Spotted Climbing Gourami/perch

[mattlee]

just bin to world of water near Rugby and came home with 2 spotted climbing perch.... very small about an inch max. i was told they grow to about double the size they are now and do well in a community tank.... since getting home i have found out they grow to 6 inches and are predators and will eat small fish etc. they are now in my quarentine tank on their own but im worried i have jumped in with these on false info from lfs. my smallest fish are corys and platys, could it eat these when bigger? will they eat my cherry/amano shrimps? should i be worried or just bare with them? they are really cool looking fish but if they have to go back then so be it for the sake of my current stock.....

 

[indigoj]

Hiya, they shouldn't bother corys or platties but may eat shrimp. I have mine with preacox rainbows the smallest of those is about 1.5" and the biggest perch is about 4.5" at the moment.

 

[dave_oddballs]

my bush fish is around 6 inch at the moment and quite boisterous, is getting quite naughty actually, chasing my 8 inch pink tailed characin, and is always picking fights with my 7 inch snakehead, (i dont think it would win that one)
i wouldn't put them with any fish less than a few inch's personally, mine gobbles down 4-5 inch lance fish no bother!
there are some exeptions as mentioned by indigoj, small armoured catfish like corydoras and pleco's should be fine.

Dave

 

[mattlee]

my bush fish is around 6 inch at the moment and quite boisterous, is getting quite naughty actually, chasing my 8 inch pink tailed characin, and is always picking fights with my 7 inch snakehead, (i dont think it would win that one)
i wouldn't put them with any fish less than a few inch's personally, mine gobbles down 4-5 inch lance fish no bother!
there are some exeptions as mentioned by indigoj, small armoured catfish like corydoras and pleco's should be fine.

Dave

so i dont really have to return them then..... they do grow bigger than i expected but i have plenty of filtration so should get away with it.....
do they grow fast?

 

[indigoj]

mine went from 2" - 4" quickly but have slowed down now.

 

[mattlee]

mine went from 2" - 4" quickly but have slowed down now.

what do you feed them on i have put a few bloodworms (frozen) in tonight but left the light off as i didnt want to startle them anymore so soon, so not sure if they ate them.....

 

[indigoj]

Anything! Literally - they go for anything I put in from flake to algae wafers. I have them in a carnivore tank so feed blood worm, prawns, sinking pellets (bloodworm, shrimp and mussell), algae wafers and a a 'discuc mix' frozen cubes that also has veg in.

They seriously eat anything though. There are pics I've seen of them eating crickets etc which I've not tried yet.

They were shy at first - they do like a lot of plant cover - but not 3 of my 4 are very outgoing and the other is a recluse.

 

[mattlee]

Anything! Literally - they go for anything I put in from flake to algae wafers. I have them in a carnivore tank so feed blood worm, prawns, sinking pellets (bloodworm, shrimp and mussell), algae wafers and a a 'discuc mix' frozen cubes that also has veg in.

They seriously eat anything though. There are pics I've seen of them eating crickets etc which I've not tried yet.

They were shy at first - they do like a lot of plant cover - but not 3 of my 4 are very outgoing and the other is a recluse.

ive seen the cricket pics.....lol very cool! just been in to check on them as theyre in the garage in my qt tank (only place i can fit one) and they are hidding away all the time , they seem to have eaten the bloodworms so at least theyre feeding ok.....
is there any thing else i need to know about these fish? or anything you can let me know through experience of keeping these?

 

[indigoj]

To be honest they are the easiest fish I've kept - eat anything, happy as long as they have plenty of cover and fairly well behaved. Mine are just starting to get a bit bolshy with each other - I suspect they are reaching sexual maturity but so far no real problems.

Mine live with the rainbows I mentioned before, some glass catfish, 4 reedfish, an eel and some raphael catfish.

 

[mattlee]

To be honest they are the easiest fish I've kept - eat anything, happy as long as they have plenty of cover and fairly well behaved. Mine are just starting to get a bit bolshy with each other - I suspect they are reaching sexual maturity but so far no real problems.

Mine live with the rainbows I mentioned before, some glass catfish, 4 reedfish, an eel and some raphael catfish.

many thanks for yourcomments and advice indigo, maybe i havent made such an error after all......lol

 

[indigoj]

I'm sure you will love them.

Pics please!

 

[mattlee]

I'm sure you will love them.

Pics please!

i will post some pics hopefully tomorrow, that is if i can get any.......
they look so different and have cool patterns and i love them already!!!! i just hope they like my tank. lol
im keeping them in qt for a couple or 3 weeks as i have learnt my lesson of adding fish straight in to main tank!
soon as i can get a pic ill sort it out for you, cheers again for your comments and time indigo

 

[~T~]

I'm sure you will love them.

Pics please!

i will post some pics hopefully tomorrow, that is if i can get any.......
they look so different and have cool patterns and i love them already!!!! i just hope they like my tank. lol
im keeping them in qt for a couple or 3 weeks as i have learnt my lesson of adding fish straight in to main tank!
soon as i can get a pic ill sort it out for you, cheers again for your comments and time indigo

Mine go nuts for prawns or lancefish.

 

[mattlee]

I'm sure you will love them.

Pics please!

not the best but its all i could get of them at the minute....
http/i675.photobucket.com/albums/vv120/mattlee/004.jpg









http/i675.photobucket.com/albums/vv120/mattlee/002.jpg

http/i675.photobucket.com/albums/vv120/mattlee/003.jpg

http/i675.photobucket.com/albums/vv120/mattlee/001.jpg

 

[dave_oddballs]

they have some tiny ones in at my lfs at the moment, they look well different at that size!
i've had mine around a year, got it when it was around 5 inch and know its about 6 inch and seems to have stopped. so i guess they get to around 4 inch reasonably fast then slow down, i've never seen another as big as mine though so they may not all reach that size!!

Dave