Snakeskin Gouramis?

[rachelbatchelor]

What are they like? Are they suitible to live with tetras, angel fish, platys, and swordtails? How many should you get? Do they need special tank conditions?

Thanks.

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

Not kept any myself. There's some info here for you. If they're much like the kind I have (same genus) then the only thing you'll need to watch for is aggression as they grow up and become sexually active. Males especially can and will bully any other fish in their territory so a large enough tank is needed. I find they like to live as a group but like their own space from each other and plenty of plants to hide in. To the point of overgrown! As anabatids they'll all need plentiful access to the air as they breathe from the surface.
I'd imagine a lone female or two would be fine in most communities so long as the fish aren't small enough to be eaten. They will kill and eat smaller fish on occasion. Those you've listed sound fine to be with but I had to move my angel from the tank as it was being bullied by the gouramies. A tank no less then 20G. Ideally 30+.
Hugs,
P.

 

[rachelbatchelor]

Thankyou. They are in a large tank, so hopefully will be ok, i will let you know.

 

[sylvia]

Males are territorial and aggressive towards each other and the females. They don't usualy harass their tankmates but, as they get to 9", they can eat small tetras such as neons or delicate fish such as guppies. They also aren't the best fish to keep with angels as these two species occupy the same area in the tank, thus competing for space. A group of 2-4 females with a male would be ok in a larger tank. Otherwise, stick to a female-only group. Single fish may also turn aggressive towards their larger tankmates so avoid keeping them alone. How many do you have, what sexes and what size tank?

 

[rachelbatchelor]

Well, i have two, im not sure what sex they are, and my tank holds 260 litres of water.

When i get fish i normally do some research etc, before i buy them. However i didnt have any say in the matter this time, as my hubby just came home with them. I hadnt even asked him to get me any fish!

 

[sylvia]

Your tank IS big enough for 2 but, like I said, males can be aggressive. You can sex them by looking at the dorsal fin which is longer and pointed in males, and the body shape as females are deeper-bodied and, when viewed from above, wider. If you have 2 males, even in this size tank, you could still encounter some disputes once they reach sexual maturity - mainly due to their size which also means they have a larger territory in this case. They will be bigger than anything else in the tank and whether or not the tank is large enough (it's around 65 gallons BTW), they will still eventualy eat any small fish like neons like I said before (actualy, angels also eat neons). As the tank is as large as it is, depending on the number of angels you have and the sexes of the gouramies, you probably be able to get away with keeping them together but you will have to look into re-homing any very small fish (you didn't say what kind of tetras you have).