# Blue Gourami



## jerichodrum (Mar 23, 2011)

I will be getting a blue gourami today. 
He killed several of the fish at work. He was given a reprieve of several weeks, but now he has started attacking the other gourami. 
After feeding he stopped eating to chase the other two down to the bottom of the tank. Everytime they came out of the plants he went after them. 
So, my boss said, get him out. 

:fish10:


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## automatic-hydromatic (Oct 18, 2010)

Gouramis are going to chase and pester other Gouramis, that's just the way they are... that's why I only have 1 in my planted 30 gallon now


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## aquaticsnerd (Jan 29, 2011)

Likewise. I have one female in my 50G. The males are way more aggressive. Species only tank  for them.


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## jerichodrum (Mar 23, 2011)

Thats what I was thinking, but he only chases the other gourami now. 
'Course the sharks are 4" inches long. But he didnt bother the tetras after he killed one. 

so dunno.. .. either way. going to put him in a 10 alone. 
*pc


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

You can have other fish, but other gouramis are not good - speaking of my experience with dwarf gouramis. Also depends on the size of the tank. I used to have 2 in my 125g. One stayed at one end and the other at the opposite. Was sort of funny. They like to claim the whole tank and I have put two in at the same time on a smaller tank. Still becomes winner takes the tank.


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## automatic-hydromatic (Oct 18, 2010)

yeah the single red dwarf in my 30 gallon does fine with the Blue Ram, 4 Longfined Danios, 5 Cherry bards, 2 Bristlenose Plecos, Oto, Rainbofish, and the shrimp. It's just other Gouramis they tend to have an issue with... or Bettas... don't mix them with a Betta either


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## jerichodrum (Mar 23, 2011)

yea. he is a psycho
put him in tank with my boesmani while I got the tank ready. 

He went nuts
now hes sitting in a corner mad cause I isolated him


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

you could get a couple females to put in there with him.


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## jerichodrum (Mar 23, 2011)

naw, hes in solitary. 
He committed a great sin. he tore up my one of my java ferns
*flaming


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## Donald Hansen (Jan 21, 2011)

I have 8 Blue Gourami and yes, they do chase each other. One new fish, one of a group of three that I got around 6 weeks ago and about 2/3rds the size of the others, has taken over one end of the tank. He won't let any kind of fish into that area. My biggest beef is they are so darn easy to spook. Just walk pass the tank and they'll start shooting around the tank like they're crazy. At this point I don't care if they do bang themselves up but they scare the heck out of all the other fish.

DLH


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## jerichodrum (Mar 23, 2011)

He's still pouting. LOL
He does spook easy but, I dont trust him with anything. In less than the hour it took to get the 10 ready, he went after everyone. 

the other two my boss have are back to the same routine. Biggest one is gone so another is terrorizing the tank.


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## Totem44 (Mar 15, 2011)

Ive successfully put a guarami and a betta together, theres a bit of chasing but they eat together, side by side, they ve been together for a month now with no serious quarrels


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

I had to finally get rid of mine. It sucked cuz he was the brightest thing in the tank. but now all the other fish are more calm and my tetras are schooling again.


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## jerichodrum (Mar 23, 2011)

Totem44 you are lucky. 
I cant get my bettas to live with anything. I bought two new ones, and they are mean as heck. They go after anything I put with them. Tetras, comets, barbs, rainbows. They hate everything. Finally had to buy two one gallons cause neither one could stay in the 30G. 

Phys, Im thinking I may have to follow your example. I had plans for the 10G that the gourami is in. Really wanted to do a setup of flame gouramis with a couple fancy goldfish in that tank.


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## Galvatron898 (Feb 27, 2011)

Hrmmm? We have 6 on a 60 gallon community tank. 3 blue and 3 golden. Not really any issues here, occasionally they chase each other but they dont really seem to bother the other fish and the gouramis are the biggest fish in our aquarium.


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## jerichodrum (Mar 23, 2011)

wish I could say that for this one.. he injured one of the rainbows in less than an hour.
He was chasing the little comets when I pulled him. 
I saw a great sale on some dwarf honey gouramis, and some dwarf flames, which are what I really want. So, really I am really thinking seriously about giving the blue away.


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## qwillpen (Mar 30, 2011)

More experienced people might chime in, but I don't think you can keep the gourami with goldfish. Goldfish are coldwater fish and not suitable tankmates for anything but other goldfish. 

I've had a dwarf flame gourami in my 30g for a few weeks now. Spends all his time swimming up & down the side. I think he sees his reflection!


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## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

I have kept Blue Gouramis for years and have never noticed them being agressive. I know the literature says they are. I have always kept them in a heavily planted tank. On way to temper the agression is to have several Blues together in the same tank. Many agressive fish would rather chased their own species than a different one.


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## jerichodrum (Mar 23, 2011)

the comets seemed to be ok with the rainbows. They shared thee tank just fine. Only real problem i ever had with the comets were they ate my plants.  
I found out from a friend that most goldfish tend to do that. So I really have to consider if I want to do goldfish atall 

Neonshark.. we had four blues at work. One decided to start killing off everything except the bala sharks. Killed neons, serpes, other gourami, and something I couldnt identify. 
Once we got him out, the remaining two have been at war since. 
so this bunch is very aggressive towards anything besides sharks.


