained some damage to his fins so I quickly put him back into the old tank - which he started chasing the dwarfs around again.

For the time being he is in this tiny little tank I have, but I don't like keeping him in there as it's so small.

I might take him down to the local fish shop and trade him in. I don't see that there is much else I can do.
I am really sad as when I got him he was tiny, and he has really grown in the time I have had him, he has been the star piece of all my tanks, and is such a character. My favourite fish by far.

I have got another plan though, move my dwarfs into my bigger tank with the kribs in, and leave him in the tank he started in.
Then just find some friends for him in there.

What are rams like with bettas?
 
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