On Behalf Of A Friend

[nortonmad213]

my friend bought a male betta the other day,
he was wondering if a honey gourami would be a suitable tank mate if provided with enough line of sight breaks and hiding places etc?
thanks in advance

 

[ADW1988]

In my opinion no. Gourami and Bettas are from the same family (I think correct me if i'm wrong) and would become aggressive (more so the Betta) and constantly harrassed and stressed. . Prob best not.
 
I have seen arguements for and against, but depends on personality of Betta and hiding places etc, but i don't think the risk/reward factor is worth it. If you have a cycled standby tank in case then could give it a shot, but for me, personally, I wouldn't.
 
Also just checked some compatibility charts and says "not recommended" or "no" on them.

 

[nortonmad213]

they are both in seperate tanks at the minute, but the betta tank isn't ideal apparently which is why he wants to put in with gourami.
all i can do is pass on info, thanks a lot

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

Mixing the 2 will result in either ways, the betta will chase around the gourami causing it to be stressed, not feed until it dies or the gourami will nip the betta's fin like a barber making the betta unable to swim properly and thus unable to breath atmospheric and eventually drown

 

[nortonmad213]

ok thanks for confirming that,
i was thinking along those lines just needed confirmation
 leave them in seperate  tank and keep -------->

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

Haha no biggie.. just check the individual fish's personalities first, as they vary per fish and thus dictate whether or not they can be kept with other fishes.

I've kept a young black oscar with a betta and some tetras for about 4 years without any problems til the oscar grew too big to be a community tank.

There will always be exceptions

 

[nortonmad213]

well all we can do is try.
i know he still has the fish bags from fish that he has bought in the past, so he could place the betta in there and see if the gourami cares at all when placed in tank?
thanks again

 

[Wildbetta]

The problem with trying to keep gourmanis and bettas together is that both species are prone to aggression AND they both inhabit the top part of the water column. This make makes them competitors for food, for territory, and more importantly for air to breathe.  While I am sure that there will be cases of people who have put the together with "success", I do not recommend keeping both species in the same tank just for the sake of the long term health of both fish.  Placing the betta in a bag in the tank with the gourmani will not do much to tell you whether they will be ok together or not.  Things are totally different once both fish are actually loose in the tank. When you said, that your friend's betta is not "ideal", what do you mean?  

 

[nortonmad213]

sorry to skip to the end of your post, but by not ideal that is all i know, he just said its not ideal and he wants the betta in the main tank.
sorry for lack of answer,
but your post highlights every reason he should leave it where it is,
thanks a lot