bettas + gouramis = what??

[Ben]

hey

i no there are alot of different opnions but can a betta aurvive in a tank with gouramis?

 

[buggyboutbettas]

I've been wonderin that myself...

 

[OscarCichlid]

bettas + gouramis = dead betta.. .. Usually the betta will pick a fight with the gourami and the gourami being usually bigger faster and could handle more stress will wind up killing the betta.

 

[Ben]

okay.......thanx for the info but wat about if theyre in a heavily planted tank and the gourami is relly small?

 

[kissez_61]

even then nope and the gouami will grow i would say 100% no to puting them together

 

[Ben]

dam............wel its fine now cuz i got a nice 6 gal tank waiting for a betta

 

[Annastasia]

Well, I have had gouramis and bettas together for 4 years and had no trouble with them.

 

[annieka]

same here...I've been keeping betta's and goerami's in a 250 litre tank for years. Lots of plants and hiding places and not to much fish in it. As long as the fish can avoid each other (=lots of space) there will rarely be problems. If you would put the same fish together in a 60 litre tank than things can go wrong. And it's not because they out to pick a fight with each other, but because both species form a territory.

 

[Pointy_kitty]

well the problem with both betta and gourami is that they both have very unpredictable personalities
both gourami and betta can be friendly, happy, and even get along in some community tanks, while others are nippy and love to chase, then there are the ones that no matter how big or planted your tank is, they are determined to get the "intruder away from their territory"
the last one i have described, beleive it or not, can also be true for gourami
yes, the gourami would get bigger, but bettas are capable of bullying and chasing them until they are weak and diseased from stress
some people have managed to balance these two together but like i said, they come in ALL personalities
and you do NOT know until you put them in with the specific fish in mind
you could see a betta in a community tank in the store and put it into your gourami tank at home and watch them kill each other
IMO this should not be done
one should not mix with the other UNLESS you spent the next WEEK (they don't act themselves immediately as they have to get comfortable in the new sorroundings) have someone check on the tank hourly to make sure noone is fighting

 

[buggyboutbettas]

hmmmm.....

 

[Pointy_kitty]

hmmmm.....

whats hmmmm

 

[buggyboutbettas]

hmmmm.....

whats hmmmm

Just trying to decide who's opinion I should take.

P.S. I've also seen a betta and gourami together in a picture in a book....

 

[pendragon]

No one can say for certain whether a specific betta and a specific gourami will get along, but it's traditional wisdom that you should assume they won't. Many people here keep, or have kept, combinations of fish that traditional wisdom says you shouldn't. That doesn't mean traditional wisdom is completely wrong. If you get the right gourami and the right betta, yes, they will coexist. But odds are more than trivial that they won't. It's a gamble you must evaluate, and have a plan beforehand for what you will do if it goes sour.

I know folks with dogs and cats who get along fine, but it would be silly for me to assume that because theirs do, then any two I adopt would as well. Better to assume they won't, and work from there.

pendragon!

 

[BIGMAC]

I tried to put them together and it didnt work my 2 honey gourami chased and chased my Betta till he got stressed now he has his own tank.

 

[buggyboutbettas]

I've had bad luck with honey gouramis anyway, so I would NEVER even try to put a honey gourami with my betta.

Thanks, pendragon. You explain it well.