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## Totem44 (Mar 15, 2011)

If you want.multiple gouramis I would go with four of them to.spread the aggression.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

jerichodrum said:


> I had plans for the 10G that the gourami is in. Really wanted to do a setup of flame gouramis with a couple fancy goldfish in that tank.


I hope you have scratched those plans totally. There are so many things wrong with it.....too small of a tank for gf, too many total fish, mixing gf and tropicals. A 10g tank is a very fragile system and shouldn't be considered like any other tank. In two books now that I have read suggest against using 10g tanks for anything you plan to keep or beyond a temp basis.....basically stating that in order to keep fish safely and for them to thrive you need to start with at least 20g. Personally I wouldn't put in more than 4-5 cardinal/neon tetras sized fish. That way I'd know I wouldn't have any major problems with fish death and disease. JMO


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## jerichodrum (Mar 23, 2011)

The boss doesnt want anymore gouramis. he wants to flush the two hes got now. 
As for me, Im going to get a couple of dwarf blue and flame dwarfs, or honey dwarfs. 
I will setup two emergency tanks, If there is trouble while they are in quarantine I have two other tanks to split them two

Yes jrman, I had scrapped the goldfish idea. I talked with a friend last night and she pretty much told me about goldfish. (i never kept goldfish)
"they're pretty but they're evil. Kinda like an ex-girlfriend"... then told me about the fin nipping, plant eating..etc. 
Talked to several people i trust, about the dwarf gourami idea. No one see's a problem. Im going to check on several things today however. If it doesnt work out.. I will turn it into a betta tank.


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## Donald Hansen (Jan 21, 2011)

phys said:


> I had to finally get rid of mine. It sucked cuz he was the brightest thing in the tank. but now all the other fish are more calm and my tetras are schooling again.


Thanks, that gave me an idea. I've had Blue Gourami for a long time and they always were a bit nervous. But now it's really bad. Because of what you said I'm wondering if that one Gourami who chases every fish in the tank is the cause of it all. I don't want to flush him so I'll ask the lfs if they will take him back no charge. Of course that means someone else will get stuck with him.


DLH


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## sana_12 (Apr 18, 2011)

Hi,

I'm Sana from Sri Lanka I own a Aquarium shop. I do this for the last 20 years.
I have many kinds of fish in my pet shop.

Also I have birds : fancy pigeons. love birds, Dove ,parrots, ducks and bantams.

I do this as my hobby I work as an IT executive.

I have blue gouramis giant , kissing , dourf and pearl guramies and it's east to breed this spice. 

Tks.
Sana.

Tks.
Sana.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

just be sure to tell them of his temperment. if he gets into a new aquarium, he may calm down. Or someone can put it in an aquarium with fish less likely to be picked on.


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## pringleringel (Apr 3, 2011)

I haven't had good luck with gouramis either except the one lone female I have right now is a sweety. She could change with age though. 

I wouldn't put one in a 10g that is too small of a tank for a blue gourami..


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

You could keep it until things get worse if they do. I still have a blue spot and a red gourami in my tank.. they only pick on eachother when they're bored and leave the other fish alone. So I've reaffrimed my suspicion that the blue gourami was the problem.


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## janusz (Apr 25, 2011)

I have 4 gouramis in my tank. I believe 1 is male, 3 females (I hope I am right


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## Donald Hansen (Jan 21, 2011)

Those are some really nice pictures. Did you do anything special to get them? Also in the center pictures, the ones with the Blue Gourami, what are those bead like objects on the right side of the pictures?

DLH


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## janusz (Apr 25, 2011)

Donald Hansen said:


> Those are some really nice pictures. Did you do anything special to get them? Also in the center pictures, the ones with the Blue Gourami, what are those bead like objects on the right side of the pictures?
> DLH


Thank you. I have Canon 350d and I use Photoshop. These bids are air bubles.


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## Donald Hansen (Jan 21, 2011)

I can't stop looking at the pictures. Looks like I've something to shoot for. (Pun intended) What gives the bubbles that violet color?

DLH


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## janusz (Apr 25, 2011)

Donald Hansen said:


> What gives the bubbles that violet color?
> DLH


This could be reflection from background picture.
I put some more pics here:
Aquarium - a set on Flickr


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## benitahigg (May 22, 2011)

I have a powder blue gourami and a dwarf gourami and 2 sunset gourami in a 60 gallon community tank with drift wood acouple live plants and plastic plants. They are all getting along fine! no problems!


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## Lil Gashog (Dec 1, 2010)

I have a flame dwarf gourami in my 20g hes so cool or she not sure  But doesnt harm a thing platys danios neon and an oto he doesnt touch them


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## fishman81 (Jan 12, 2011)

opposite experience here i guess.
i have 2 blue dwarf gourami's in the 37g, no issues at all, extremley docile, it's a peaceful tank, and they are not the smallest or the biggest fish in the tank. Used to have 2 flame dwarf gourami's with them too, just moved them due to overstocking concerns. Oh and there all males


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