Gourami Help Please

[jakey boi]

hi,
my freind has 3 opaline gouramis and when he bought a siemese fighter
the next day when he got back from school the fighter had all his fins bit off and he was dead at the bottom of the tank
is this normal behaviour for gouramois??
i have never seen anything like it ?

 

[sioband]

hi,
my freind has 3 opaline gouramis and when he bought a siemese fighter
the next day when he got back from school the fighter had all his fins bit off and he was dead at the bottom of the tank
is this normal behaviour for gouramois??
i have never seen anything like it ?

Having seen how our golden gouramis acted towards a much larger discus i can believe they are capable of this. They do seem quite territorial to me.

 

[shaddai]

I have 2 dwarf gouramis in a 40 gallon tank with a betta...and the betta stays well clear of them.

Todd

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

In general it is recommended NEVER to put gourami with bettas. They are both anabantoids and air breathers. Therefor they occupy the same area in the tank and three spots, especially, are as highly aggressive as bettas and would have no trouble killing one. Opalines are a three spot variety. The reason you're currently getting away with the dwarfs with the betta is mostly due to the nature of the fish involved. The dwarfs and the betta are obviously all laid back enough to cope, but the fact that you said the betta steers well clear of the dwarfs makes me think that some aggression does exist and he'd probably be better off seperated from them.
Hugs,
P.

 

[jakey boi]

Thanks for the help i will remember that for the future

 

[shaddai]

The reason you're currently getting away with the dwarfs with the betta is mostly due to the nature of the fish involved. The dwarfs and the betta are obviously all laid back enough to cope, but the fact that you said the betta steers well clear of the dwarfs makes me think that some aggression does exist and he'd probably be better off seperated from them.

He typically is seperated from the dwarfs..but once 2 of the 4 dwarfs got sick, I needed the 10 gal for meds. The main reason is okay because of this huge fine leafed plastic plant in the tank that he can get through and the gouramis can't. He comes out to eat in a common area with them & but stays on his end of the tank behind the plant most of the time. Watching the gouramis, it's easy to tell they are interested in him, but are physically too big to weasel through the plant to get to him.

Anyway, no..I wouldn't keep them together if I were you. I'm lucky to be getting away with it on a temporary basis.

Todd