The Worst Fish I've ever seen!

[thefishylover]

This happened two years ago. Back then, my 10 gallon tank had a few pairs of guppies and three neon tetras. They were going great, and since guppies don't need too much space, my tank could obviously hold more fish. So I went fish shopping and then got a blue gourami and two tetras (I forgot what kind, but they were definitely not neons!). The next day I found one dead tetra floating on the water surface. I could actually see bites where the gourami has attempted to "eat" the tetra. The other one was lying on the bottom half chewed too. A few minutes later, I noticed my best, beautiful male guppy floating, its huge tail torn to mere shreds. He was not dead so I put him in medicine (he survived after that). It was chasing the other fish around like crazy.

I had a few tanks back then. I had this tank with the slow, lazy betta which was mostly empty (too much space!). So the gourami went there. Maybe with less fish it may calm down. I was wrong. In a few hours, I found the betta's tail ripped to shreds. The gourami was not injured. Obviously the gourami attacked the innocent old betta.

I was furious! This horrible gourami was the murderer. After keeping it alone in a bucket, I soon gave it to a friend. Now it's still alive (what a wonder!).

Anyway, are gouramis that aggressive? I've read that they're peaceful. Has anyone else has had trouble with gouramis? I want to try gouramis again--they're quite pretty!

 

[phanmc]

gouramis are generally not aggressive to most fishes. They are territorial against other anabantids, including bettas and other gouramis. Sounds like you just had an a**hole of a fish.

 

[NatakuTseng]

I've found that most of the Three spot gouramis, opalines, and gold gourami (all the same species by the way) can be and usually are fairly aggressive fish. They deffinately need to be kept with caution as they can have a very bad temperment. Dwarf gourami are usually quite peaceful and only bother each other. those are the two species that could possibily match the "Blue Gourami" profile. If I had to guess you got one of the opalines.

 

[Leopardess]

Honestly, its not the gouramis fault. They often make poor tank mates for guppies and long finned fish. And gouramis and bettas are a no no together.

BTW, I would assume the gourami ate your tetra after it had died. Also, tetras need to be in schools, so you need 5-6 of them to be happy.

 

[QCppg]

My brother has two gold gouramis. He used to have three but one got picked to death. He also has six glowlight tetras and two white clouds (whom the tetras "adopted" into their school) which the gouramis don't touch. They do chase each other around constantly. Basically don't mix gouramis with any long-finned fish or with other anabantids and you should be fine.

And speaking of dissimilar species schooling, those white clouds used to be mine, and they would school with my NEON tetras!

 

[Analog Saint]

Gouramis, should probably be thought of as "semi-aggressive," with a few exceptions. They can/will be a stress on your tank if it's one solitary gourami with community fish. If you have a medium to large tank with multiple gouramis of similar sizes, they'll spend all their energy on each other, and may leave the other fish alone... No promises though. They love their pecking and chasing.

For a gourami tank, here's some things to keep in mind:
1) they are solitary fish. they do like places where they can be alone.
2) they like a varied diet. veggies are important to their digestive health.
3) if they can always see each other, they will never leave each other alone, no matter how big the tank. little caves, tunnels, plastic rock formations, live plants, and such will help divide the tank up.
4) they establish a "pecking order" in the tank and undoubtedly the smallest one will get picked on, so that's why #1 is so important. So long as they have a place where they don't feel threatened, they will flourish.

If you do decide to put other fish in there, make sure they can handle a little roughhousing. From what I hear, Dwarf Gouramis and Sparkling (Pygmy) Gouramis are better suited for communities. They're smaller, less aggressive, and are more shy than the others.

 

[glassfish]

Interesting thread. I have been contemplating my gourami tank as well, lately.

I have a 10 gal with a neon blue dwarf gourami that I just love. He was shy when I first got him, now he rules his domain. I tried him in my 46 gal community tank, but he spent a lot of time hiding, so I moved him back to the 10 gal, and he seems most happy there. He is with a 1" bristlenose (that I will move to my 46 as it gets larger), 4 pygmy cories, and two sparkling gouramis. At the advice of my LFS (not a chain, very nice shop, 35 years exp, etc.), I added 2 scarlet badis. Mistake! I have lost one, and can't find the other. :sad I think the stress of living with "Mr. big fish" was what did them in.

I watch the tank closely - my neon blue doesn't actually bite anyone, no one has fin damage, etc. ,but he does give half-hearted chase now and then. Especially when he thinks it is feeding time. The corys and pleco could care less, they are busy all of the time. The sparkling gouramis hold their own.

I feel so guilty though... Now I am wondering if I should move the sparkling gouramis out of there, but would have to get another tank(!) since I don't think they would enjoy the larger community?

Who said watching fish was a stress reducer? :laugh:

 

[PumaWard]

Gouramis, should probably be thought of as "semi-aggressive," with a few exceptions.

I actually think things are the opposite, they should be thought of as peaceful with a few exceptions.

Peaceful (IME) gourami include dwarf gourami, snakeskin gourami, pearl gourami, honey gourami, chocolate gourami, licourice (sp?), sparkling, and many more.

The only real semi-aggressive one's I've seen are 3-spots (opaline, golden, etc), kissing gourami, and giant gourami.


As always, care should be taking with choosing other labyrinth fish tank mates as they may or may not get along.

 

[Whistler225]

one of my tanks includes the fish you see on the left side of my post: a 15 inch Giant Gourami. He shares this tank with a golden Blood Parrot. He chases the Parrot occassionally, which implies to me he is semi-aggresive, but he also has a mouth deformity which limits how far he can open it, making it an ok situation since the Parrot has learned to give him his space. I put the Parrot in there because he was picking on my Oranda in my 29 gallon tank. Therefore I wouldn't recommend Parrots with long-finned fish, since that was the only fish in that tank the Parrot picked on. I have two plecos, three common goldfish, and four red minor tetras in the 29 gallon tank with the Oranda. I know some of you will say this tank is overstocked, but they are all doing quite well and the water quality is suprisingly good every time I check it. The only real problem I'm having now with that tank is the fact that the plecos seem to be eating, but anytime I try to give them algae wafers, the goldfish grab the wafers and eat them first. Any suggestions?

 

[Auren]

I think its also a question of space & hiding places, I have to colisa liala gouramies, and they fairly get along yet they dont see each other that often. I also have Goldish in the tank and they are usually the first to grab the food. I think what you could do regarding your situation with pleco & goldfish is to try to give a bit of more food, some types of food sink and dont decompose so fast, that type of food can be eaten by your pleco. I also have seen in somo petsmart tanks that the take some zuchini tigh it to some marbles or rocks and the goldfish love to pick on those. maybe that will distract the goldfish and give your plecos some time to eat.