Gourami Vs. Oscar

[bobross]

Hey everyone,


I have a q about a stocking option in my friends tank. First of all, he has a 90 us g tank at his place. He has three tinfoil barbs & one oscar. the barbs are about 7'' & the oscar is about six inches long. Well, my yellow three-spot was getting beat up so I wanted to rehome him. About two weeks ago, we put the gourami(Agent Orange is his name) in his 90g. Although a little skiddish at first, Agent Orange seems fine now. I've had him for about six months and he's about 3.5 inches long currently. My question is, will this gourami be fine in the long run or will he turn into fish food for the oscar in time?

The oscar doesn't really harass the gourami too much yet, initially he did, but both of the two stick to themselves now.

EDIT: I know that he's joked about getting a bigger tank for the barbs in the future if they grow too big, so the tank would then hold the gourami & the oscar - just thought I'd add that before getting any response about stocking levels.

Thanks in advance,




BobRoss

 

[Miss Wiggle]

IMHO he will be fish food long term.

giant gourami's can be ok with oscars given a big enough tank, but not a normal gourami.

he's gonna max out about 5" and be right in the oscars swimming space, at a year old the oscar will be 10" long and with a big mouth.... sorry but i don't think it'll last

 

[nmonks]

Indeed. But does depend on the giant gourami. Osphronemus exodon (the "vampire" giant gourami) will beat the heck out of an oscar if it feels crowded. But I've seen some nice oscar/climbing perch combos, though you do need the more gentle climbing perches. Ctenopoma kingsleyi works very nicely with oscars.

Cheers, Neale

giant gourami's can be ok with oscars given a big enough tank, but not a normal gourami.

 

[bobross]

Really? that's a bummer. The gourami is just about 2 inches 'tall'(does that make sense?) already. I just thought he'd be okay....but apparently not.. So an oscar will get big enough to eat fish that tall?



BobRoss

 

[nmonks]

Although they aren't especially piscivorous in the wild (they feed primarily on crabs, crayfish, and other shelled invertebrates, hence the strong jaws) they aren't above eating smaller fish given the chance. Their ability to pursue fish in the wild is very limited because they aren't strong swimmers, and so the fishes they usually eat are slow-moving things like Corydoras. But in the confines of an aquarium they are indiscriminate feeders and will catch and eat any small fish they can corner and cram in their mouths. Thus, a blue gourami will likely be far too small to be housed safely with an oscar.

Cheers, Neale

 

[bobross]

thanks for the quick response, Neale I guess I'll have to come up with somewhere else to put this fish ..soon... For right now, the oscar leaves him alone-but I don't want to wait for something to start happening & worry about it then...

 

[The_Dude]

Hey, don't pink kissing gouramis get pretty big but not too big?